BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1199
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1199 (Brownley)
As Amended May 25, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |67-0 |(January 17, |SENATE: |36-0 |(June 18, |
| | |2012) | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Extends the term of local bond citizens' oversight
committee members from two consecutive two-year terms to three
consecutive two-year terms.
The Senate amendments specify that the members of the local bond
citizens' oversight committees shall serve for a minimum term of two
years.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes, under Section 1 of Article XIIIA of the California
Constitution, school districts, community college districts, or
county offices of education to pass a general obligation bond by a
55% vote, provided that the local initiative meet specified
accountability measures.
2)Requires the governing board of a school district or a community
college district to establish and appoint members to an
independent citizens' oversight committee within 60 days of the
date that the governing board enters the election results on its
minutes. (Education Code (EC) Section 15278)
3)Provides that the citizens' oversight committee shall consist of
at least seven members to serve for a term of two years without
compensation and for no more than two consecutive terms.
Specifies that the committee shall be comprised of the following:
a) One member active in a business organization;
b) One member active in a senior citizens' organization;
c) One member active in a bona fide taxpayers' organization;
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d) For a school district, one member who is a parent or
guardian of a child enrolled in the district. For a community
college district, a student who is both currently enrolled in
the district and active in a community college group, such as
student government; and,
e) For a school district, one member who is both a parent or
guardian of a child enrolled in a district and active in a
parent-teacher organization, such as the Parent Teacher
Association or schoolsite council. For a community college
district, one member who is active in the support and
organization of a community college or the community colleges
of the district, such as a member of an advisory council or
foundation. (EC Section 15282)
4)Specifies duties of the citizens' oversight committee to include
ensuring that bond revenues are expended only for specified
purposes and ensuring that no funds are used for any teacher or
administrative salaries or other school operating expenses. (EC
Section 15278)
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar to
the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Proposition 39 was passed by voters in 2000. Among
others, the Proposition, a constitutional amendment, reduced the
voting threshold for the passage of local general obligations bonds
from two-thirds to 55% provided that the local bond initiative meets
the following accountability measures:
1)The initiative identifies a list of the specific school facilities
projects that will be funded by bond proceeds.
2)A requirement that the school board, community college board, or
county office of education conduct an annual, independent
performance audit to "ensure that the funds have been expended
only on the specific projects listed."
3)A requirement that the school board, community college board, or
county office of education conduct an annual, independent
financial audit of the proceeds from the sale of the bonds until
all of those proceeds have been expended for the school facilities
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projects.
Both the financial audit and performance audit must be reviewed by
an independent citizens' oversight committee. AB 1908 (Lempert),
Chapter 44, Statutes of 2000, a companion bill to Proposition 39,
requires each district, within 60 days of the passage of a local
bond with 55% vote to appoint a citizens' oversight committee to
monitor and review expenditures to ensure compliance with
Proposition 39 requirements, and to keep the public informed about
bond expenditures. The bill specified that the oversight committee
must be comprised of a minimum of seven members, appointed for no
more than two consecutive two-year terms. The bill also specifies
that members shall not be compensated and shall include
representatives of business, senior citizen, taxpayers', parent
teacher organizations, and parents of children enrolled in the
school district.
Under existing law, the State Board of Education (SBE) is authorized
to waive certain sections of the EC or any regulations adopted by
the SBE (EC Section 33050). Since 2006, the SBE has granted 19
requests from school districts to waive the term limit of members of
local citizens' oversight committees to allow existing members to
serve an additional term. The predominant reasons for the requests
stem from districts' inability to find qualified individuals
interested in serving on the committees and the need for continuity.
This bill extends the term of the appointments by one term to
enable oversight committee members to serve six years instead of
four. However, a local governing board is not required to appoint
individuals to three terms. This bill will alleviate the need for
districts to pursue waivers to reappoint existing members to an
additional term and reduce the workload at the SBE to process and
approve the waivers. The author states, "School construction
projects can take five years or longer. Enabling oversight
committee members the ability to oversee projects from beginning to
end enhances accountability of local dollars, as envisioned by the
authors of Proposition 39."
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0004072
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