BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2008
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Date of Hearing: March 28, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 2008 (Bradford) - As Amended: March 14, 2012
SUBJECT : Education finance: revenue limits
SUMMARY : Changes, beginning in the 2014-15 fiscal year, the
school district revenue limit adjustment related to the Meals
for Needy Pupils (MNP) program. Specifically, this bill :
1)Retains the current adjustment for the 2011-12 through 2013-14
fiscal years, inclusive, and makes technical changes to that
adjustment to ensure the correct application of the
cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
2)Changes, beginning with the 2014-15 fiscal year, the base year
for computing the MNP adjustment from the 2007-08 fiscal year
to the 2009-10 fiscal year.
EXISTING LAW
1)Provides for a base revenue limit for school districts, which
is based on a specific amount of general purpose funding per
average daily attendance (ADA).
2)Provides for revenue limit "add-ons," which is additional
funding added to the base revenue limit for specific programs.
3)Requires, beginning in the 2010-11 fiscal year, the
computation of a revenue limit add-on based on funding that
school districts had been receiving for the MNP program and
incentive funding for increasing beginning teacher salaries.
4)Requires that the amount of the add-on be computed by dividing
the amount received by the district for the MNP program plus
the incentive for increasing beginning teacher salaries in
2007-08 by the district's ADA in 2007-08.
5)Applies the statutory COLA for revenue limits to the add-on
for MNP and beginning teacher salary incentive funding.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 2008
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COMMENTS : This bill fixes an unintended consequence of AB 851
(Brownley), Chapter 374, Statutes of 2009. AB 851 simplified
and added transparency to school district funding by, among
other things, creating a single revenue limit add-on from
funding provided to two separate programs-MNP and incentive
funding for beginning teacher salaries. AB 851 passed out of
both houses of the Legislature with unanimous votes.
MNP funding was provided to districts that enacted property tax
levies to support free or reduced-price meals prior to
Proposition 13 and lost that funding with the passage of
Proposition 13. Despite the name of the program, the funds are
unrestricted and may be used for any locally-determined purpose.
Incentive funding for beginning teacher salaries has also
become general purpose funding. That program took effect in
2000-01 to provide an incentive for districts to increase the
starting salary for teachers to $34,000. Districts still
receive the funding, but over time its purpose as an incentive
has eroded. It made sense, therefore, to add the funding for
these programs to the school district revenue limit. The amount
of the add-on for MNF and teacher salary incentive funding was
computed by dividing the amount that districts received for
these programs in 2007-08 by the district's ADA in 2007-08.
Although MNP funding can be used for any purpose, the amount
that districts received was based on the number of meals
provided to eligible pupils. With the onset of the recession,
districts saw an increase in the number of pupils who are
eligible for free and reduced-price meals and, thus, an increase
in the number of meals provided. The unanticipated consequence
of AB 851 is that, by basing funding on 2007-08 data, MNF
funding failed to keep pace with the unanticipated growth in the
number of meals provided to eligible pupils, as it would have
under prior law.
Prior Legislation. This bill is the third attempt to solve this
problem. The first was AB 2366 (Brownley), which was held in
the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2010. The second was AB
1075 (Fuentes), which was held in the Assembly Appropriations
committee earlier this year. Both of those bills would have
repealed and delayed the MNF adjustment until 2013-14.
This bill takes a different approach. Instead of repealing and
delaying the implementation of the MNF adjustment, it allows the
current adjustment to remain in effect through 2013-14. In
AB 2008
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2014-15, the bill modifies the adjustment to base it on 2009-10,
instead of 2007-08 funding and ADA. This will increase the size
of the adjustment by an unknown amount for affected districts.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Centinela Valley Union High School District
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087