BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                AB 2435
                                                                Page  1

        CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
        AB 2435 (Roger Hernandez)
        As Amended  August 13, 2012
        Majority vote
         
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        |ASSEMBLY:  |56-15|(May 29, 2012)  |SENATE: |22-15|(August 22,    |
        |           |     |                |        |     |2012)          |
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         Original Committee Reference:    ED.  

         SUMMARY  :  Establishes rules governing the indirect rate that local 
        education agencies (LEAs) may charge when implementing federal or 
        state grant programs.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

        1)Defines "direct cost" as a cost that provides measurable, direct 
          benefits to a particular program of an agency, including, but not 
          limited to, salaries and benefits of teachers and aides, costs of 
          purchasing textbooks and instructional supplies, and costs for 
          providing pupils with counseling, health services, and 
          transportation. 

        2)Defines "indirect cost" as the agency-wide, general management 
          cost of the activities for the direction and control of the agency 
          as a whole, including, but not limited to, administrative 
          activities necessary for the general operation of the agency, as 
          specified.  

        3)Defines "indirect cost rate" as the indirect cost rate established 
          by California Department of Education (CDE) for each school 
          district.  

        4)Requires the CDE or any other state agency that administers a 
          grant or allocation of federal funds to a school district to allow 
          an indirect cost rate that is not less than the indirect cost rate 
          established by CDE for each district, unless federal or state law 
          requires a lower cost rate.

         The Senate amendments  clarify the definition of "school district" 
        and establish a sunset date of January 1, 2016.
         
        FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, 
        this bill has no direct fiscal impact on the state, since any 
        potential funding distribution would occur within a program and a 








                                                                AB 2435
                                                               Page  2

        set amount of grant funding already dedicated to that program.. 

         COMMENTS  :  When implementing a grant program, LEAs incur indirect 
        costs, which include the cost of administrative activities necessary 
        for the general operation of the agency, such as accounting, 
        budgeting, payroll preparation, personnel services, purchasing, and 
        centralized data processing.  LEAs are typically allowed to allocate 
        a fixed percentage of the grant (the indirect cost rate) to these 
        overhead activities.  The CDE periodically assigns an allowed 
        indirect cost rate for each LEA.  For the Los Angeles County Office 
        of Education, the sponsors of this bill, the CDE-established rate is 
        9.31%. 

         This bill  requires CDE or any other state agency that administers a 
        grant or allocation of federal funds to a school district to allow 
        an indirect cost rate that is not less than the indirect cost rate 
        established by CDE for each district, unless federal or state law 
        requires a lower cost rate.


         Analysis Prepared by  :    Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087       FN: 
        0004825