BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 803
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON REVENUE AND TAXATION
Henry T. Perea, Chair
SB 803 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: June 25, 2012
Majority vote. Fiscal committee.
SENATE VOTE : 27-11
SUBJECT : California Youth Leadership Project
SUMMARY : Establishes the California Youth Leadership Project
(Project) under the State Department of Education (CDE) to
promote youth civic engagement by awarding scholarships to youth
between 14 and 18 years of age. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes numerous findings and declarations regarding
California's youth population and the limited civic engagement
opportunities available to them.
2)Provides that an organization that operates civic engagement
programs may submit applications for participation in the
Project on behalf of interested youth. Specifically, the
Project shall allocate scholarship award funds to
organizations that submit applications on behalf of youth who
are selected to receive scholarship awards under this bill.
These organizations shall, among other things, provide youth
participants:
a) Tools to examine and discuss policy and fiscal issues
affecting the interests, needs, and conditions of the youth
of California; and,
b) The opportunity to advise the Legislature and the
Governor on specific issues affecting youth.
3)Creates a Project Committee to oversee the Project. The
Project Committee shall be chaired by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (Superintendent) and composed of specified
appointed members. Furthermore, the Project Committee shall
be responsible for:
a) Providing applications for the Project scholarship;
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b) Establishing criteria for the selection of youth;
c) Ensuring that there is no discrimination based on race,
religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender,
marital status, disability, sex, or sexual orientation;
and,
d) Submitting an annual budget.
4)Authorizes the addition of the California Youth Leadership
Fund (Fund) checkoff to the personal income tax (PIT) form
upon the removal of another voluntary contribution fund (VCF)
from the form.
5)Provides that all money transferred to the Fund, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, shall be allocated to the:
a) Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and the State Controller for
reimbursement of all costs incurred in administering the
checkoff; and,
b) CDE to provide for the Project.
6)Provides for the Fund provisions' automatic repeal on either
January 1 of the fifth taxable year following the Fund's first
appearance on the PIT return or on January 1 of an earlier
year, if the FTB estimates that the annual contribution amount
will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for
subsequent years.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the CDE under the administration of the
Superintendent, and provides for numerous duties of the CDE
with respect to the education of youth.
2)Allows taxpayers to designate on their PIT returns a
contribution to any of 18 VCFs.
3)Provides a specific sunset date for each VCF, except for the
California Seniors Special Fund.
4)Provides that each VCF must meet a minimum annual contribution
amount to remain in effect, except for the California Seniors
Special Fund, the California Firefighters' Memorial Fund, and
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the California Peace Officer Memorial Foundation Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : The FTB estimates that the tax-related
provisions of this bill would result in annual revenue losses of
roughly $20,000.
COMMENTS :
1)The author has provided the following statement in support of
this bill:
SB 803 establishes the California Youth Leadership Project
to support and promote youth civic engagement by awarding
scholarships to youth. There are several programs that
provide youth leadership opportunities. This bill will
make funds available to the youth who participate in those
programs. This will allow each group to have their youth
compete and participate.
These scholarships will support opportunities through which
disconnected and disadvantaged youth can discuss and
develop their legislative priorities and advocate
throughout the legislative session for the passage of key
policy changes to improve the quality of life for
California's youth.
SB 803 asks that there be a particular emphasis placed on
reaching out to at-risk or disadvantaged youth, as their
participation will provide keen insight �into] many of the
issues that youth face in their day-to-day lives.
2)This bill is supported by at least two organizations and by
the Superintendent, who notes:
SB 803 will establish the California Youth Leadership
Project for the purpose of supporting and promoting youth
civic engagement by awarding scholarships to youth involved
in civic engagement programs.
The bill will also create the California Youth Leadership
Fund to receive contributions from tax return designations
to support the California Youth Leadership Project. My
office would award scholarships for civic engagement
opportunities for California's youth.
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Many states and local governments have made a commitment to
help youth mature into successful adults. The California
Youth Leadership Project will be a guiding framework to
improve coordination and effectiveness of youth programs,
and will include youth in the policy and decision making
process. Nationally, youth commissions are being developed
and implemented in at least 20 states.
3)Opponents state that, "Utilizing the voluntary tax check off
for a CA Youth Leadership Fund has an emotional appeal to
assist young people at risk or disadvantaged. It is an easy
way to believe one is helping social needs." Nevertheless,
opponents argue that the bill's language must be considered.
Specifically, opponents note that the bill, "provides for a
six member Committee with persons involved in various facets
of community life. One of these could include a member of
Planned Parenthood's VOX-Students for Choice." For this
reason, some opponents contend that, "this bill would be
inimical to pro-life advocacy for well-informed youth."
4)Committee Staff Comments:
a) What would this bill do? : This bill would, among other
things, authorize the addition of a new VCF to the PIT
return. Specifically, moneys raised through the Fund
checkoff would be allocated to the CDE to provide for the
newly established Project. The Project, in turn, would be
charged with promoting youth civic engagement by awarding
scholarships to youth between 14 and 18 years of age.
Youths awarded scholarships would be given the opportunity
"to make meaningful recommendations regarding legislation
and policies that impact their own lives and the lives of
thousands of other youth in California whose voices often
go unheard."
b) So many causes, so little space : There are countless
worthy causes that would benefit from the inclusion of a
new VCF on the state's income tax returns. At the same
time, space on the return is limited. Thus, it could be
argued that the current system for adding VCFs to the form
is subjective and essentially rewards causes that can
convince the Legislature to include their fund on the form.
c) A tale of two VCF bills : As originally introduced, AB
2017 (Hall), of the 2009-10 legislative session, would have
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added a new VCF to the PIT form to support the ongoing
activities of the California YMCA Youth and Government
Program. The California Coalition for Youth opposed the
introduced version of AB 2017, and instead supported SB 516
(DeSaulnier), of the 2009-10 legislative session, which had
been introduced the year prior. As heard in this
Committee, SB 516 would have established a California Youth
Legislature, funded by a new VCF, to examine and discuss
issues affecting California's youth and to advise the
Legislature and Governor on specific policy matters. After
extensive negotiations, the authors of AB 2017 and SB 516
reached a compromise, whereby SB 516 was amended to delete
the separate checkoff fund, and AB 2017 was amended to
divide the bulk of fund moneys evenly between the existing
YMCA program and the newly established California Youth
Legislature. Both bills then passed the Legislature, and
both were then vetoed by the Governor. In his veto message
for AB 2017, the Governor noted:
This bill is contingent on the enactment of Senate
Bill 516, which I cannot support. I would ask that
the authors of these bills reconcile their efforts to
support greater youth involvement in public policy
without creating additional organizations when there
are numerous organizations and entities already
dedicated to working with youth from all backgrounds.
In the current legislative session, Assemblymember Hall has
introduced AB 233, which authorizes the addition of a new
VCF to support civic education programs operated by the
YMCA Youth and Government Program, the African American
Leaders for Tomorrow Program, the Asian Pacific Youth
Leadership Project, and the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership
Project. AB 233 (Hall) is currently pending in the Senate
Committee on Governance and Finance.
d) Recently enacted check-off legislation : Committee staff
notes the following related bills from the 2011-12
legislative session:
i) AB 564 (Smyth), Chapter 549, Statutes of 2011,
reauthorized the addition of the Municipal Shelter
Spay-Neuter Fund checkoff to the PIT return upon the
removal of another VCF from the form.
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ii) AB 764 (Swanson), Chapter 465, Statutes of 2011,
authorized the addition of the Child Victims of Human
Trafficking Fund checkoff to the PIT return upon the
removal of another VCF from the form.
iii) AB 971 (Monning), Chapter 209, Statutes of 2011,
reauthorized the addition of the California Sea Otter
Fund checkoff to the PIT form beginning with the 2011
return.
iv) SB 164 (Simitian), Chapter 699, Statutes of 2011,
extended, from January 1, 2013, to January 1, 2018, the
sunset date for two VCFs currently on the PIT return.
Specifically, SB 164 extended the VCF provisions for both
the State Children's Trust Fund and the Rare and
Endangered Species Preservation Program.
v) SB 583 (Vargas), Chapter 711, Statutes of 2011,
reauthorized the addition of the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease
Research Fund checkoff to the PIT return upon the removal
of another VCF from the form.
e) Double-referral : This bill was double-referred to the
Assembly Committee on Education, where it was passed out on
a 7-2 vote on June 13, 2012. For a detailed discussion of
the bill's education-related provisions, please refer to
that committee's analysis.
f) Suggested technical amendments :
i) On page 4, line 9, replace "reveals" with "reveal";
ii) On page 6, lines 20-21, strike "but not necessarily
be limited to" and insert "without limitation";
iii) On page 9, line 1, insert "California" before
"Youth"; and,
iv) On page 11, line 16, strike "pursuant to Section
18736".
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SB 803
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Aspiranet
California Coalition for Youth
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
Analysis Prepared by : M. David Ruff / REV. & TAX. / (916)
319-2098