BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1253
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1253 (Runner) - As Amended: June 6, 2012
Policy Committee: AgricultureVote:9
- 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill allows the 28th District Agricultural Association
(DAA) to enter into a Joint Powers Agency (JPA) agreement with
an unnamed entity to operate, maintain and improve the 28th DAA.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Allows the 28th DAA, with consent from the Secretary of the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), to form
a JPA for the purpose of operating, maintaining, and improving
the 28th DAA facilities.
2)Allows the JPA to accept donation of, acquire, own, sell, or
lease, real property and offer bonds for the purpose of
improving the facilities at the 28th DAA.
3)Requires the JPA to not sell, divest or pledge real property
owned by the State of California without legislative
authorization or the consent of CDFA and the California
Department of General Services (DGS).
4)Allows the JPA to enter into contracts and hire employees.
5)Provides civil service employees of the 28th DAA the option to
remain in state employment under contract to the JPA or accept
positions as an employee of the JPA.
6)Requires that any entity with whom the JPA contracts with to
manage the 28th DAA, provide every civil service employee of
the 28th DAA the option to remain in state employment under
contract to the JPA or accept a position as an employee of the
JPA.
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7)Allows the JPA to fill a vacant civil service position with a
non-civil service employee.
8)Specifies the state is not liable for any debts, liabilities,
settlements, liens, or other obligations incurred by or
imposed upon the JPA.
FISCAL EFFECT
Assuming the eight permanent state employees who make up the
staff of the 28th DAA all opt to become employees of the JPA
rather than remain state employees, the one-time costs for the
layoff program, which would be between $200,000 and $265,000.
(When state positions are eliminated the Department of Personnel
Administration requires a layoff program, which usually includes
a severance package equal to four to six months of the
employee's salary.) Generally, bills of this nature specify who
the partners in the JPA will be. This bill does not.
Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether the partners in
the JPA would be responsible for the providing the funding for
the layoff process or the state does. If the state is held
responsible, funding for the layoffs would come either from the
Fairs and Exposition Fund or the General Fund.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, this bill would allow the
28th DAA to operate free of the constraints created by state
bureaucracy and provide a higher level of accountability at a
local level. Further, this bill would allow the operation of
the fair to be closely aligned with local government, helping
the fair to better reflect the local area. Supporters have
stated that with greater efficiency and closer links to local
government, this bill would assist the 28th DAA to operate
more successfully.
2)San Bernardino County Fair . The 28th DAA encompasses the
County of San Bernardino and is located in Victorville,
California. Founded in 1946 on land donated by local
residents, the 28th DAA is the last California fair operated
along Route 66. The 28th DAA annually holds approximately
75-80 events and a nine-day county fair at the end of May.
3)Joint Powers Agreement is a formal, legal agreement between
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two or more public agencies that share a common power and want
to jointly implement programs, build facilities, or deliver
services. With a JPA, a member agency agrees to be responsible
for delivering a service on behalf of the other member
agencies. For example, the City of San Jose signed a JPA with
Santa Clara County to jointly administer redevelopment funds.
Agencies that can exercise joint powers include federal
agencies, state departments, counties, cities, special
districts, school districts and redevelopment agencies. While
this legislation authorizes the San Bernardino County Fair to
enter into a joint powers agreement, it does not specify who
the other member agencies will be.
4)California's Network of Fairs includes 80 fair organizations
divided into four categories:
a) 52 DAAs - a state government entity.
b) 23 county fairs - county government or not-for-profit
organizations.
c) 2 citrus fruit fairs - not-for-profit organizations.
d) The California Exposition and State Fair (Cal Expo) - a
state agency.
5)Related Legislation . SB 1085 (Runner), Chapter 320, Statutes
of 2010, allowed the 50th DAA, with the consent of the
Secretary of CDFA, to enter into a joint powers agreement with
a JPA for the purpose of operating, maintaining and improving
the 50th DAA. This bill is similar to SB 1085 (Runner). The
main difference is the 50th DAA had a specific JPA partner,
the City of Lancaster.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081