BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1271
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1271 (Corbett) - As Amended: August 6, 2012
Policy Committee: EducationVote:8-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of General Services (DGS) to
convene or continue a workgroup to develop and adopt
recommendations for improving the oversight of school
construction projects. Sunsets these provisions on January 1,
2015. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the workgroup to review both of the following:
a) Changes made internal to the Division of the State
Architect (DSA) to improve its oversight of school
construction projects since December 2011. Further
requires the workgroup to make recommendations it deems
necessary to further improve oversight, process, training,
and inspection activities concerning school facility
construction, seismic, fire, and life safety.
b) The Field Act, relating to school facilities, to
consider, what, if any, statutory changes should be made to
prohibit occupancy when and if significant safety concerns
are identified or what, if any, penalties DSA should levy
against school districts that do not provide all required
documents.
2)Requires DGS, for the purpose of convening the workgroup, to
adapt or alter an existing advisory board or committee to
ensure members represent specified entities, including K-14
education segments, DSA staff, engineers, the State Fire
Marshall, the Seismic Safety Commission, and architect.
3)Requires DSA to report the recommendations of the workgroup to
the Senate Select Committee on Earthquake and Disaster
Preparedness (The Senate Select Committee) by July 1, 2013 at
SB 1271
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a public hearing of the committee and to the appropriate
legislative policy committees. Further requires the Senate
Select Committee to provide an opportunity for public comment
before proposing statutory changes recommended by the
workgroup.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF administrative costs of approximately $150,000 to complete
the reporting requirement pursuant to this measure.
2)State school construction bond cost pressure, likely in the
low millions, to provide increased funding to implement any
seismic safety or Field Act recommendations made pursuant to
this report. Proposition 1D, passed by voters in 2006,
provided approximately $200 million for the Seismic Mitigation
program, a subset of Facilities Hardship program. This
funding is to be allocated to the most vulnerable school
facilities that meet certain criteria, posing an unacceptable
risk of injury to occupants in the event of a seismic
occurrence.
COMMENTS
1)Background . The School Facility Program provides state
funding assistance for two major types of facility
construction projects: new construction and modernization.
The program also provides funding for hardship, including
seismic mitigation, which provides funding for the most
vulnerable school facility in terms of threats to life and
safety. The process for accessing the state assistance for
funding for these state facility projects is divided into two
steps: an application for eligibility, and application for
funding.
Existing law requires all proposed public school construction
and modernization projects to be approved by the DSA located
with the Department of General Services. DSA reviews
architectural plans for compliance with the Field Act (seismic
safety); fire, life and safety requirements, and
specifications under the Americans with Disability Act. It
also reviews projects for compliance with the California
Building Standards code, as specified. Once the plans are
reviewed and approved LEAs may proceed with the project.
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2)Purpose . In December 2011, the State Auditor (SA) released a
report concluding DSA lacks authority and had weak oversight
procedures, which increase the risk that school construction
projects may be unsafe. According to the author, "DSA was
unable to certify a significant number of completed school
construction projects and ensure they meet seismic safety
standards. As of December 2010, according to the �SA],
approximately 16,000 projects statewide remained uncertified."
The author further states: "SB 1271 requires key state
officials that work on school seismic safety to review
internal forms made by the DSA in response to the 2011 audit,
review the deficiencies in California's seismic safety
policies and establish standards to improve them while also
providing recommendations on how to amend the Field Act."
3)Need ? Since the release of the SA's report in December 2011,
DSA has undergone an internal review to streamline processes
in order to respond to the SA's recommendations. This review
has consisted of establishing advisory committees to examine
issues, including the Field Act. It is unclear how a
statutory requirement to submit a report will further this
process. If the Legislature is interested on the status and
recommendations of the internal process conducted by the DSA,
it is within its purview to request the DSA report to policy
or budget subcommittees on these issues without a statutory
requirement.
4)Change the sunset date . This measure requires DSA to submit a
report and complete its work related to the oversight of
school construction projects by July 2013. This bill also
sunsets this requirement in 2015. Staff recommends changing
the sunset date to January 1, 2014 to correspond more closely
with the reporting date requirement.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081