BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1902
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          Date of Hearing:   May 14, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 1902 (Bonta) - As Amended:  April 9, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              EducationVote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill repeals the requirement to assess and collect fees for  
          families with children in part-day preschool programs.   
          Eliminates the requirement for the report on fees collected from  
          families who have children enrolled in the California State  
          Preschool Program (CSPP) to report the amount of family fees  
          collected for the part-day preschool programs.  Specifies that  
          the authority provided to the Superintendent of Public  
          Instruction (SPI) to establish a fee schedule shall not apply to  
          the part-day preschool program.    

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          General Fund/Proposition 98 costs in the range of $5 million to  
          $10 million. CDE reports that roughly $5 million dollars was  
          collected from part-day preschool fees through December, roughly  
          the halfway point of collections. If the state were to eliminate  
          the fee revenue and not provide additional funding, the state  
          could lose roughly 3,000 part-day preschool slots. This is a  
          rough estimate.  Fees are income based and it is difficult to  
          know which families would be impacted. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . There is a significant gap between the available  
            slots in child care, preschool, and afterschool programs and  
            the number of children in California that need these  
            placements. According to the author, one factor is that  
            services are too expensive or difficult to access.  Families  
            with young children are among the most financially stretched  
            groups in the state, with 43% of households with children  
            earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level. The  








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            author contends that eliminating family fees for part-day  
            state preschool programs provides children greater access to a  
            free, public education for all preschoolers, especially our  
            most vulnerable children.

           2)Background .  The 2012-13 Budget Act required fees to be  
            assessed and collected for the part-day preschool program,  
            beginning July 1, 2012.  The fee is collected according to a  
            family fee schedule based on the income of the family and  
            family size.  For example, a family of four earning $2,860 a  
            month or $34,320 annually is assessed $3.45 per day or $69 per  
            month if the child attends daily.  If the family receives wrap  
            around child care services in order to get full day care, the  
            family pays the full day fee.  A child at risk of abuse,  
            neglect or exploitation, a family receiving child protective  
            services, or a family that has a certification from a county  
            child welfare agency that child care services is necessary,  
            and a family receiving CalWORKs, may be exempt from family  
            fees.   


          According to contractors, the fee has deterred families from  
          enrolling in or remaining in the CSPP and has resulted in a  
          significant workload increase to assess and collect the fee.    
          Contractors also report that they have slots that are not filled  
          due to the fees.  

          The CDE reports that between July and December 2013, $5.372  
          million was collected from part-day preschool program family  
          fees.  When annualized, the CDE projects receiving $10.7 million  
          a year.  This does not result fully in the expansion of slots.   
          The budget was reduced by $3.4 million; an amount the  
          Legislative Analyst's Office predicted would be collected in  
          fees.  
           
           In 2013, the Assembly Budget Subcommittees 1 on Health and Human  
          Services and 2 on Education Finance approved a motion to repeal  
          the part-day CSPP fee during last year's budget hearings.  
          Ultimately this action was not approved a part of the 2013-14  
          Budget Act.  The budget required the SPI to modify the family  
          fee schedule.  The revised fee schedule is intended to be easier  
          to implement and is expected to be implemented beginning July 1.  
           

           Related legislation  .  SB 1123 (Liu), pending in the Senate,  








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          modifies Title 5 general child care and development programs  
          serving children from birth to age three, including the  
          elimination of the part-day CSPP fees.        


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081