BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2328
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2328 (John A. Pérez)
As Introduced February 21, 2014
Majority vote
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW 13-0
APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Frazier, Achadjian, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Allen, Buchanan, Ian | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Calderon, Cooley, Daly, | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| |Gorell, Hagman, Medina, | |Gomez, Holden, Jones, |
| |Olsen, | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| |Quirk-Silva, Salas | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes the California Service Corps (CSC) in
state government. Specifically, this bill :
1)Creates the CSC to be administered by CaliforniaVolunteers
(Cal Volunteers), an entity in the Governor's Office
established by Executive Order S-24-06.
2)Requires the CSC to operate under the existing federal
AmeriCorps guidelines.
3)Specifies that members of the CSC must be determined through
an application process and establishes eligibility criteria
based on the existing qualifications for AmeriCorps and all of
the following:
a) The applicant must have an associate or a bachelor's
degree;
b) The applicant must provide proof of incurred student
loan debt;
c) The applicant must be 21 years of age or older; and,
d) The applicant must provide proof of two or more years of
continuous California residency.
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4)Permits local governments to apply to Cal Volunteers to host
CSC members through a competitive request for proposal (RFP)
process.
5)Declares the purpose of the CSC is to assist local governments
in implementing priorities described in the RFP.
6)Allows Cal Volunteers to solicit and accept private funding
from a variety of sources to help supplement the costs of the
CSC.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)On-going costs to Cal Volunteers in the range of $100,000 to
$200,000 General Fund (GF) for two personnel years (PYs) to
implement and administer the program.
2)Significant on-going costs in excess of $3 million (GF) to
provide stipends and education awards to program members. If
300 members were admitted to the program and each received the
$7,400 stipend and the $4,725 education award, the cost would
be $3.6 million annually. This could be partially offset by
federal funding and/or private donations in future years.
3)Minor and absorbable administrative costs to Cal Volunteers to
solicit and accept private funding.
COMMENTS : AmeriCorps is a national network of hundreds of
programs throughout the United States that engage Americans in
intensive service each year at nonprofits, schools, public
agencies, and community and faith-based groups across the
country. AmeriCorps consists of three main programs:
AmeriCorps State and National, whose members serve with national
and local nonprofit and community groups; AmeriCorps Volunteers
in Service to America, through which members serve full time
fighting poverty; and AmeriCorps National Civilian Community
Corps, a team-based residential program for young adults ages 18
to 24.
Members receive a $7,400 stipend and are eligible for an
education award that can be used to pay for college or pay back
student loans. To be eligible for a position with AmeriCorps,
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qualification guidelines focus on several factors, including
citizenship, age, work experience, and education. Additional
qualifications may vary depending on the particular program.
Individual states can receive financial support for their own
AmeriCorps programs, which California does through Cal
Volunteers. Cal Volunteers was established by Executive Order
S-24-06 with the specific mission to recruit and mobilize
citizens for volunteer service by identifying service
opportunities throughout California and by recognizing citizen
contributions as volunteers and participants in public service.
This bill tasks Cal Volunteers with administering the CSC.
The author notes that the current AmeriCorps operation in
California is widely successful, but funding limits capacity and
there is significant competition in the application process.
This bill requires the CSC to operate similarly to AmeriCorps
and establishes additional eligibility requirements for
applicants, including completion of a degree, proof of incurred
student loan debt, and state residency. The author states that
this bill will ensure that members of the CSC provide community
support to local governments seeking to implement various public
service priorities identified in an RFP process.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / A. & A.R. / (916)
319-3600
FN: 0003651