BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1137 (Torres) - School Transportation: Apportionments
Amended: April 21, 2014 Policy Vote: Education
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: April 28, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1137 provides for school districts to be funded
at a minimum of 50% of approved transportation costs. Increased
funding for school districts currently funded below 50% would
occur over a 7-year period beginning in 2014-15. This bill also
provides that the 2013-14 fiscal year school transportation
funding receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), as
specified.
Fiscal Impact: Creating a "state share" of school transportation
funding as a percentage of school district costs, while holding
harmless the school districts that receive an allocation above
that percentage of their expenditures, will substantially
increase the state's General Fund contribution to school
transportation. The exact costs will vary year-to-year, based on
transportation expenses of certain school districts.
Establishing a COLA for all participating school districts will
also substantially increase state funding over time.
2014-15 - 2017-18: $165 million - $220 million (General
Fund) annually.
2018-19 - 2020-21: $220 million - $270 million (General
Fund) annually.
Background: Existing law authorizes school districts and county
offices of education (COEs) to provide transportation services
to regular education students attending their schools at the
discretion of their governing boards. State law requires school
districts to provide transportation services for special
education students whose individualized education programs
require such services. (Education Code � 39800 and � 41850)
School districts generally use general purpose or categorical
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funding, or both, for school transportation. The Home-to-School
Transportation (HTST) program, which is intended to help school
districts provide transportation services to special education
and regular education students, is an existing categorical
program that provides significant funding to some school
districts.
In 2013, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was enacted.
The LCFF replaces almost all sources of state funding, including
most categorical programs. However, the HTST program funding was
not incorporated into the LCFF, and instead remained as a
separate funding stream. State law also continues to require
that districts spend HTST funding on pupil transportation. Any
district that received HTST funding in 2012-13 continues to
receive that same amount of funding in addition to its LCFF
allocation each year. However, the HTST funding is not currently
eligible for future COLAs.
Proposed Law: This bill requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI), for the 2014-15 through 2020-21 fiscal years,
to apportion to each school district, county office of
education, entity providing services under a joint powers
agreement, or regional occupational center or program that
provides pupil transportation services either 100% of its school
transportation apportionment for the 2013-14 fiscal year, as
adjusted for COLA; or the following amount, whichever is
greater:
a) 2014-15: 41% of its approved transportation costs for the
prior fiscal year.
b) 2015-16: 42.5% of its approved transportation costs for
the prior fiscal year.
c) 2016-17: 44% of its approved transportation costs for the
prior fiscal year.
d) 2017-18: 45.5% of its approved transportation costs for
the prior fiscal year.
e) 2018-19: 47% of its approved transportation costs for the
prior fiscal year.
f) 2019-20: 48.5% of its approved transportation costs for
the prior fiscal year.
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g) 2020-21: 50% of its approved transportation costs for the
prior fiscal year.
This bill requires that the 2013-14 fiscal year school
transportation apportionment amount described above shall be
adjusted by the percentage change in the annual average value of
the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government
Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as
published by the United States Department of Commerce for the
12-month period ending in the third quarter of the prior fiscal
year. This percentage change shall be determined using the
latest data available as of May 10 of the preceding fiscal year
compared with the annual average value of the same deflator for
the 12-month period ending in the third quarter of the second
preceding fiscal year, using the latest data available as of May
10 of the preceding fiscal year, as reported by the Department
of Finance.
Related Legislation: SB 1166 (Vidak) 2014 would have entitled
school districts to receive state reimbursement for the full
cost of the home-to-school transportation of pupils. That bill
failed passage in the Senate Education Committee.
Staff Comments: Exact costs will be determined by actual funding
spent by school districts on transportation, and will be
increased by future COLAs authorized by this bill.
Costs may rise further, to the extent that schools decide to
provide more transportation. For school districts that currently
receive HTST allocations that cover less than 50% of their
costs, this bill will increase their allocations over time,
based on actual costs for prior fiscal year; the more they
spend, the more they receive in state funds (up to the
percentage cap for a given year). For example, if a school
district has current transportation expenditures of $1 million,
and its HTST allocation is only $250,000 (25% of its
expenditures), the district is currently spending $750,000 of
its discretionary funds on transportation. At full
implementation of this bill, that school district would receive
$500,000 to use toward transportation. If the district has
greater transportation needs than it was previously able to
fund, it might re-invest its $250,000 in "savings" into
transportation and thereby draw down an additional $125,000 in
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annual state HTST funding.