BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1455
AUTHOR: DeSaulnier
AMENDED: March 26, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 2, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo
NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Governance
and Finance. A "do pass" motion should include referral to the
Committee on
Governance and Finance.
SUBJECT : California Reading and Literacy Improvement and
Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act
of 2014.
SUMMARY
This bill enacts the California Reading and Literacy
Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond
Act of 2014 to be submitted to the voters at the 2014 statewide
primary election. If approved by the voters, the Act would
authorize the issuance of an unspecified amount in general
obligation bonds for public library construction and
renovation.
BACKGROUND
In 1988, the voters approved $75 million in state general
obligation bonds under the California Library Construction and
Renovation Bond Act of 1988 to establish a grant fund for the
acquisition, construction, remodeling, or rehabilitation of
public library facilities.
In 2000, the voters approved $350 million in state general
obligation bonds under the California Reading and Literacy
Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond
Act of 2000 (Proposition 14) for the purpose of financing
public library construction and renovation. These funds have
been fully expended.
In June of 2006, the voters rejected Proposition 81, a $600
million state general obligation bond measure, with
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approximately 53% of voters voting against it. Proposition 81,
similar to the California Reading and Literacy Improvement and
Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2000,
would have provided financing for public library construction
and renovation. However, the measure would have given priority
to projects that were deemed "Outstanding" for Proposition 14
funds but not funded in the third application cycle.
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Places a general obligation bond measure for an
unspecified amount on the 2014 statewide general election
ballot to finance a public library construction and
renovation program utilizing a competitive grant process.
2) Authorizes the California Public Library Construction
Board to adopt rules, regulations, and policies for the
bond program and review grant applications.
3) Requires recipients to provide matching funds in an amount
equal to 35 percent of the costs of the project and limits
state funding available to a maximum of
$30 million per project.
4) Establishes criteria and procedures for the allocation of
grant funds.
5) Specifies intent of the Legislature that the State
Librarian and the Bond Board develop an application
process that is sufficiently streamlined to decrease
application costs and incentivize a high number of library
applicants to participate.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author's office,
public libraries are a vital part of the educational
system. They provide resources and services for all
residents of California, including preschoolers and K-12
and college-aged students. Libraries are offering
essential public services such as online homework
tutoring, computer-based resume building, job search
programs, and literacy tutoring. The author's office
indicates that in new communities, residents are demanding
library facilities, and in older communities, many
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libraries are inadequate and are in need of rehabilitation
or seismic retrofit upgrade. Additionally, several
libraries lack the physical infrastructure to allow them
to benefit from modern broadband technology upgrades.
2) Proposition 14 . In March 2000, voters approved
Proposition 14, a $350 million library bond measure. Due
to high demand, the California Public Library Construction
and Renovation Board was forced to deny approximately 75
percent of all applications due to lack of additional bond
funding. The chart below shows the Proposition 14 grants
awarded and projects funded by the California Public
Construction and Renovation Board in each cycle.
--------------------------------------------
|Project Applications |Grant Awards |
--------------------------------------------
|----+-------+----------+-----+--------------|
|Cycl|# |State |Proje|State Funds |
|e |Projects |Funds |cts |Allocated |
| | |Requested | | |
| | | | | |
|----+-------+----------+-----+--------------|
|Cycl| 61|$530,430,8| 17| $145,395,447|
|e 1 | | 15| | |
| | | | | |
|----+-------+----------+-----+--------------|
|Cycl| 66|$547,149,5| 16|$108,157,632 |
|e 2 | | 19| | |
|----+-------+----------+-----+--------------|
|Cycl| 72|$586,692,4| 12| $80,588,293|
|e 3 | | 42| | |
|----+-------+----------+-----+--------------|
| | |Total | 45| $334,141,372|
| | |Funded: | | |
|----+-------+----------+-----+--------------|
| | |Sq Ft.: | | $1,503,471|
|----+-------+----------+-----+--------------|
| | |Avg. | |$7,425,364 |
| | |State | | |
| | |Grant: | | |
--------------------------------------------
3) Needs assessment . A 2007 needs assessment, conducted by
the California State Library, indicated there were more
than 662 public library projects that need to be built or
renovated from the 2007 fiscal year through the 2016
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fiscal year, totaling over $8 billion. The State Library
does not expect to complete a comprehensive update of this
needs assessment at this point in time. However, the
author's office estimates that the current need for
statewide public library construction, renovation, and
retrofit still exceeds well over $4 billion. The
California Library Association acknowledges that the 2007
needs assessment has likely changed, but they still
anticipate the overall need to be significant, likely in
excess of $7 billion.
4) The state's funding priorities . In 2006, Proposition 81
would have required that priority be given to eligible
projects that were not funded in the third application
cycle of the 2000 bond program, effectively earmarking 50%
of the $600 million of the funds that would have been
available. This bill does not require that such priority
be given to projects that were not funded in the 2000 bond
program. Consequently, representatives of some of the
unfunded library projects from 2000 may argue that this
bill forces them to "lose their place in line" and start
over in the planning process. However, rising
construction costs and new building codes could
effectively make the old applications outdated and support
the argument that the new bond program should begin with a
level playing field.
5) Infrastructure Bonds . The Legislative Analyst Office
recently released its review of the 2014 California
Five-Year Infrastructure Plan and raised many issues worth
consideration. These issues include the state's long-term
policy and infrastructure goals and how the state should
prioritize competing needs for capital facilities,
including transportation, K-12 education, higher
education, and water resources.
The annual debt-service cost to the General Fund is
estimated to be $5.6 billion in the 2014-15 fiscal year
and expected to rise to approximately $5.8 billion in
2017-18. This bill would increase the annual debt-service
cost to the General Fund, however the exact impact is
unknown.
6) Amendments . As previously mentioned, the State Library
will not be completing a comprehensive needs assessment on
the construction needs for public libraries. Many will
argue that the needs for both renovation and new
construction are significant, especially considering the
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number of qualified applications that went unfunded from
Proposition 14. But it has been over a decade since the
state has provided resources for library construction and
based on the widely differing estimates provided by the
author and the California Library Association, we do not
have sufficient data that demonstrates the current overall
need for library construction. Therefore, staff
recommends that the bill be amended to require the State
Library to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment on the
renovation of existing public libraries and construction
for new public libraries, to be reported to the Governor
as well as the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
both houses of the Legislature. Staff also recommends
that the bill be amended to place the proposed bond
measure on the 2016 statewide general election ballot
instead of the 2014 ballot, to allow for sufficient time
for the needs assessment to be completed and provided to
the Legislature.
7) Prior legislation . This bill is similar to SB 156
(Simitian) in 2007, which would have submitted a measure
to voters at the 2008 statewide primary election and
authorize the issuance of $4 billion in general obligation
bonds for public library construction and renovation.
This bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 1161 (Alpert), Chapter 698, 2004, placed the California
Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library
Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition
81) on the June 2006 ballot, which failed passage with
52.7% of voters voting against the initiative.
SUPPORT
California Library Association
Letters from individuals
OPPOSITION
None on file.