BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1455
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 2, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                  SB 1455 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended:  May 27, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                             EducationVote:7-0

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

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the State Librarian, within existing  
          resources, to prepare a comprehensive assessment on the  
          statewide need for the new construction, renovation, and  
          rehabilitation of public libraries, and submit a report to the  
          Governor, the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst,  
          and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the  
          Legislature on or before August 15, 2015.  Makes findings and  
          declarations regarding public libraries, the role libraries play  
          in the educational system and as a community's only public point  
          of access to resources for learning, and the growing need for  
          public library facilities.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          The State Librarian estimates workload costs of approximately  
          $43,000 (Federal Library Services and Technology Act) to develop  
          and administer the survey, provide webinar based training to  
          public library staff to complete the needs assessment and  
          produce a final report. The State Librarian indicates the  
          library plans to use existing federal funds for this purpose. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . The California Library Association, the sponsor of  
            the bill, states that a needs assessment is essential to move  
            forward with efforts to provide a state bond for library  
            construction. 

           2)Background.  The last library bond approved by voters was the  
            California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library  
            Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2000 (Proposition 14)  








                                                                  SB 1455
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            in March 2000 for $350 million.  The bond required a 35% local  
            match and had sufficient funding for about 25% of the projects  
            requesting funds (45 out of 199 projects).  

            The last library bond on the ballot was Proposition 81, the  
            California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library  
            Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2006, which would have  
            provided $600 million for the construction and rehabilitation  
            of public libraries.  This bond failed by a 47.3 - 52.7% vote  
            on the June 2006 ballot.  

            The last needs assessment was conducted in 2007 by the  
            California State Library.  The California Public Library  
            Facilities Needs Assessment surveyed California public  
            libraries to determine the number of building projects needed  
            in the following 10 years and the amount of funds needed to  
            support those projects.  The survey identified 662 projects in  
            need of funding between 2007-2016, with a total cost of over  
            $8 billion.  Eighty-five percent of the funding was needed for  
            new library construction.  
             
            Analysis Prepared by  :    Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)  
            319-2081