BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




          Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary

                                AB 798  (Wildman)

Hearing Date:9/1/99             Amended:4/12/99  as  
proposed to
                                                             
         be amended                                    
Consultant: Lisa Matocq         Policy Vote:Ed 14-0    
____________________________________________________________ 

BILL SUMMARY: 

AB 798, effective July 1, 2000, revises the funding formula  
for educational programs for adults in correctional  
facilities.

                         Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
  
Major Provisions                       1999-2000         2000-01        2001-02      
  Fund 
                         
Adult education                       --               Unknown increased  
costs,      General*                    
                                                  in excess of $ 150 and   
                                                  potentially significant
*Costs count toward meeting Prop. 98 minimum guarantee.

STAFF COMMENTS:  SUSPENSE FILE.   Under current law, county  
jail education programs are funded through a revenue limit  
formula that pays the county or district an amount per  
pupil based upon actual costs.  There are state-imposed  
growth limits that allow programs to claim funding for no  
more than 2 % more pupils (average daily attendance or  
ADA) than in the  prior year  .   This bill, for the 2000-01  
fiscal year, authorizes a county or district to use the  
average of the ADA claimed during the prior six years, or  
the average ADA claimed during the prior fiscal year, and  
makes related changes.  According to the Senate Education  
Committee analysis, the "current growth cap on programs for  
adults in correctional facilities prevents individual  
programs from returning to full strength whenever a jail  
has to be closed or renovated and the prisoner population,  
and thus the program participant population, declines  
temporarily."  











There are unknown increased costs, in excess of $150,000  
and potentially in excess of $1 million. The 1998-99 Budget  
Act contained $15.6 million to reimburse local agencies for  
adult education programs in correctional facilities, while  
the Department of Education (DOE) allocated only $14.2  
million.  The discrepancy was apparently due to temporary  
facilities closures.