BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Richard K. Rainey, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 2556 HEARING: 6/21/00
AUTHOR: Hertzberg FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/14/00 CONSULTANT: Detwiler
SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS GRANT PROGRAM
Background and Existing Law
Many families struggle to cope with problems that threaten
to overwhelm their neighborhoods. The problems of drug
use, gangs, promiscuity, and academic failure result from
multiple and complex causes that defy simple and swift
solutions. One promising response pioneered in New York
City is the establishment of beacon centers. Much like
19th Century settlement houses, beacon centers offer
neighborhood residents places where they can receive a wide
range of health and human services. Using public schools
as the location for operating programs lowers costs and
boosts participation.
The beacon centers' experience in New York and San
Francisco shows that public agencies and private
foundations can cooperate to lift up school performance,
reduce violence, and train youngsters. Program managers
weave together many sources of funding but each center
needs about $300,000 a year to cover its core costs. State
funding can promote school-community partnership centers.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 2556 creates the "School and Community
Partnerships Grant Program," and assigns its administration
to the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR).
OPR must consult with the State Department of Education in
developing guidelines for awarding funds.
AB 2556 requires OPR to award grants to school and
community partnership collaborations to pay their planning,
operating, and capital costs. A community partnership must
include a local school district and at least four other
entities.
Starting in 2000, OPR must issue requests for grant
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applications by November 1. Applications are due March 1.
OPR must award its grants by May 15.
Planning grants cannot exceed $50,000. Operating grants
must supplement, not supplant, existing services and funds.
These grants cannot exceed $200,000 in the first year and
$150,000 in the second and succeeding years. Capital
grants cannot exceed $250,000. The bill requires the grant
recipients to raise local matching funds: $1 for each $4 of
state grant funds in the first year; $1 for each $2 in
grant funds in the second and succeeding years.
Grant applicants must have program plans that cover at
least two out of five listed program topics. Applications
must contain nine specified components that document needs
and describe programs and their intended results. AB 2556
lists 16 different categories of social, health, and
academic services that the programs may provide.
The bill contains extended declarations of legislative
intent and defines its terms.
Comments
1. Beacons of hope . Beset by multiple troubles, some
neighborhoods struggle to raise their young and protect
their old. Beacon centers, the innovative concept of
concentrating help and hope on school campuses, have shown
that they can improve people's lives. Patient support is
needed to reverse decades --- even generations --- of tough
problems. By paying for beacon centers' core costs, AB
2556 links state funding with private foundations, school
districts, and help from other local agencies. These
collaborations work, if given a fair chance.
2. Show me the money . Until the May 31 amendments, AB
2556 would have appropriated $4 million from the State
General Fund to pay for the new grant program. Without a
separate appropriation and without support from the 2000-01
State Budget, the Committee may wish to consider how state
officials can implement the grant program.
3. Who's in charge ? By law, the Governor's Office of
Planning and Research staffs the Governor and his Cabinet.
OPR's statutory mission focuses on environmental quality,
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local government, and land use planning and development.
Only rarely has OPR given out grants. The Committee may
wish to consider if another state agency with more fiscal
experience should operate the new grant program. The State
Department of Education? The Governor's Education
Secretary? The Secretary of the Health and Welfare Agency?
4. Watch out . Government programs start with the best
intentions but if no one pays attention they can lose their
way. Term limits make it harder for legislators to track
the programs they've created. Legislators often insist on
monitoring devices to make sure that new programs stay on
track. Sunset clauses, evaluations, regular reports, and
oversight hearings are among the effective methods. AB
2556 allows OPR to pay for evaluation but does not require
any specific feedback devices. The Committee may wish to
consider an amendment that requires the Legislative Analyst
to review the new grant program's effectiveness after five
years, comparing its performance to other partnership
programs.
5. Too much, too soon ? AB 2556 is not the only bill to
create a new grant program for OPR to administer. SB 1408
(Alarc?n) creates environmental justice grants. AB 1968
(Wiggins) creates the Local Regional Planning Support Fund.
AB 2774 (Corbett) creates the Smart Growth Land use and
Development Grant Program. The Committee may wish to
consider if OPR has the institutional capacity to run so
many new grant programs.
6. Technical amendments . To make AB 2556 more effective,
the Committee should adopt these technical amendments:
Districts . The bill allows community partnerships
to include "recreation and park districts" but many
other types of special districts deliver similar
services. The bill should refer to "special
districts."
Community colleges . The bill requires schools to
work with at least four entities from a list of eight
but doesn't name community college districts.
Professional . The bill defines a "community
partnership coordinator" as a "professional" who works
for the sponsoring organization. Unless someone needs
a specific license to practice medicine, psychology,
or social work, the bill should refer to a "person."
Administrative costs . The bill allows OPR to spend
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funds for its administrative costs but does not cap
the amount. The bill should set a 5% limit.
Timing . The bill requires OPR to start the grant
program in November 2000, before the bill takes
effect. The bill should delay the program's start
until next January.
7. Double-referral . Because AB 2556 affects local
schools, the Senate Rules Committee has ordered a
double-referral for this bill to the Senate Education
Committee.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 6-3
Assembly Appropriations Committee:15-6
Assembly Floor: 52-26
Support and Opposition (6/15/)
Support : State Superintendent Delaine Eastin, After School
Program Coalition, California Children Youth and Family
Coalition, California Coalition for Children's Safety and
Health, California School Boards Association, California
Teachers Association, Children's Advocacy Institute, Chula
Vista Coordinating Council, City and County of San
Francisco, Fight Crime Invest In Kids, Kern County
Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco Beacon Initiative,
Opposition : Unknown.