BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Richard K. Rainey, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 2556 HEARING: 6/21/00
AUTHOR: Hertzberg FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/19/00 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 requires the Governor's Office of
Planning and Research (OPR) to operate a three-part School
and Community Partnership Program:
I. School Community Partnership Commission . Assembly Bill
2556 creates the state School Community Partnership
Commission with seven members:
Three appointed by the Governor.
Two appointed by the Assembly Speaker.
Three appointed by the Senate Rules Committee.
AB 2556 requires the Commission to oversee the new program.
The Commission must develop guidelines for local
AB 2556 -- 6/19/00 -- Page 2
organizations' result-based local strategic planning for
comprehensive services to youths for before school after
school, and out-of-school programs. The bill requires the
Commission to help local organizations with their strategic
plans. The Commission must work with the State Department
of Education to identify technical assistants and
information to help local school community partnership
programs.
II. Planning grant program . Assembly Bill 2556 requires
the new Commission to allocate money to every county to pay
for the preparation of a "county wide comprehensive
results-based strategic plan" for programs to help children
aged 5 to 18. A county's annual planning grant depends on
the number of children in that county:
-------------------------------------------------------------
| Youth population | County planning grant |
|------------------------------+------------------------------|
| Over 1,000,000 | $600,000 |
|------------------------------+------------------------------|
| 500,001 to 1,000,000 | $300,000 |
|------------------------------+------------------------------|
| 300,001 to 500,000 | $150,000 |
|------------------------------+------------------------------|
| 150,001 to 300,000 | $100,000 |
|------------------------------+------------------------------|
| 150,000 or less | $75,000 |
-------------------------------------------------------------
AB 2556 requires each county board of supervisors to award
these funds to an existing "strategic planning body" with
representatives of schools, county government, cities,
nonprofit groups, law enforcement, health providers, and
individuals. If there is no existing group, county
officials can use some of the funds to create one.
The bill requires each county's planning group to adopt and
annually update "before, after, and out-of-school programs
strategic plans" that include:
Accountability statements.
Objectives.
Activities that match the objectives.
Performance and outcome measures.
AB 2556 -- 6/19/00 -- Page 3
The bill encourages each county's strategic plan to
establish partnerships with local schools and community
sites that serve children aged 5 to 18, and to link its
work with the existing Children and Families Commissions.
AB 2556 appropriates $8 million from the General Fund to
the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to pay
for the new state Commission and the planning grant
program. The state Commission and its planning grant
program automatically terminate on July 1, 2005.
III. Operations grant program . Assembly Bill 2556
requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research
(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 from
a list of nine. OPR must consult with the State Department
of Education in developing guidelines for awarding funds.
Starting in 2000, OPR must issue requests for grant
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.
AB 2556 -- 6/19/00 -- Page 4
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. Follow the money . AB 2556 appropriates $8 million to
OPR to pay for the new state School Community Partnership
Commission and its planning grant program. AB 2556
requires OPR to administer the new operations grants
program but the bill does not appropriate any money for
that grant program. Until the May 31 amendments, the bill
would have appropriated $4 million for the operations
grants. The Committee may wish to consider an amendment
that restores the $4 million appropriation to OPR for its
operations grants program.
3. Fill in the blanks . The creation of the new state
Commission on Schools and Community Partnerships leaves
several questions unanswered. Will the State Senate
confirm the Governor's appointees? Are the commissioners
appointed for fixed terms, or do they serve at the pleasure
of their appointing authorities? Is there a deadline for
the Governor, the Assembly Speaker, and the Senate Rules
Committee to appoint their respective commissioners? If
one appointing authority fails to appoint commissioners,
should the other appointing authorities fill the missing
seats? Is there a deadline for the new Commission to adopt
its guidelines for local planning? Can the local groups
receive grants before the state Commission adopts its
guidelines? The Committee may wish to consider amendments
that answer these questions before the Legislature sets up
a new multi-million dollar program.
4. Recently amended . The June 19 amendments created the
new state Commission and added the planning grant program
to AB 2556. The sponsors say that each county needs to
have a strategic plan for before, after, and out-of-school
programs to coordinate the agencies that run the programs.
AB 2556 -- 6/19/00 -- Page 5
On July 5, the Committee is likely to hear AB 729
(Lowenthal) which creates a third grant program for school
and community partnership programs. The Committee may wish
to consider why the grant programs are in two different
bills. The Committee may wish to consider contingent
enactment language to link these bills.
5. 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,
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?
6. 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 two new grant programs' effectiveness,
comparing their performance to other partnership programs.
7. 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 729
(Lowenthal) creates the Hertzberg Community Facility Grant
Program. 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.
8. Technical amendments . AB 2556 needs these technical
amendments:
Planning terms . The bill refers to the new local
plans as, "school community partnership program plans"
and "results-based local strategic planning for
community services," "countywide comprehensive
AB 2556 -- 6/19/00 -- Page 6
results-based strategic plan," and "before, after, and
out-of-school programs strategic plans." The bill
should use one consistent term.
Commission terms . The bill refers to the new local
groups as, "local organizations," "local school
community partnership programs," "local strategic
planning bodies," and "community partnerships." The
bill should use one consistent term.
Ghost regulations . The bill requires the new state
Commission to adopt "guidelines" but requires the
local strategic planning bodies to follow these
standards. That approach creates the functional
equivalent of state regulations for local
implementation. The bill should avoid
"ghost-regulations" by requiring the state Commission
to adopt its rules through the Administrative
Procedures Act, just like other state regulations.
Population standards . The new planning grants
program sends state money to counties based on their
"youth population" not their total population. The
bill should define that term to include young people
between the ages of five and 18. The bill should rely
on the population estimates issued by the State
Department of Finance.
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
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.
Sunset clause . The bill sunsets the new state
Commission and its planning grants program on January
AB 2556 -- 6/19/00 -- Page 7
1, 2005 but does not automatically terminate OPR's
operations grants program. The bill should use the
same sunset date.
9. 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
AB 2556 -- 6/19/00 -- Page 8
Support and Opposition (6/19/)
Support : State Superintendent Delaine Eastin, After School
Program Coalition, American Jewish Congress, California
Children Youth and Family Coalition, California Church
IMPACT, California Coalition for Children's Safety and
Health, California Collaboration for Youth, California
Council of Churches, California Parks and Recreation
Society, California Public Health Association-North,
California School Boards Association, California School
Nurses Association, California State Parent Teachers
Association, California Teachers Association, Center for
Youth Policy & Advocacy, Children NOW, Children's Advocacy
Institute, Chula Vista Coordinating Council, City and
County of San Francisco, Fight Crime: Invest In Kids,
Friends Committee on Legislation, Jack Berman Advocacy
Center, Kern County Superintendent of Schools, League of
Women Voters of California, Lutheran Office of Public
Policy, Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, San
Francisco Beacon Initiative.
Opposition : California Right to Life Committee Inc.,
Department of Finance.