AB 48 Sent to the Governor

Assembly Bill 48 (O’Donnell) – the Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020 – has been  sent to Governor Newsom for his action. We expect the Governor will sign the bill prior to October 13th (deadline to act on bills) in order to start a campaign.

AB 48 was amended on September 10, 2019 and would place a $15 billion state school facilities bond on the ballot for the March 2020 Statewide Primary Election. In addition to K-12 ($9 billion) and Community Colleges ($2 billion), the bill now includes California State University ($2 billion) and the University of California ($2 billion).

K-12 Programs Funded:

• New Construction at $2.8 Billion
• Modernization at $5.2 Billion
• Lead in Water Testing and Remediation $150 Million (Out of Modernization)
• Career Technical Education at $500 Million
• Charter Schools at $500 Million

The bill also includes:

• Health and Safety Projects
• Disaster Assistance
• Financial Hardship
• Preschools, Kitchens, Health Facilities
• Small School District Assistance

For reference, we are including again the 30,000 foot level summary, to see the changes to current law click this link, then choose “Today’s Law as Amended.” Please click here to view the CASH letter sent to the Senate Education Committee and also delivered to the full Legislature.

~CASH Staff

Your Urgent Action is Needed Today to Protect the School Facility Program from Radical Changes

The State School Facility Program (SFP) is under attack. We need your immediate action to protect the SFP and state matching funds. Governor Newsom’s Department of Finance (DOF) is proposing amendments to AB 48 which would effectively end the current SFP. The amendments would also:

• Reduce access to Developer Fees,
• Create a new untested, unproven allocation system for New Construction and Modernization,
• Stop accepting new applications for New Construction and Modernization until all Proposition 51 funds have been expended – which means for at least the next two years
• Make many other changes all of which create uncertainty and no assurance that projects will be funded.

School Districts and County Offices of Education: click here for the call to action scripts.

Associate (private sector) members: click here for the call to action scripts.

Please note: If your district is on these Acknowledged List data runs; for New Construction and Modernization, your project could be at risk if the Department of Finance does not change their proposal.

For more information, click here to view the final AB 48 Coalition Legislative Alert.

SAB MEETING NOTES

The State Allocation Board (Board) met on August 28, 2019, to hear a number of business items, including regulatory changes to the Career Technical Education Facilities Program.

Executive Officer Statement

In her Executive Officer Statement, Lisa Silverman provided the following updates:

• Upcoming Bond Sale – There will be a General Obligation Bond sale next month. Staff anticipates receiving bond proceeds for the School Facility Program from this sale and will prepare Priority Funding Apportionments commensurate with the funds received, for presentation to the State Allocation Board (SAB) at the September 25, 2019 meeting.
• Career Technical Education Facilities Program Stakeholder Meeting – OPSC recently held two CTEFP Stakeholder meetings to evaluate the program’s funding order and to determine if regulation changes are necessary. Staff developed and presented multiple funding distribution scenarios to illustrate the impacts of any changes and solicited feedback. The stakeholder input was included as part of the policy discussion on potential change(s) to the regulations.
• Sixth CTEFP Filing Round – The filing period for the sixth round of CTEFP funding is now open. CTE Grant applications are due to CDE on or before December 2, 2019, and the Application for Career Technical Education Funding (Form SAB 50-10) is due to OPSC on April 6, 2020. For this round, CDE will be providing scores on a flow basis, and OPSC encourages projects with a score of 105 or higher to submit the SAB 50-10 form as soon as possible to ensure applicants can participate in the spring 2020 Priority Funding filing period. Future SAB regulatory amendments to the CTEFP funding order as a result of the Action item in today’s agenda will be applicable to the sixth and future rounds.
• Priority Funding Apportionments – At the April 24, 2019 meeting, the Board approved $221.9 million in priority funding apportionments for 108 projects representing 54 school districts, including nine Career Technical Education Facilities Program (CTEFP) projects approved as a reservation of funds. A total of 11 projects did not submit the form SAB 50-05 by the required deadlines and were returned to the Unfunded List (Lack of AB 55 Loans).

What Environmental Issues Present the Biggest Challenge For Your Facility/Maintenance Department?

The CASH Environmental Committee has convened under the leadership of CASH Board Member Dwayne Mears (PlaceWorks) to advise the CASH Board and Legislative Advisory Committee on the increasing number of state environmental requirements broadly related to school siting (CEQA); water quality (example: lead testing); air quality (example: Healthy Schools Act/Use of Roundup) and energy efficiency (Cal GreenCode).