February 12, 2018
The CASH Facility Planners Meeting Update for February 2018 is now available and includes information regarding:
Click here to view the update.
~ CASH staff
The Senate Appropriations Committee held its final hearing of the year, and two bills of interest to CASH were approved. The following is a brief summary of the bills and the Committee vote.
More detailed information to follow:
AB 203 (O’Donnell) – School Facility Program/Flexibility
Requires the California Department of Education to establish standard for use by school districts to ensure that the design and construction of school facilities are educationally appropriate and promote school safety. The bill also requires the standards to ensure that the design and construction of school facilities provide school districts with flexibility in designing school facilities. This bill was approved on a 7-0 vote.
AB 746 (Fletcher-Gonzalez) – Water/Lead Testing
Requires schools to test for lead in potable water systems at every school site within its jurisdiction at least once a year or once every three years depending on whether a building was constructed on or after January 1, 1993. If the tests show elevated lead levels (15 parts per billion/United States Environmental Protection Agency Standard), the school must notify parents and guardians of the elevated level and provide information on lead developed by an agency with expertise in lead. This bill was approved on a 7-0 vote.
~ CASH Staff
July 13, 2017
Friday, July 15 is the last day for policy committees to hear and refer bills to fiscal committees. This is a key deadline because bills that are held in policy committees are effectively dead for this year, and bills that are approved and move onto the fiscal committees can continue to move through the legislative process. Below are status updates on bills of concern to the organization that CASH advocates have been actively engaged on. Thematically, these bills reflect two issue areas that have dominated school facility legislation this year – local bond accountability and transparency, and the lead content of water in schools. CASH is pleased to have helped improve some bills and helped block others that could not be improved. The Legislature convenes summer recess on Friday, July 21 and returns on Monday, August 21 to finish its business for 2017.
June 28, 2017
On Wednesday, June 28, the State Allocation Board (SAB) met to hear issues related to actions taken at their meeting on June 5, 2017 (approval of “Option 1”). Specifically, under Action Items, the agenda included “Regulatory Amendments for Increased Program Accountability” and “Regulatory Amendments for the Financial Hardship Program.” Under Informational Items, the agenda included “School Facility Program Application Processing.” The following is a summary of each agenda item.
Regulatory Amendments for Increased Program Accountability
At its June 5th meeting, the SAB approved a grant agreement template and conforming regulatory amendments. Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) staff indicated that necessary changes would need to be presented to the SAB if the budget trailer bill was enacted (AB 99 was subsequently signed by the Governor). This item seeks SAB approval for the revised template grant agreement. The item was APPROVED with no discussion.
Regulatory Amendments for the Financial Hardship Program
These proposed regulatory amendments would allow districts seeking Financial Hardship assistance to submit a request for funding without a pre-approved Financial Hardship status. This would allow a Financial Hardship approval process by accepting the Form SAB 50-04 when districts are ready to submit, and conducting a Financial Hardship review at the time the application is processed, prior to placement on the Unfunded List. CASH has advocated for this improvement to the Financial Hardship Program for many years and fully supports this proposal. This item was APPROVED with no discussion.
School Facility Program Application Processing
At their June 5th meeting, the SAB directed OPSC staff to begin processing the Applications Received Beyond Bond Authority List, as well as newly submitted applications. In this item, OPSC staff presented information to the SAB on how they will process the projects previously on this list, as well as Approved Applications for new construction and modernization projects received on or after April 1, 2017, that are now on the OPSC workload list. Included in the approval of “Option 1” was the requirement that districts must recalculate their enrollment and SFP eligibility. CASH strongly objects to this action. CASH Vice Chair Julie Arthur (Palm Springs USD) testified that CASH believes that the provisions of “Option 1” are inconsistent with statute, and asked the SAB to revisit the issue. No request to revisit “Option 1” or action was taken on this item because it was not an Action item.
The next SAB meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23, 2017.
~ CASH Staff
June 29, 2016
By Rebekah Cearley
2016-17 Budget
On Monday, June 27, 2016, the Governor signed SB 826, the 2016-17 Budget Act, and a number of trailer bills to implement policy changes in the budget. For the first time since the 1980’s, the Governor did not exercise his line-item veto authority to reduce or eliminate any of the budget appropriations passed by the Legislature.
The budget includes $122.5 billion in General Fund expenditures, $51.6 billion of which is slated for K-12 education programs. The budget prioritizes preparing for the next economic downturn, one of the Governor’s top priorities, by placing an extra $2 billion into the state’s Rainy Day Fund, bringing the total fund balance to $6.7 billion. The budget also addresses one of the Legislature’s top priorities by including $400 million for affordable housing, tied to future regulatory reform, and authorizing development of a $2 billion bond program to address homelessness for individuals with mental health needs. Details of this program are still being negotiated.