July 21, 2015

Dear Legislative Advisory Committee Members:

At the May 27th Board of Directors meeting, I was humbled to be appointed Chair of the Legislative Advisory Committee (LAC) by Jenny Hannah, C.A.S.H. Chair.  I am honored to follow in the shoes of Don Ulrich, who is now C.A.S.H. Vice Chair and Chair of the Annual Conference Planning Committee; this is a significant and exciting challenge that I am eager to fulfill.

As many who have chaired this critical flagship committee before me, I look forward to working with each and every one of you and to tap into your expertise to help provide recommendations and positions on legislation and other important political issues.  The work we do as a committee helps to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our membership to continue providing safe and healthy learning environments for the students of California.  Like my immediate predecessor, I think it is critical to remind ourselves that we are here to serve children, and to ensure their learning environment is the best it can be.

There are many high priority issues for the LAC members to engage as the 2015 Legislative session concludes and as we anticipate the new session commencing in January 2016. These include:

• The 2016 state school bond initiative
• Davis v. Fresno (lease-leaseback) and the appeal to the California Supreme Court
• The implementation of AB 566 (O’Donnell)
• Drought and water conservation
• The continuing implementation of the new DIR registration process initiated by SB 854

We have commenced holding LAC meetings around the state to provide additional outreach and opportunities to our membership.  Meeting periodically in different regions of the state will give us an opportunity to hear from more members in the field. We will also be able to devote more time in the discussion of legislative and regulatory proposals by meeting mid-morning and concluding by 3:00 PM.

Our first regional meeting was held on June 12th in Long Beach, which was a huge success with a massive turnout. There were 40 people in attendance, including seven members of the LAC.  We covered topics such as Davis v. Fresno, AB 566 (O’Donnell) on construction trade worker and apprentice certification, and reviewed pending legislation and regulatory issues.  We also had an update from Assembly Education Chair Patrick O’Donnell (D, Long Beach), on his own bill AB 566 as well as his thoughts on the future of the State participating in school construction needs.

The following is a schedule of upcoming LAC meetings:

Friday, August 21
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Poway Unified School District
Meeting open to all CASH members

Monday, October 19
Fairmont Hotel Newport Beach
LAC and Board (by invitation only)
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.  Joint Meeting
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.  Dinner

Early to mid-January, 2016 Meeting
Date/Location TBD

Again, I am honored to be appointed to lead the LAC and welcome your active participation in our meetings.

You are welcome to communicate with me at any time so please do not hesitate to contact me.  My contact information is: (916) 686-7711 or rdpierce@egusd.net.

Sincerely,

Robert Pierce
Chair, C.A.S.H. Legislative Advisory Committee

~ C.A.S.H. Staff