Legislative update: CSBA adds new co-sponsored bill; ADU bills amended in Senate
Published: May 9, 2018
CSBA has signed on as a co-sponsor of
Senate Constitutional Amendment 22 (Allen, Ben, D-Santa Monica), bringing CSBA’s total package of sponsored and co-sponsored legislation to eight bills. SCA 22 would amend the California Constitution to allow school district parcel taxes to pass with 55 percent of local voters approving, rather than the current two-thirds requirement.
Download info sheet on CSBA's 2018 sponsored/cosponsored bills
(Updated 5-9-18)
View all 2017-18 bills with CSBA positions
(Updated 5-9-18; you may need to refresh browser after opening to view the latest version)
Status of CSBA sponsored/co-sponsored bills:
Assembly Bill 2808 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance), Local Control Funding Formula base grant target increase: Placed on the Assembly Appropriations suspense file on April 25; will be heard on or before May 25.
AB 2228 (Wood, D-Healdsburg), Wildfire mitigation: Placed on the Assembly Appropriations suspense file on April 18; will be heard on or before May 25.
AB 276 (Medina, D-Riverside), Charter school transparency: Referred to both the Senate Education and Judiciary Committees on April 19, awaiting hearing in Senate Education.
AB 1951 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), Pathways to College Act: Placed on the Assembly Appropriations suspense file on May 2; will be heard on or before May 25.
AB 2285 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), Out-of-state prepared teachers: Passed the Assembly Floor on consent on April 19 and sent to the Senate; passed the Senate Education Committee today (May 9) on consent.
AB 3149 (Limón, D-Santa Barbara), Substitute teacher service and permits: Passed by the Assembly Education Committee today (May 9) with significant committee amendments.
As amended, the bill now directs the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to make regulatory changes that would allow an emergency substitute permit holder more time to complete the 45 hours of pre-service preparation required for a Teaching Permit for Statutory Leave if the substitute is filling in for a teacher of record who unexpectedly extends their leave beyond the current limit of 30 days. These amendments replace language in the bill (previously amended on May 1) that would have allowed a substitute teacher to teach in a classroom for up to 60 days (or 50 days for special education) when the teacher of record extends their leave beyond 30 days. Today’s amendments would set a deadline of July 1, 2019 for any necessary changes to regulations that address this issue.
AB 3192 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), Medi-Cal Billing Option; audit guide: Currently resides in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee today (May 9).
SCA 22 (Allen, Ben, D-Santa Monica), Parcel taxes: Passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee today (May 9) and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments.
Additional bills of note:
Senate Bill 831 (Weickowski, D-Fremont); SB 1469 (Skinner D-Berkeley); AB 2890 (Ting, D-San Francisco) – Accessory dwelling units – There is a trio of bills currently active in the Legislature related to the construction of accessory dwelling units, also sometimes known as “in-law units” or “granny flats.” SB 831 and SB 1469, as originally drafted, would both prohibit school districts from charging school impact fees of any amount for the construction of ADUs. With amendments recently made to both bills, neither bill would prohibit school impact fees from being charged, but would set a cap on such fees at $3,000 per ADU — an amount that would fall short of a Level I developer fee.
CSBA remains opposed to SB 831 and SB 1469, as both would significantly reduce an important source of revenue which school districts rely on to meet their facilities needs.
A third bill, AB 2890 (Ting), was identical in language to SB 1469 when first introduced. However, AB 2890 was recently significantly amended to remove references to or effect on school impact fees. As the current version of the bill does not impact public schools, CSBA’s position on AB 2890 is now “neutral.”
SB 1127 (Hill, D-San Mateo) – Administration of medical cannabis – Support – SB 1127, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 8, would allow a parent or guardian to administer medical cannabis in a non-smoking and non-vaping form (i.e. oil, capsules, tinctures or similar) to their child on school grounds, if the child is a qualified cannabis patient with a doctor’s recommendation. Parents would be required to bring the cannabis medicine with them to administer to their child on campus (in a non-disruptive manner), and to take it with them after administering the dose; the medicine would not be permitted to be left on school grounds. The bill would allow governing boards to choose whether to opt-in to allowing medical cannabis on their campuses (boards would also have the ability to opt-out for any reason), and would not require any local educational agency staff to handle or administer medical cannabis. CSBA supports the bill.
AB 1248 (Gloria, D-San Diego) – Graduation dress code – Oppose – AB 1248 carries the same language as AB 233 (Gloria) from 2017, a bill that would limit the ability of local boards to establish and enforce dress code policies for graduation ceremonies. While the bill endeavors to protect students’ rights to wear “religious, ceremonial, or cultural adornments” during graduations, the measure is unintentionally broad and could leave LEAs open to legal challenges. The bill passed the Senate Education Committee today (May 9) after a lengthy discussion and will next be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The identical AB 233 was passed by the Legislature in 2017 but was vetoed by Gov. Brown, who cited existing case law protecting student freedom of speech and cited local control in his veto message: “To the extent that there is a dispute about what a student can wear at school graduation ceremonies, I believe those closest to the problem — principals and democratically elected school boards — are in the best position to make wise judgments."
Looking ahead:
Gov. Brown will release his revised 2018–19 state budget proposal on Friday, May 11, at 10 a.m.; the release will be broadcast on CalChannel. CSBA will report on key details of the May Revision on May 11 following its release.
Appropriations committees in both houses will have until May 25 to hear their respective suspense files, determining which bills requiring an appropriation of funds will move to floor votes and which will be held in committee.