Legislative Update: CSBA co-sponsored charter transparency, student assessment bills moving forward
Published: June 20, 2018
2018–19 Budget Update
While the 2018–19 budget agreement awaits the Governor’s signature, the issue of Senate Bill 863 — which addresses the issue of ballot label requirements for local bonds levied by AB 195 from 2017 — has yet to be taken up by the Legislature. CSBA and a coalition continue to urge the Legislature to hear and the Governor to sign SB 863, which would delay the implementation of AB 195 for local bond ballot label requirements for two years.
Janus Update
As of this writing, the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on the matter of Janus v. AFSCME, the pivotal case pertaining to “fair share” union dues. It is widely anticipated that the court will rule in favor of the plaintiff, thus reversing existing precedent and prohibiting public employee unions from charging fair share fees.
Click here for information from CSBA on “Preparing for a decision in Janus.”
Senate Bill 866, the Senate’s version of the budget trailer bill which would provide unions with greater access to activities involving new and current employees (further details in the link above), was approved in party-line votes in both houses on Monday, June 18, and sent to the Governor for his consideration — it would take effect immediately if signed.
AB 276 clears Senate Education Committee
The CSBA-co-sponsored Assembly Bill 276 (Medina, D-Riverside) is moving forward after passing the Senate Education Committee today on a 4-2-1 vote, with its next hearing coming in the Senate Judiciary Committee; a hearing date has not yet been set. AB 276 is a charter school transparency bill that would require adherence to the Ralph M. Brown Act (or the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, if applicable), the California Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act of 1974 and Government Code 1090. CSBA is continuing to work with the author on the bill’s language and further amendments on applicability of the bill to entities that manage charter schools; the California Charter Schools Association registered a “neutral” position on the bill in committee following today’s amendments.
Sen. McGuire joins Senate Education Committee
Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), a former Healdsburg USD board member, was appointed by Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) to the Senate Education Committee, filling the vacancy left by Sen. Tony Mendoza, following Sen. Mendoza’s resignation in February. Today’s hearing marked Sen. McGuire’s second at the dais as part of the committee.
Other Senate Committee changes announced last week:
-Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada-Flintridge) replaces Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) as the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Sen. Lara now chairs the Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
-Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) replaces Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) as Chair of the Senate Health Committee; Sen. Hernandez remains a member of that committee.
Status of CSBA sponsored/co-sponsored bills:
AB 2808 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance), Local Control Funding Formula base grant target increase: Passed the Assembly Floor on May 31 with a 70-3 vote and sent to the Senate; scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, June 27.
AB 2228 (Wood, D-Healdsburg), Wildfire mitigation: Passed the Assembly Floor on May 31 unanimously (78-0) and sent to the Senate; currently resides in the Senate Education Committee.
Language to provide a third hold-harmless year for school districts impacted by the 2017 wildfires is included in 2018–19 budget agreement (this is the provision CSBA has been seeking with AB 2228).
AB 276 (Medina, D-Riverside), Charter school transparency: Passed Senate Education Committee today (Wednesday, June 20) on a 4-2-1 vote (see additional details above); will next be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee (hearing date TBD).
AB 1951 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), Pathways to College Act: Passed Senate Education Committee today (Wednesday, June 20) on a 5-0-1 vote; will next be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee (hearing date TBD).
AB 2285 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), Out-of-state prepared teachers: Passed the Senate Education Committee in May and referred to Senate Appropriations, where it awaits hearing.
AB 3149 (Limón, D-Santa Barbara), Substitute teacher service and permits: Passed the Assembly Floor on May 29 unanimously (78-0) and sent to the Senate; in Senate Education Committee, scheduled for hearing Wednesday, June 27.
AB 3192 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), Medi-Cal Billing Option; audit guide: Passed the Senate Health Committee June 6 and Senate Education Committee on June 13 (on consent in both committees) and is in Senate Appropriations, where it awaits hearing.
SCA 22 (Allen, Ben, D-Santa Monica), Parcel taxes: Resides in Senate Appropriations Committee and is awaiting hearing.
View info sheet on CSBA’s 2018 sponsored bill package
Other bills of note:
SB 831 (Wieckowski, D-Fremont) – Accessory dwelling units – Oppose – What began as a trio of bills pertaining to school impact fees charged for construction of ADUs (i.e. “granny flats” or “in-law units”) is now down to one bill, SB 831, which would set a cap on school impact fees at $3,000 per ADU. The bill is an effort to address California’s housing crisis by removing barriers to the construction of ADUs, but would decimate an important source of revenue which school districts rely on to meet their facilities needs. After a lengthy discussion pertaining to impact fees, the author took amendments requested by the committee to remove the fee provisions from his bill, with a mutual commitment to continue the discussion on that issue. The committee chair indicated he was open to ways to ensure that fees are “proportional,” as the bill advances to the Committee on Local Government on June 27.
AB 3136 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach) – Special Education funding – Support – AB 3136, strongly supported by CSBA and a coalition of groups including ACSA, CASBO, CTA, CSEA and others, unanimously passed the Senate Education Committee today and now moves to Senate Appropriations. The bill would, among other things, level up base AB 602 funding rates to the 95th percentile, establish a funding formula within AB 602 for programs serving preschoolers with disabilities and amend the current AB 602 formula to allow school districts the ability to calculate a declining enrollment adjustment based on individual school district average daily attendance instead of aggregated Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) ADA.
SB 1127 (Hill, D-San Mateo) – Administration of medical cannabis – Support – SB 1127 continues to move through the Legislature after passing the Assembly Education Committee on June 13 with a 4-1 vote (with two members not entering votes), and is scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on July 3. The bill 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 LEA staff to handle or administer medical cannabis.
AB 2514 (Thurmond, D-Richmond) – Pathways to Success Incentive Grant Program – Support – AB 2514, which passed the Senate Education Committee today, would assist LEAs in providing students access to dual language immersion programs, in which interest has piqued statewide since the passage of Proposition 58 in 2016. The bill now moves to Senate Appropriations.
AB 716 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach) – Schoolsite planning – Support – AB 716, which passed the Senate Education Committee today, would align federal school planning requirements with the Local Control and Accountability Plan and allow schools identified for comprehensive or technical assistance under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act to use the School Plan for Student Achievement to meet federal planning requirements. The bill now moves to Senate Appropriations.