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CSBA honors Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) as 2017 Outstanding Legislator of the Year

SACRAMENTO, Calif., (November 13, 2017) – The California School Boards Association is pleased to announce that it has presented Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) with CSBA’s 2017 Outstanding Legislator of the Year Award. Senator Hill was presented the award on Sunday, Nov. 5, in San Mateo, Calif., in recognition of his leadership for public education and his enduring support of local school governance.

Senator Hill, along with Senator Steve Glazer (D-Orinda), authored Senate Bill 751, a 2017 bill amending a law known as the school district reserve cap. The reserve cap is a law that, as enacted in 2014, restricted the amount of money school districts could keep in reserve as a hedge against declining revenues from recessions or other financial pressures. Prior to the passage of SB 751, the reserve cap posed significant financial challenges for California’s schools and threatened the fiscal solvency of every single school district in the state.

“Senator Hill has been a tremendous ally to California school districts by taking on the issue of the school district reserve cap,” said CSBA President Susan Henry. “CSBA is extremely grateful for the Senator’s unwavering commitment to this important issue as well as his overall support for strengthening local school board governance and improving public education.” 

The original reserve cap law stated that a local reserve limit (or “cap”) would be imposed on every California school district if certain economic conditions were met, limiting how much money individual school districts would be permitted to save for a “rainy day.” With the amendments made by Senator Hill’s SB 751, it is far less likely that the reserve cap law will ever become active, and now if it does, every school district in the state is provided significant protection – reducing the likelihood of programmatic cuts or layoffs in difficult financial times.

SB 751, signed by Gov. Brown on Oct. 11, is the second CSBA-sponsored bill authored by Senator Hill aimed at amending the reserve cap. The first was SB 799 from 2016, which was not passed by the Legislature. 

Senator Hill has also supported all of CSBA’s 2017 sponsored legislation, voting in favor of Senate Bill 527 (Galgiani, D-Stockton), which sought to strengthen state funding for home-to-school transportation, and Assembly Bill 1354 (Kiley, R-Roseville), which amends the California Education Code to eliminate obsolete and unnecessary programs.

“Throughout his tenure in the Legislature, Senator Hill has consistently cast votes in favor of bills which strengthen public school budgets and allow school districts and county offices of education to update and expand their curriculum to best fit the evolving needs of California’s students,” Henry said. “We are greatly appreciative of his ongoing leadership for all our state’s students.”