Legislative Update: Committee Hearings for AB 247 State School Bond and More
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
The Legislature has been actively reviewing and processing hundreds of bill proposals, working toward a deadline of passing bills with a fiscal impact out of policy committees by April 28. Below is an update on a selection of bills of interest for CCFC.
AB 247 (Muratsuchi) – State School Bond
AB 247 would place a K-14 state school bond on the ballot in 2024. The bill is co-authored by Assembly Members Al Muratsuchi (Chair, Assembly Education Committee), Mike Fong (Chair, Assembly Higher Education Committee), and Lori Wilson. The election (primary vs. general) and dollar amount are left blank at this time. AB 247 proposes to provide an unspecified amount of funds to community college capital outlay projects, as well as to fund core programs for K-12 facilities. CCFC supports AB 247.
Today the bill was passed unanimously by the Assembly Education Committee, marking its first major step in the legislative process. There was praise for the measure from members on both sides of the aisle. Co-author Assembly Member Fong spoke about the importance of facilities from his perspective as a former trustee working to pass bonds for the Los Angeles Community College District. AB 247 will next be heard by the Assembly Higher Education Committee, and then the Assembly Appropriations Committee to evaluate fiscal effects. We expect a tentative dollar amount to be identified before the bill is passed by the Assembly and crosses over to the Senate.
A second bond bill, SB 28 (Glazer), is also moving through the legislative process. This bill proposes a $15.5 billion bond on the March 2024 ballot to fund facilities projects for K-12, community colleges, UC, and CSU. It includes most of the K-12 policy proposals from Proposition 13, which failed on the March 2020 ballot. This bill is intended to ensure that UC and CSU have a seat at the table during bond negotiations. It was passed by Senate Education Committee and is pending in Senate Governance and Finance Committee. CCFC is neutral on this bill.
AB 358 (Addis) – Student Housing DSA Exemption
AB 358 would exempt community college student housing projects on community college campuses from the Field Act and submitting plans to the Division of the State Architect (DSA). Colleges could still request review by DSA in lieu of review by the local jurisdiction. This builds upon AB 306 (O’Donnell), which was signed into law in 2021 and exempts K-12 and community college district workforce housing projects from DSA review. It appears that DSA would still have some jurisdiction over access compliance. CCFC supports this bill as it provides an option for colleges to pick the path that works best for their specific project. AB 358 was passed by the Assembly Higher Education Committee this week and is now headed to Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 532 (Wiener) – Local Bond Ballot Labels
SB 532 is aimed at addressing the negative effects created by AB 195 (Obernolte), chaptered in 2017. AB 195 requires local bonds and other tax measures to state on the ballot label the rate, duration, and amount anticipated to be raised annually. This information is challenging to provide for bonds and creates voter confusion, making it more difficult for community colleges and other local agencies to pass local bonds or place them on the ballot.
SB 532 provides the option to take an alternative path. In lieu of providing the ballot label information required by AB 195, SB 532 allows local bonds and tiered taxes to include the statement “See voter guide for measure information statement and an explanation of how this measure could impact local property taxes” on the 75-word ballot label. It creates additional financial disclosures in the voter guide’s measure information statement, such as a plain language description of why rates may change over time. CCFC is part of a large coalition of school organizations, other local agencies, and labor groups who support SB 532. The bill was passed by Senate Governance and Finance Committee this week and will next be heard in Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.
Rebekah Kalleen
CCFC Executive Director
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