After passing and stopping a number of high profile bills, both houses of the California Legislature adjourned shortly before 2:00 AM on the morning of September 1st, signaling the end of lawmaking business for the year and forcing many members from office due to term limits.

Of particular interest, neither the mandatory orientation bill (AB 2835, Cooper), nor the reserve cap bill (SB 799, Hill) made it out of the Legislature. Additionally, two bills intending to extend and grandfather-in the Districts of Choice program were stopped in committees. We expect all of these issues to resurface when the Legislature convenes in January.

Bills Heading to Governor

The following is a review of some bills of interest that were passed by the Legislature in the final days of the 2016 legislative session and are now pending before the Governor.

Assessment and Accountability

AB 2548 – Weber (D): School Accountability System

Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt a statewide accountability system aligned to state and federal accountability requirements.

Charter Schools

AB 709 – Gipson (D): Charter Schools

This bill requires charter schools to comply with the same conflict of interest requirements as school districts.

Credentialing

SB 916 – Allen (D): Teacher Credentialing

This bill adds dance and theatre credentials to the existing list of 13 single subject credentials the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) is authorized to issue.

Curriculum and Instruction

AB 1719 – Rodriguez (D): Pupil Instruction: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Requires that, commencing in the 2018-19 school year, school districts and charter schools that require a health course for graduation include instruction in compression- only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

AB 2016 – Alejo (D): Pupil Instruction: Ethnic Studies

This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to develop, and the SBE to adopt, modify, or revise a model curriculum in ethnic studies, and requires that a school district or charter school which elects to offer a course in ethnic studies to offer the course as an elective in the social sciences or English language arts and make the course available in at least one year during each student’s enrollment in grades nine to 12.

Facilities

AB 2316 – O’Donnell (D): School Facilities: Leasing Property

Eliminates the authority for school districts to issue a lease-leaseback contract without advertising for bid, establishes a competitive selections process for awarding lease- leaseback contracts, and allows a contractor to be paid the reasonable cost of labor, equipment, materials, and services furnished by the contractor meeting specified conditions if a lease- leaseback contract entered into prior to July 1, 2015, is found to be invalid by a court.

SB 693 – Hueso (D): Public Contracts: Skilled and Trained Workforce

This bill consolidates the “skilled and trained workforce” requirements of various provisions of existing law related to alternative construction delivery methods, defines the terms of these requirements, and makes other conforming changes.

Governance/Operations

AB 1732 – Ting (D): Single-User Restrooms

Requires, commencing on March 1, 2017, businesses, places of public accommodation, or state or local government agencies that offer a single-user toilet facility to be designated as an all-gender toilet facility, and authorizes an inspector, to inspect for compliance.

AB 2536 – Chau (D): Pupil Discipline and Safety: Cyber Sexual Bullying

Adds to the definition of bullying via an electronic act “cyber sexual bullying” and requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to include information on cyber sexual bullying on the California Healthy Kids Resource Center Internet Web site and other appropriate CDE Internet Web sites where information about discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying is posted.

SB 450 – Allen (D): Elections: Vote By Mail and Mail Ballot Elections

This bill permits counties to conduct elections in which every voter is mailed a ballot and vote centers and ballot drop-off locations are available prior to and on election day, in lieu of operating polling places for the election, subject to certain conditions.

Homeless/Foster Youth

AB 1567 – Campos (D): Before/After School Programs: Enrollment: Fees: Meals

Provides, beginning on July 1, 2017, homeless students and students who are in foster care priority for enrolling in before and after school programs and prohibits a program that charges family fees from charging a fee to a family of a homeless or foster care student.

Human Resources

AB 1676 – Campos (D): Employers: Wage Discrimination

Provides that prior salary cannot, by itself, justify any disparity in compensation.

AB 2197 – Garcia (D): Unemployment Insurance: Classified Employees

This bill permits classified school employees to be eligible to collect unemployment insurance (UI) benefits between school years with or without a reasonable assurance of being employed in the next academic year.

AB 2393 – Campos (D): School Employees: Sick Leave

Requires classified school employees and community college instructors on parental leave to receive up to 12 weeks of differential pay, and clarifies provisions requiring certificated school employees on parental leave to receive differential pay.

SB 654 – Jackson (D): Unlawful Employment Practice: Parental Leave

This bill makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, of 20 or more employees, to refuse to allow an eligible employee to take up to six weeks of job protected parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption or foster care placement. This bill also prohibits an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for the employee’s continued group health coverage during the duration of the leave.

SB 1234 – De Leon (D): Retirement Savings Plans

This bill provides legislative approval for the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (SCRSP) and sets forth recommendations and requirements for the design and implementation of that program.

Pupil Health

AB 1748 – Mayes (R): Pupil Health: Opioid Antagonist

Authorizes school nurses and other trained personnel to use naloxone hydrochloride (naloxone) or another opioid antagonist to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose.

SB 123 – Liu (D): Medi-Cal: School-Based Administrative Activities

Establishes a revised process for school-based and non-school-based administrative claiming, beginning January 1, 2018, authorizes the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to administer or oversee a single statewide quarterly random moment time survey, requires the DHCS and CDE to enter into an interagency agreement or memorandum of understanding by July 1, 2018, and establishes a workgroup to provide advice on issues related to the delivery of school-based Medi-Cal services to students.

School Finance

AB 1014 – Thurmond (D): Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: School Success

Establishes the Learning Communities for School Success Program for the purpose of implementing the K–12 education portion of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, approved as Proposition 47 by the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election.

AB 2476 – Daly (D): Local Governments: Parcel Taxes: Notice

Requires local agencies to provide specified notice of a new parcel tax to non-resident property owners.

AB 2738 – Olsen (R): School Bonds: Local School Bonds: Investment

This bill prohibits a school or community college district from withdrawing proceeds from the sale of bonds for investment outside the county treasury.

SB 527 – Liu (D): Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Success Program

This bill establishes a grant program, to be administered by the CDE, that furthers the purpose of Proposition 47 in reducing truancy and supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of school or who are victims of crime.

School Safety

SB 1072 – Mendoza (D): Schoolbus Safety: Child Safety Alert System

This bill requires, on or before the 2018-19 school year, school buses, other specified buses which transport students, and child care motor vehicles to be equipped with an operational child safety alert system. Requires local education authorities, or the owner or operator of a private school that provides transportation to or from school, to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) within five days if a driver has been found to have left a bus with an unattended pupil on board and the driver’s actions constituted gross negligence, which will result in the revocation of that driver’s certification to drive students.

SB 1143 – Leno (D): Juveniles: Room Confinement

This bill establishes statutory guidelines and restrictions, to become operative on January 1, 2018, for confining a minor or ward in a juvenile facility in a locked sleeping room or cell with minimal or no contact with persons other than correctional facility staff and attorneys, as specified.

SB 1322 – Mitchell (D): Commercial Sex Acts: Minors

This bill (1) provides that a minor engaged in commercial sexual activity will not be arrested for a prostitution offense; (2) directs a law enforcement officer who comes upon a minor engaged in a commercial sexual act to report the conduct or situation to county social services as abuse or neglect; and (3) provides that a commercially sexually exploited child (CSEC) may be adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court and taken into temporary custody to protect the minor’s health or safety.

Termed Out Legislators

Tonight’s adjournment of the Legislature also marks the end for a large number of Legislators elected under the state’s prior term limits law (limiting members to six years in the State Assembly and eight years in the State Senate). Legislators elected after 2012 may serve up to 12 years in either house (or a combination of time in both houses). The following Legislators are termed out in 2016:

State Assembly:

Katcho Achadjian (R) – San Luis Obispo

Luis Alejo (D) – Salinas

Toni Atkins (D) – San Diego

Susan Bonilla (D) – Concord

Nora Campos (D) – San Jose

Beth Gaines (R) – El Dorado Hills

Mike Gatto (D) – Glendale

Richard Gordon (D) – Menlo Park

Shannon Grove (R) – Bakersfield

Roger Hernandez (D) – West Covina

Brian Jones (R) – Santee

Kristin Olsen (R) – Modesto

Donald Wagner (R) – Irvine

Das Williams (D) – Santa Barbara

State Senate:

Loni Hancock (D) – Berkeley

Bob Huff (R) – San Dimas

Mark Leno (D) – San Francisco

Carol Liu (D) – La Canada Flintridge

Fran Pavley (D) – Agoura Hills

Lois Wolk (D) – Davis

What’s Next?

Governor Brown has until September 30th to sign or veto legislation. Majority-vote bills signed by the Governor take effect January 1, 2017. Urgency bills (requiring a two-thirds vote in each house of the Legislature) take effect immediately.

We are in the process of preparing an analysis of changes in law from this year’s actions by the Legislature and Governor. It will be available after the Governor’s final actions on legislation, likely in early October.

Aside from any last minute lobbying of the Governor and his staff, all eyes now shift to the November 8th election.