July 18 marked the second house policy committee deadline where, predominantly, the Assembly policy committees heard Senate bills, and the Senate policy committees heard Assembly bills. Typically, the houses apply greater scrutiny to the opposing house’s legislation.
The Legislature has begun its four-week summer recess when legislators return to their home districts. Upon their return to the State Capitol on Aug. 18, the Legislature will be focused on the fiscal impact of pending legislation, which will be considered by the respective Assembly and Senate Appropriations committees.
CSBA-sponsored legislation
Assembly Bill 1021 (Wicks, D-Oakland and Muratsuchi, D-Torrance) – Education Workforce Housing
- Would expand efficiencies and benefits for local educational agencies to pursue education workforce housing projects, including a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption for infill housing projects.
- Status: AB 1021 passed both the Senate Local Government and Housing committees and is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1111 (Soria, D-Fresno) – Electric School Buses
- The Senate Environmental Quality Committee removed the extension of the zero-emission school bus purchasing mandate, however, the provision allowing LEAs to transfer combustion engine buses to other LEAs when they have acquired a zero-emission bus remains.
- Status: AB 1111 passed the Senate Education and Environmental Quality committees and is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1224 (Valencia, D-Anaheim) – 60-Day Substitute
- Would expand the amount of time an authorized substitute teacher could serve in a single general, special or career technical education classroom from 30 days to 60 days.
- Status: AB 1224 passed the Senate Education Committee and is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1381 (Muratsuchi) – Education Workforce Housing Predevelopment Budget Proposal
- Would establish a state revolving loan fund to provide zero-interest loans to LEAs to help with feasibility studies and predevelopment work for housing projects.
- Status: AB 1381 has been turned into a two-year bill and is in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1390 (Solache, D-Lynwood) – School Board Member Compensation
- Would modernize the existing compensation stipends afforded to school board members based upon LEA size.
- Status: AB 1390 passed the Senate Education Committee and is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Senate Bill 374 (Archuleta, D-Pico Rivera) – SB 1315 Implementation
- Would provide the California Department of Education an extension by one year the deadline for it to provide a report to the Legislature on the number and types of reports LEAs that can be eliminated or truncated and would also eliminate the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) addendum to the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).
- Status: SB 374 passed the Assembly Education Committee and is now in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Other notable legislation
Charter school accountability and oversight
AB 84 (Muratsuchi) – Would establish new requirements for nonclassroom-based (NCB) charter schools and increase charter-authorizer oversight.
- CSBA Position: Support
- Status: AB 84 has been referred to the Senate Education Committee.
SB 414 (Ashby) – Similar to AB 84 but would establish limited requirements for NCB charter schools and increase charter-authorizer oversight.
- CSBA Position: Tracking
- Status: SB 414 has been referred to the Senate Education Committee.
Curriculum and instruction
AB 715 (Zbur/Addis) – Would strengthen and broaden existing anti-discrimination protections based on race and ethnicity to include new wording to apply to national identity and religion and would establish the Office of Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator.
- CSBA Position: Opposed
- Status: AB 715 remains in the Senate Education Committee but will have a special hearing in August.
AB 1454 (Rivas) – Would implement evidenced-based reading instruction and professional development requirements.
- CSBA Position: Oppose Unless Amended
- Status: AB 1454 passed the Senate Education Committee and is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Governance and elections
AB 640 (Muratsuchi) – Requires all LEA boardmembers to receive training in public education school finance and accountability laws.
- CSBA Position: Oppose Unless Amended
- Status: AB 640 passed the Senate Education Committee and is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 249 (Umberg) – Requires all county boards of education general elections to be included with the November General Election.
- CSBA Position: Disapprove
- Status: SB 249 passed the Assembly Elections and Education committees and is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Labor relations and benefits
AB 65 (Aguiar-Curry) – Would require LEAs and community colleges to provide up to 14 weeks of full pay for pregnancy-related leave.
- CSBA Position: Opposed
- Status: AB 65 is now a two-year bill and remains in the Senate Education Committee.
AB 340 (Ahrens) and AB 1109 (Kalra) – Would prohibit a public employer from questioning an employee or employee representative regarding representation-related communications made in confidence between the employee and employee representative.
- CSBA Position: Opposed
- Status: Both bills passed their respective Senate policy committees and are in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 917 (Avila-Farias) – Would delete statutes that differentiate employment practices for school districts and county offices of education with less than 250 average daily attendance (ADA) and for Regional Occupational Centers and Programs.
- CSBA Position: Opposed
- Status: AB 917 failed passage in the Senate Education Committee and is now a two-year bill.
SB 494 (Cortese) – Would remove the authority of an LEA and their duly elected governing board to render personnel decisions concerning classified staff by placing it into the hands of an administrative law judge (ALJ) and make the decision of the ALJ final.
- CSBA Position: Opposed
- Status: SB 494 passed the Assembly Education and Higher Education committees and is now in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
What’s next?
CSBA will continue to track these and the many other educational measures the Legislature is considering and share the latest developments and advocacy opportunities.
