The Commission supported 15 bills that would implement its recommendations and evaluated two reorganization plans during the 2011-12 Legislative Session. The Commission only takes positions on legislation that would implement its recommendations. The measures that the Commission has supported during the 2011-12 Legislative Session are in the areas of community colleges, economic development, bond oversight, emergency preparedness, career techinical education, educational governance, water governance, juvenile justice, alcohol and drug treatment, health and human services, long-term care and government operations. Of those 15 bills, seven were signed into law, two were vetoed and six failed to pass.
Economic Development
AB 29 (Pérez) Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
Summary: Codifies the creation of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, which the Little Hoover Commission recommended during the previous legislative session and which was created through executive order in 2010. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2010 report, Making up for Lost Ground: Creating a Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
Support Letter
Final Action: Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 475, Statutes of 2011.
California Community Colleges
SB 1062 (Liu) California Community Colleges: board of governors.
Summary: Expands the existing authority of the Board of Directors (BOG) of the California Community Colleges to appoint persons without permanent civil service status to vice chancellor and assistant vice chancellor positions, if the individuals meet specified criteria. The bill relates to recommendations from the Commission’s 2012 report, Serving Students, Serving California: Updating the California Community Colleges to Meet Evolving Demands.
Support Letter
Final Action: From Assembly without further action.
SB 1456 (Lowenthal) Community colleges: Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012.
Summary: Establishes new requirements for students to receive a Board of Governor’s fee waiver at the California Community Colleges. Requires a student to meet academic and progress standards as defined by the Board of Governors and demonstrate financial need. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2012 report, Serving Students, Serving California: Updating the California Community Colleges to Meet Evolving Demands.
Support Letter
Final Action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 624, Statutes of 2012.
Bond Oversight
AB 732 (Buchanan) Bond measures: ballot pamphlet: Legislative Analyst: table.
Summary: Adds an explanatory table to a statewide election ballot pamphlet that includes a bond measure. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2009 report, Bond Spending: Expanding and Enhancing Oversight.
Support Letter
Final Action: Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 453, Statutes of 2011.
Emergency Preparedness
AB 1116 (Fong) Emergency services: populations with limited English proficiency.
Summary: Improves emergency preparedness, response and recovery for populations who have limited proficiency in the English language. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2006 report, Safeguarding the Golden State: Preparing for Catastrophic Events.
Support Letter
Final Action: Vetoed by Governor.
Education
SB 500 (Hancock) Partnership academies.
Summary: Requires that, if funds are appropriated for the support of certain partnership academies in the annual budget act or any other measure, the superintendent allocate funds to these partnership academies, and that this funding be awarded on a competitive basis in accordance with the provisions of law that govern partnership academies. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2007 report, Career Technical Education: Creating Options for High School Success.
Support Letter
Final Action: From Assembly without further action.
SB 611 (Steinberg) Public postsecondary education: University of California.
Summary: Requests the Regents of the University of California, subject to availability of funds, to establish and maintain the University of California Curriculum Integration Institute to collaboratively develop and promote career-oriented integrated academic and technical education courses that meet course requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University.
Final Action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 631, Statutes of 2011.
SB 885 (Simitian) Public education accountability: longitudinal education data system.
Summary: Authorizes key preschool through higher education entities, the California Postsecondary Education Commission and the State Board of Education to enter into a joint powers agreement to facilitate the implementation of a comprehensive longitudinal student database. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2008 report, Educational Governance & Accountability: Taking the Next Step, and its 2007 report, Career Technical Education: Creating Options for High School Success.
Support Letter
Final Action: Consideration of Governors veto died on file.
Water Governance
SB 571 (Wolk) California Water Commission: California Water Plan: water resources investment.
Summary: Provides for the organization of the California Water Commission as a separate agency in state government, instead of as an agency within the Department of Water Resources, and recasts and revises provisions relating to the commission’s selection of a chairperson and executive officer, employment of staff, and delegation of its functions. Enacts the Water Resources Investment Planning Act, and declares legislative intent relating to the establishment of regional water planning agencies and the development of the California Water Investment Plan. Requires the commission to administer the development and implementation of the California Water Investment Plan. Requires the commission to update the plan regularly, and requires it to include reports developed by the department and regional water planning agencies. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2010 report, Managing for Change: Modernizing California’s Water Governance, and its 2009 report, Bond Spending: Expanding and Enhancing Oversight.
Support Letter
Final Action: Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Juvenile Justice
SB 695 (Hancock) Medi-Cal: county juvenile detention facilities.
Summary: Provides, subject to federal financial assistance, that Medi-Cal benefits may be offered to individuals awaiting adjudication in county juvenile detention facilities if they are eligible to receive Medi-Cal benefits at the time they are admitted to detention facilities. The bill also calls for the continuation of Medi-Cal benefits until the date of adjudication. The Commission supported this bill, which was under a different title, during the 2009-2010 legislative session. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2008 report, Juvenile Justice Reform: Realigning Responsibilities.
Support Letter
Final Action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 647, Statutes of 2011.
AB 526 (Dickinson) Delinquency and gang intervention and prevention grants: evidence-based principles and practices.
Summary: Requires the Board of State and Community Corrections to move toward consolidating youth delinquency and prevention grants and to develop incentives for local governments to establish regional partnerships for youth crime and violence prevention and intervention programs. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2008 report, Juvenile Justice Reform: Realigning Responsibilities.
Support Letter
Final Action: Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 850, Statutes of 2012.
Alcohol and Drug Treatment
AB 540 (Beall) Medi-Cal: alcohol and drug screening and brief intervention services.
Summary: Establishes the Medi-Cal Alcohol and Drug Screening and Brief Intervention Services Program, which will provide reimbursement to beneficiaries who are pregnant or of childbearing age. Requires the nonfederal share of cost to be paid for by counties or other governmental entities designated by the Department of Health Care Services. This bill relates to the Commission’s 2008 report, Addressing Addiction: Improving & Integrating California’s Substance Abuse Treatment System, and its 2003 report, For Our Health & Safety: Joining Forces to Defeat Addiction.
Support Letter
Final Action: Vetoed by Governor.
Health and Human Services
SB 893 (Wolk) Health and Human Services System Improvement and Accountability Act of 2011.
Summary: Requires the California Health and Human Services agency to establish a system to periodically review specified health and human services programs administered by state and local agencies. The agency would be required to design and implement the system based on input from an advisory workgroup. The agency also would be required to submit specified information to the Legislature and to enhance information sharing between relevant state and local agencies.
Final Action: Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
State Government Operations
SB 14 (Wolk) State Budget.
Summary: Introduces performance-based budgeting to the state’s budget process, including a role for the Little Hoover Commission. Requires the department to include specified performance-based budgeting information in the Governor’s budget proposal and to post that information on the department’s Web site. Authorizes a committee designated by the Legislature, utilizing the recommendations of specified entities, to propose legislative changes to those programs.
Final Action: Consideration of Governor’s veto stricken from file.
SB 15 (DeSaulnier) State budget.
Summary: Requires the Governor’s budget to contain performance measurement standards and other specific provisions. The legislation also requires the budget to contain an estimate of total resources available for recommended state expenditures for the current and future years. The Governor would be required to identify possible reductions in spending when expenditures exceed revenues. The bill also states the intent of the Legislature to formulate a process for assessing and enhancing the performance of all state programs.
Final Action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 737, Statutes of 2011.