SCA 22 would amend the California Constitution to allow school district parcel taxes to pass with the approval of 55 percent of local voters, rather than the current two-thirds requirement. Among other provisions, parcel tax propositions would have to include a list of programs and purposes to be funded and a requirement that funds be spent solely for those programs, as well as a requirement for an annual independent audit of the tax proceeds collected and expended. The governing board placing the measure would also be required to create a citizens’ oversight board to review all expenditures of proceeds and financial audits, and report its findings to the governing board and the public.
If approved by the Legislature, SCA 22 would go to the statewide ballot for voter approval. The measure passed the Senate committees on Governance and Finance on May 9 and Elections and Constitutional Amendments on May 15, and was sent on to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it awaits a hearing.
All three of CSBA’s sponsored bills which resided on the Assembly Appropriations suspense file advanced following the May 25 suspense hearing, and now move on to floor votes in the Assembly: Assembly Bill 2808 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance) which would increase the LCFF base grants, wildfire mitigation funding bill AB 2228 (Wood, D-Healdsburg) and AB 1951 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), the Pathways to College Act.
Senate Bill 1127 (Hill, D-San Mateo), supported by CSBA, would allow a parent or guardian to administer medical cannabis in a non-smoking and non-vaping form (i.e., oil, capsules, tinctures or a similar form) to their child on school grounds, if the child is a qualified cannabis patient with a doctor’s recommendation.
Some students rely on medical cannabis to be able to attend school and have normal childhood experiences. Currently, these students must be picked up by their parents and taken off campus in order to take their dosage, which is disruptive to their learning.
Under SB 1127, parents would be able to administer the cannabis medicine to their child on campus (in a non-disruptive manner), and must take it with them after administering the dose; the medicine would not be permitted to be left on school grounds. The bill would allow governing boards to choose whether to opt-in to allowing medical cannabis on their campuses, and boards would also be able to opt-out for any reason. SB 1127 would not require any local educational agency staff to handle or administer medical cannabis.
SB 831 (Wieckowski, D-Fremont) and SB 1469 (Skinner, D-Berkeley), as originally drafted, would prohibit school districts from charging school-impact fees of any amount for the construction of accessory dwelling units. With amendments made to both bills in May, neither bill would prohibit such fees, but would cap them at $3,000 per ADU — an amount that would fall short of a Level I developer fee. SB 831 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file on May 25 and will advance, while SB 1469 was held in the committee. CSBA opposes both bills.
A third bill, AB 2890 (Ting. D-San Francisco) was significantly amended in May to remove references to school-impact fees. As the current version of the bill (which passed Assembly Appropriations on May 25) does not impact public schools, CSBA’s position on AB 2890 is now “neutral.”