With this challenge in mind, it’s time now for CSBA’s annual look at how your legislators voted.

How we scored your legislators:

CSBA scored each legislator’s favorable vote percentage on a total of 11 bills. Each of these bills are measures that CSBA co-sponsored, actively supported or actively opposed in 2020 and that received a full floor vote in both the Senate and the Assembly.

Important notes about the scorecard:

• In recognition of the limitations of the shortened legislation session, this year’s report includes scores from 2019 as well as 2020, to reflect the fuller context of each legislator’s record in an unprecedented year.
• The favorable vote percentage is relative to how many total opportunities each legislator had to vote on these 11 bills. Instances where a member did not record a vote, either an abstention or an absence at the time of the vote, do not count as a favorable or unfavorable vote.
• Education and Appropriations committee members had more opportunities to cast votes on these 11 bills than other legislators — members of those committees are noted in the scorecard.

Key bills and CSBA positions:

Among the 11 bills your legislators are scored on, CSBA is recognizing specific votes on six key measures:

• Senate Bill 1159 (Hill, D-San Mateo): Adds COVID-19-related illness or death to the list of on-the-job injuries covered by worker’s compensation until Jan. 1, 2024, and reduces employees’ burden to prove that they contracted COVID-19 at work. CSBA position: Oppose. Signed into law on Sept. 17, 2020.
• SB 98: Eliminates Local Control Funding Formula cuts proposed by the Governor’s May Budget Revision, allocates over $5 billion in one-time federal CARES Act stimulus funds, and holds Local educational agency funding at 2019–20 levels with a new round of apportionment deferrals. CSBA position: Support. Signed into law on June 29, 2020.
• SB 117: Provided LEAS with $100 million in emergency relief to cover cleaning costs for school facilities and personal protective equipment and ensuring continued funding and flexibility despite school closures. CSBA position: Support. Signed into law on March 17, 2020.
• SB 820: Makes further changes to the education budget and related requirements for LEAs, including a pathway for LEAs to receive average daily attendance funding for enrollment growth during the state of emergency and additional time to spend and report learning loss mitigation funds. CSBA position: Support. Signed into law on Sept. 18, 2020.
• Assembly Bill 331 (Medina, D-Riverside): Proposed to add the completion of a one-semester course in ethnic studies to the high school graduation requirements beginning in the 2029–30 school year. CSBA position: Support. Vetoed on Sept. 30, 2020.
• AB 1835 (Weber, D-San Diego): Proposed to require LEAs to identify and report unspent LCFF supplemental and concentration grant funds annually and clarified that the unspent funds must continue to be used to increase or improve services for unduplicated pupils in future years. CSBA position: Support. Vetoed on Sept. 30, 2020.

What we saw in 2020:

In response to closures and delays, the Legislature pivoted to a tight focus on responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Legislators provided schools with emergency relief in March with SB 117, providing LEAS with $100 million to cover cleaning costs for school facilities and personal protective equipment and ensuring continued funding despite school closures. Education trailer bill SB 98 eliminated Local Control Funding Formula cuts proposed by the Governor’s May Budget Revision, allocated over $5 billion in one-time federal CARES Act stimulus funds, and held LEA funding at 2019–20 levels with a new round of apportionment deferrals. A final education trailer bill, SB 820, made further changes to the education budget and related requirements for LEAs, notably creating a pathway for LEAs to receive average daily attendance funding for enrollment growth during the state of emergency and providing additional time to spend and report learning loss mitigation funds.

Amid rising calls for racial justice, the Legislature once again took up AB 331, which would have added the completion of a one-semester course in ethnic studies to the high school graduation requirements beginning in the 2029–30 school year. Gov. Newsom ultimately vetoed the legislation just before the signing deadline, citing concerns that further revision is needed to the model curriculum.

Vetoed on the same day was AB 1835, which would have required LEAs to identify and report unspent LCFF supplemental and concentration grant funds annually and clarified that the unspent funds must continue to be used to increase or improve services for unduplicated pupils in future years. Despite concerns about the timeline of the bill, the Governor reiterated his support for the underlying goal and his intent to include the issue in his January budget proposal. The legislature also declined to take up a two-year bill backed by CSBA, AB 39 (Muratsuchi), which would have increased the per-student LCFF base grant funding targets for school districts, county offices of education and charter schools.

What we didn’t see in 2020:

Major issues were left unaddressed as the Governor and the Legislature failed to act on school liability and the digital divide. The Legislature declined to take up AB 1384 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), which would have shielded LEAs that follow state health guidance from financial liability for any harm caused by COVID-19 when their schools reopen during the state of emergency. Instead, on Sept. 17 Gov. Newsom signed SB 1159 (Hill, D-San Mateo), which reduces employees’ burden to prove that they contracted COVID-19 at work on or before July 5, 2020, and will likely raise the premium rates that LEAs pay for workers compensation insurance.

And though 95 percent of students across the state began the year with distance learning, the Legislature failed to lead on addressing the digital divide. Two bills to expand broadband access died without even receiving reaching a floor vote, and a CSBA-sponsored proposal to place a technology bond on the ballot wasn’t even allowed to be amended into a bill.

Having declined to take the issue up in 2020, the Legislature will need to overcome pressure from the telecommunications industry and take action to prevent disparities in broadband access from worsening inequities in 2021.

The continued gap in home internet access also weighs heavily on the education world. The majority of California schools remain remote, but State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond estimated in October that as many as 1 million students could still be unconnected due to the lack of either devices or home internet access required for distance learning. Having declined to take the issue up in 2020, the Legislature will need to overcome pressure from the telecommunications industry and take action to prevent disparities in broadband access from worsening inequities in 2021. With 38 percent of low-income families and 29 percent of families of color concerned about internet access, and much of rural California still unconnected, urgent action is still needed — whether in the Capitol or on the ballot.