May 31 was the last day for bills to pass out of their house of origin. The bills that were not heard on the floor in their house of origin became two-year bills. Bills that did not achieve a majority vote on the floor of their respective chamber are dead unless the author was granted reconsideration. Policy committees resumed on June 3, 2019, to begin hearing bills from the other chamber.

Below is a summary of the CFT’s sponsored and co-sponsored bills and their current status.

CFT-SPONSORED AND CO-SPONSORED BILLS

Increase base funding for K-12 schools

Assembly Bill 39 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance) would establish new, higher funding targets under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and bring California up to the national average of adjusted per pupil funding. AB 39 would raise the base grant to school districts by $35 billion, or 60 percent, starting in the 2020-21 fiscal year. This increase in the base grant would in turn increase the supplemental and concentration grant amounts proportionally per current law.

AB 39 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 74-0-6 vote on May 22, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Early childhood education – funding, access and standards

Assembly Bill 123 (McCarty, D-Sacramento) would expand access to full-day, full-year preschool for all 4-year-olds who live in a neighborhood where there are more than 70 percent of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. In addition, AB 123 would ensure that all 3-year-olds living in poverty receive two years of high-quality preschool. AB 123 also would raise reimbursement rates with the intent that early childhood educators would see increases in their salaries. In addition, AB 123 would require all new early childhood lead teachers to have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field by 2028. However, lead teachers employed prior to the enactment of the bill would be exempt from this requirement. Finally, AB 123 would provide scholarships for current lead teachers and paraprofessionals who choose to earn degrees in majors related to early childhood education and in turn earn higher salaries.

AB 123 passed off of the Assembly Floor with 62-0-18 vote on May 28, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Early childhood education – reimbursement rates

Assembly Bill 125 (McCarty, D-Sacramento) would require the state superintendent to implement a reimbursement system plan that establishes reasonable standards and assigned reimbursement rates that would vary with additional factors, including a quality adjustment factor to address the cost of staffing ratios. AB 125 would also require the reimbursement system plan, including methodology, standards, county rate targets and total statewide funding amounts necessary to reach annual rate targets for all agencies to be annually submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on or before November 10. The bill would require the plan to include a formula for annually adjusting reimbursement rates.

AB 125 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 78-0-2 vote on May 29, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Part-time faculty Public Service Loan Forgiveness program

Assembly Bill 463 (Cervantes, D-Riverside) would require the chancellor’s office to develop and provide to community college districts materials designed to increase awareness of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) among community college faculty members. AB 463 would require the governing board of a community college district to annually provide this information to faculty members. In addition, AB 463 would require a community college district to annually provide a faculty member who is enrolled in the PSLF Program with notice of renewal and a copy of the employment certification form with the employer portion of the form already completed. Finally, AB 463 would factor in part-time faculty preparation time and office hours in the calculation for qualifying for the PSLF Program.

AB 463 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 62-12-6 vote on May 22, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Paid maternity leave for K-14 certificated and classified employees

Assembly Bill 500 (Gonzalez, D-San Diego) would require K-14 districts to provide certificated and classified employees a paid leave when an employee is required to be absent for a length of time to be determined by the employee and their doctor for a minimum of six weeks for pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth and recovery. 

AB 500 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 68-3-9 vote on May 23, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE)

Assembly Bill 843 (Rodriguez, D-Pomona) would repeal loan assumption benefits that rely on API rankings, and instead provide additional loan assumption benefits of an unspecified amount to a person who holds a credential appropriate for teaching and who teaches mathematics, science, special education, bilingual education or career technical education in a school district that is determined to be in need of differentiated assistance beginning in 2020-21.

AB 843 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 78-0-2 vote on May 23, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Increase allowable community college part-time faculty load to 85 percent

Assembly Bill 897 (Medina, D-Riverside) would raise the community college part-time faculty workload maximum from 67 percent to 85 percent. AB 897 would also clean up part-time faculty job security language that is being misinterpreted by some districts.

AB 897 remained in the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File and now becomes a two-year bill.

Community colleges: Student equity plans

Assembly Bill 943 (Chiu, D-San Francisco) would authorize the use of funding for the Student Equity and Achievement Program, up to $25,000 of apportionment funds per campus, to provide emergency student financial assistance to eligible students to overcome unforeseen financial challenges that would directly impact a student’s ability to persist in their course of study if the emergency student financial assistance is included in an institution’s plan for interventions to students.

AB 943 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 75-0-5 vote on May 13, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Community college districts: Governing board elections

Assembly Bill 1150 (Gloria, D-San Diego) would require a candidate for election as a member of the governing board of the San Diego Community College District and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District to submit at least 100 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

AB 1150 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 61-13-6 vote on May 9, 2019. The bill was heard in the Senate Education Committee on June 5, 2019 and passed with a 6-0-1 vote.

Employee training for mandated child abuse reporting

Assembly Bill 1153 (Wicks, D-Oakland) would establish the Child Abuse Reporting Training Act of 2020 which would require each governing board of a community college to 1) annually train, using an online training module, employees and administrators of the district who are mandated reporters on the reporting requirements; 2) develop a process for those persons to provide proof of completing this training within six weeks of each academic year or within six weeks of that person’s employment; and 3) develop a process to identify students who are minors enrolled in classes at a community college district and provide that information only to faculty members and other employees who are mandated reporters.

AB 1153 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 78-0-2 vote on May 23, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.  

Shorten classified employee probationary period

Assembly Bill 1353 (Wicks, D-Oakland) would shorten the maximum length of a prescribed period of probation from not exceeding one year to not exceeding six months or 130 days of paid service, whichever is longer. In addition, AB 1353 would provide that, to the extent these provisions conflict with a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2020, these provisions would not apply until the expiration or renewal of that agreement.

AB 1353 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 52-18-10 vote on May 16, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Charter school authorization

Assembly Bill 1505 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach) would address a number of charter school policy issues, including the following: 1) repeal the provision authorizing the State Board of Education to approve a petition to establish a charter school; 2) authorize a county board of education to deny a charter petition for the establishment of a new charter school if it makes a factual finding that the charter school would have a negative financial, academic or facilities impact on neighborhood public schools, a school district or a county office of education; 3) authorize the governing board of a school district to deny a charter petition for the establishment of a new charter school if it makes a factual finding that the charter school would have a negative financial, academic or facilities impact on neighborhood public schools of the school district; 4) require charter school teachers to hold a Commission on Teacher Credentialing certificate, permit or other document required by the teacher’s certificated assignment; 5) provide that a renewal of a charter be granted for a period of between 2 to 5 years; and 6) delete the provision related to pupil academic achievement as the most important factor in determining whether to revoke a charter.

AB 1505 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 44-19-17 vote on May 22, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Charter school cap

Assembly Bill 1506 (McCarty, D-Sacramento) would establish a cap on charter schools permitted to operate in the state of California. The total number of charter schools authorized by a school district, county office of education or the state would not increase above the actual number that are operating on January 1, 2020.

AB 1506 was not heard on the Assembly Floor. It now becomes a two-year bill.

Charter school location

Assembly Bill 1507 (Smith, D-Santa Clarita) would close a loophole in current law which allows a charter school to operate outside of its authorizing district. The bill would end the practice of local school districts being forced to accept a charter school in their district if it was authorized by a different school district.

AB 1507 passed off of the Assembly Floor with a 54-18-8 vote on May 13, 2019. The bill now moves to the Senate.

UC-AFT lecturers resolution

Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 49 (Medina, D-Riverside) would recognize the University Council-AFT and highlight the important roles that non-tenured track faculty play in the UC system by exposing the union-busting attempt being utilized by the UC Office of the President and the Senate, and creating and promoting security of employment for lecturers.

ACR 49 is currently in the Assembly Rules Committee awaiting assignment.

UC retirement plans: Asset managers and contracts

 Senate Bill 715 (Galgiani, D-Stockton) would prohibit the UC from entering into a contract for services with an asset manager for a defined contribution plan if that plan is a stand-alone optional plan.  

SB 715 was held in the Senate Education Committee with a 2-4-1 vote on April 24, 2019. Reconsideration was granted.  

Charter school moratorium

Senate Bill 756 (Durazo, D-Los Angeles) would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation containing specified policies relating to charter schools and would prohibit the approval of a petition for the establishment of a new charter school until January 1, 2022. The bill would require by January 1, 2022 the Legislative Analyst’s Office to publicly issue a report that answers specified questions relating to charter schools, the effects of the moratorium and the projected effects of those specified policies if enacted by the legislature.

SB 756 bill was not heard on the Senate Floor and was ordered to the Inactive File on the request of the author on May 29, 2019. It now becomes a two-year bill.

UC-AFT librarians resolution

Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 29 (Leyva, D-Chino) would commend the librarians represented by the UC-AFT for their contributions to the University of California.

SCR 29 passed off of the Senate Floor with a 30-0-8 vote on April 4, 2019. The bill is currently in the Assembly Rules Committee awaiting assignment.    

For additional information, contact the CFT Legislative Department:
Ron Rapp Legislative Director  
Tristan Brown Legislative Representative  
Bryan Ha Legislative Representative  
Telephone (916) 446-2788