State-mandated local programs: school districts.

Under the California Constitution, whenever the Legislature or a state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, including school districts, the state is required to provide a subvention of funds to reimburse the local government, with specified exceptions. Existing law establishes a test claim procedure for local governmental agencies to file claims for reimbursement of these costs with the Commission on State Mandates. The commission is authorized to develop a reasonable reimbursement methodology and statewide estimate of costs for reimbursement of costs mandated by the state, in accordance with a decision on a test claim. This bill would prohibit school districts from using the test claims provisions on and after January 1, 2010, for specified costs mandated by the state, and would instead require the commission to determine a reasonable reimbursement methodology for costs mandated by the state on a school district by a statute that is enacted on or after January 1, 2010, and to develop claiming instructions for those costs. The commission would be required to examine each act enacted by the Legislature that becomes effective on and after January 1, 2010, and determine whether the act would enact a statute that imposes costs mandated by the state on a school district. The commission would be required to make this determination within 6 months after the effective date of that statute. Based on the reimbursement methodology adopted by the commission, the commission would be required to forward to the Director of Finance the amount of the appropriation needed to fund the statewide cost estimate of a claim submitted by a school district. The commission would be required to develop this methodology, the claiming instructions, and a statewide cost estimate within one year from the date when the commission determines that a statute imposes costs mandated by the state on school districts. The bill would also require the commission to develop claiming instructions for all costs mandated by the state on a school district by a statute that was enacted and became effective before January 1, 2010. The bill would require these instructions to provide a procedure that allows a school district to claim a reasonable cost reimbursement, based on specified documentation. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst to examine all statutes that were enacted on or after January 1, 1975, that impose a cost mandated by the state in accordance with a schedule, and make recommendations to the Legislature. The bill would also provide that, from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2012, inclusive, a school district would not be subject to a civil penalty if the school district does not comply with a statute that imposes costs mandated by the state, unless the commission determines the statute is for the purpose of protecting pupil health and safety.