Budget & Taxes

Existing law creates the California Computer Science Coordinator as a position within the State Department of Education to provide statewide coordination in, among other things, implementing the computer science content standards and leading the implementation of the Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan, as provided. This bill would establish the California Computer Science Demonstration Grant Program for specified purposes, including increasing the number of public high schools offering a computer science course to increase pupil access to computer science education and increasing the computer science course access of pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals and pupils that are underrepresented in the field of computer science. The bill would also establish the California Computer Science Demonstration Grant Program Working Group that includes the coordinator and nonprofit organizations and private industry stakeholders with relevant expertise and experience in computer science education. The bill would authorize only public high schools that do not offer computer science courses to be eligible to voluntarily participate in the grant program. The bill would require the funding entity or funding entities, as defined, to administer the grant program. If there are multiple funding entities, the bill, among other things, would require each funding entity to determine how the funds that it contributes to the grant program will be spent, provided that expenditure aligns with the grant program's purposes, and require the funding entities to coordinate implementation of the grant program. The bill would require the funding entities, in coordination with the working group, to select the public high schools to participate in the grant program, as provided. The bill would require the grant program to be funded through contributions, gifts, grants, in-kind donations, and donations from the funding entity or funding entities, and would specify the allowable uses of those funds. The bill would require the funding entity or funding entities, in coordination with the working group, to evaluate the effectiveness of the grant program and submit an interim report to certain legislative committees on or before August 1, 2027, and a final report on or before July 1, 2028, as specified. The bill would repeal the grant program's provisions as of January 1, 2029. The bill would separately require the department, on or before June 30, 2028, and annually thereafter, to publicly post specified computer science course-related data on its internet website, as specified.

Existing law appropriates, for the 2023–24 fiscal year, $375,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Air Resources Board for the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) to fund grants to local educational agencies, as defined, for zero-emission schoolbuses to replace heavy-duty internal combustion schoolbuses owned by local educational agencies, as specified. Existing law requires any schoolbuses that are replaced pursuant to the HVIP to be scrapped no later than 24 months from date of delivery of the replacement. Existing law requires grantees to provide to the state board proof of scrap of the retired internal combustion schoolbus or schoolbuses. This bill would exclude a schoolbus from that scrapping requirement if the schoolbus is 25 years of age or less at the time of delivery of the replacement vehicle and its ownership is transferred to a frontier local educational agency meeting certain requirements.

(1) Existing law, commencing with the 2013–14 fiscal year, establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula, as specified. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually calculate a county local control funding formula for each county superintendent of schools that includes, among other components, a county office of education operations grant composed of (A) $655,920, as adjusted each fiscal year for inflation; (B) $109,320 per school district under the county office of education's jurisdiction, as adjusted each fiscal year for inflation; (C) $70 per unit of countywide average daily attendance up to 30,000 units, $60 per unit for 30,001 to 60,000 units, $50 per unit for 60,001 to 140,000 units, and $40 per unit above 140,000 units, as adjusted each fiscal year for inflation; and (D) commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, add-ons of (i) $175,000 to the per-school district amount and (ii) $14 to each per-unit amount. This bill, commencing with the 2036–37 fiscal year, would increase each of those inflation-adjusted amounts to instead be $1,308,227, $520,751, $164, $144, $124, and $104, respectively, and would retain the requirement to adjust those amounts for inflation each fiscal year. The bill, commencing with the 2036–37 fiscal year, would increase the per-school district and per-unit add-on amounts to instead be $262,500 and $21, respectively. (2) Existing law requires the county office of education local control funding formula to also include, among other things, an alternative education base grant that includes, among its own components, a base grant equal to the grade span-adjusted base grant for average daily attendance in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, for the 2022–23 fiscal year, multiplied by 1.33, as specified. Existing law requires that amount to be adjusted for inflation each fiscal year. This bill, commencing with the 2036–37 fiscal year, would require the inflation-adjusted base grant component of the alternative education grant to instead be $24,593 and would retain the requirement to adjust that amount for inflation each fiscal year. (3) Existing law provides for the funding of necessary small schools and high schools, as specified. Existing law requires that funding to include, among other things, various specified per-pupil and per-teacher amounts for different tiers based on the numbers of pupils and teachers, as specified. Existing law requires those amounts to be adjusted for inflation each fiscal year. This bill, commencing with the 2036–37 fiscal year, would increase those various per-pupil and per-teacher inflation-adjusted amounts, as specified, and would retain the requirement to adjust that amount for inflation each fiscal year. (4) Existing law, commencing with the 2013–14 fiscal year, requires school district and charter school funding pursuant to the local control funding formula to include, among other things, a base grant based on average daily attendance in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, grades 4 to 6, inclusive, grades 7 and 8, and grades 9 to 12, inclusive, of $6,845, $6,947, $7,154, and $8,289 per pupil, respectively. Existing law requires those amounts to be adjusted for inflation each fiscal year. This bill, commencing with the 2036–37 fiscal year, would increase those inflation-adjusted base grant amounts to instead be $14,879, $15,104, $15,551 and $18,023 per pupil, respectively, and would retain the requirement to adjust those amounts for inflation each fiscal year. (5) Existing law requires funding pursuant to the local control funding formula to include, in addition to the base grant, supplemental and concentration grant add-ons that are based on the percentage of unduplicated pupils, as specified, served by the school district or charter school. In addition to the base, supplemental, and concentration grants of the local control funding formula, existing law, commencing with the 2022–23 school year, requires the Superintendent to compute an additional add-on of $2,813 multiplied by the then current fiscal year's average daily attendance in transitional kindergarten, as specified, and requires that add-on to be annually adjusted for inflation. This bill, commencing with the 2036–37 fiscal year, would increase that inflation-adjusted add-on based on attendance in transitional kindergarten to instead be equal to $8,318 multiplied by the then current fiscal year's average daily attendance in transitional kindergarten for the school district or charter school, as specified, and would retain the requirement to adjust that amount for inflation each fiscal year.

Existing law establishes the California College Promise, under the administration of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to provide funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to each community college meeting prescribed requirements. Existing law authorizes a community college to use that funding to waive some or all of the fees for 2 academic years for first-time community college students and returning community college students, as defined, who are enrolled in 12 or more semester units or the equivalent, or less for students certified as "full time" by a staff person in the disabled student services program, as specified, and who complete and submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or a California Dream Act application, except as provided. This bill would instead require, for purposes of eligibility for the California College Promise, that students be enrolled in 9 or more, rather than 12 or more, semester units or the equivalent, or less for a student certified as eligible, based on a commitment by the student that is analogous to the 9 semester unit or equivalent workload, by a staff person in the disabled student services program. The bill would additionally require, as a condition of participating in, and receiving funding for, the California College Promise, community colleges and community college districts to refrain from referring to any other student financial aid funding or program as the California College Promise, and require community colleges to provide a written notification to initial recipients of the California College Promise that includes specified information related to the 2 academic years of eligibility for the California College Promise.

This measure would call on members of the United States Congress to oppose reductions to funding that negatively impact educational services for students with disabilities and would call on the President of the United States and Congress to ensure that services and funding for students with disabilities are uninterrupted.

Existing law establishes the Richard Paul Hemann Parkinson's Disease Program, which, among other things, requires the State Department of Public Health to collect data on the incidence of Parkinson's disease in California, as specified. Existing law allows an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds and accounts, including, among others, to the California Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. This bill would also allow an individual to designate on their tax return that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the Parkinson's Disease Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would continuously appropriate the moneys in the fund to the State Department of Public Health to support the above-referenced program relating to Parkinson's disease in California. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fund when another voluntary designation is removed from the form or there is space, whichever occurs first. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Under existing law, if sufficient appropriations are not available for the payment of certain claims, settlements, or judgments, the Attorney General is required to report the claims, settlements, and judgments to the chairperson of either the Senate Committee on Appropriations or the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, who is then required to cause introduction of legislation appropriating the funds necessary for payment. This bill would appropriate $1,221,491.30 from the General Fund to the Attorney General for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from 3 specified actions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing property tax law permits, at the election of the assessee, the installment payment of delinquent taxes on tax-defaulted property under an installment payment plan. Existing law also permits a one-year deferral of payment under an existing installment plan if the county was declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency or disaster due to a major misfortune or calamity and specified conditions are met, including that the installment plan was already in existence at the time deferral is requested by the assessee or the agent of the assessee. This bill would modify the above-described condition to be that the installment plan was already in existence, or that the taxpayer had submitted an application for the installment plan, at the time deferral is requested by the assessee or the agent of the assessee. The bill would also remove an obsolete definition from these provisions.

Existing law allows an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds and accounts, including, among others, to the California Cancer Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. This bill would allow an individual to designate on their tax return that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the continuously appropriated California Pediatric Cancer Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fund when another voluntary designation is removed from the form or there is space, whichever occurs first. By establishing a new continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require that the above provisions remain operative only until January 1 of the 7th calendar year following the first appearance of the California Pediatric Cancer Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund on the tax return, except as specified.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to avoid any cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , which could harm the state's children, older adults, and families, and impact the state's economic well-being.