GRR Update DECEMBER 2017
Legislative Calendar New statutes take effect on January 1, 2018. The Legislature reconvenes on January 3rd and will begin introducing new bills. January 10th is the deadline for the Governor to introduce his budget. January 31st is the last day for each house to pass bills introduced in 2017.
Leadership and Membership Changes Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León terms out in 2018. The Senate will soon elect a new leader. Top contender is Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). 2018 is Governor Brown’s last year. New Assembly Member for AD 51 (Los Angeles), Wendy Carillo, elected. Assembly Member Raul Bocanegra (D-San Fernando) resigned over sexual harassment allegations. Two additional members – Assembly Member Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills) and Senator Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) – are under investigation.
SPI Race In November, the California voters will elect a new Superintendent of Public Education. The main contenders are Tony Thurmond, currently an Assembly Member from Richmond, CA, who has carried legislation in the past on mental health that we have opposed, and Marshall Tuck, an education reformer coming out of the charter school movement.
Oppose Legislation SB 354 (Portantino) – Translations This became a two-year bill when it was held by the Assembly Education Committee. As introduced, the bill would have required LEAs to provide any documents related to an IEP in the native language of the parent within 30 days of the IEP meeting. As amended, this was changed from a 30 day to a 45 day timeline and limited to the top 8 languages in the district. The author then wanted to add additional amendments to allow for an “undue hardship” exception and define “qualified translators.” We worked on language we would be comfortable with, however the author wanted to go back to a 30-day timeline with these changes. That is when the committee held the bill, because changing the timeline would have gone back on amendments the Senate Education Committee had imposed. We met with Senator Portantino’s staff, the sponsors, committee staff, and stakeholders on October 30th to work out final amendments that would preserve our neutral position. The bill must pass out of the Assembly Education Committee by January 12th.
Budget Update January 10th is the deadline for the Governor to introduce his budget, which will then be heard in legislative sub-committees. From what we have heard, the Administration may have abandoned the idea of folding special education into the LCFF. Part of the reason is the Governor wants to focus on pensions and full implementation of the LCFF. However, we won’t know for sure until the budget is released. We are circulating our SELPA 2.0 document and meeting with key educational partners.
Continuum of Care Reform We are working on proposing a replacement formula for the previous bed allowance formula for group homes. This process has moved very slowly, and there seems to be a lack of understanding about how it is going to impact education. We are planning to meet with the Education and Health and Human Services deputies in the Governor’s office to get their help to make the process go smoother and help bring the various departments (CDE, DSS, and DOF) together to work more expeditiously.
California Children’s Services We are in the process of considering whether to pursue a legislative fix to the current interagency relationship in CCS. At the same time, the Department of Health Care Services is pitching budget trailer language to remove due process protections for parents to challenge CCS decisions. We met with CAFSE and SEACO on December 6th to begin strategizing both offensive and defensive strategies. We need clarification on what a bill proposal might look like, help drafting language, and talking points to oppose the DHCS due process proposal.
Questions?