In the early hours of Thursday morning, legislators left the building after a final legislative recess leaving nearly 800 bills for Governor Newsom to sign or veto before September 30. If the governor chooses not to act on these bills, they will become law without his signature. The legislative session adjourns for the year on November 30, and the new legislators elected for the 2023-24 session will be sworn in on December 5, 2022.
Relatedly, in this November’s election, half of the seats in the State Senate, and all of the seats in the State Assembly are up for grabs, making it an excellent time to get to know your school’s potential elected representatives.
Prior to the final two weeks of the 2022 floor session, legislators worked to kill bills in committee so that they would not be heard on the floor. This year the number of bills that failed their final committee gauntlet was higher than in the past.
Nearly 600 bills made it out of the two fiscal committees, and most of those were heard in the last two weeks of session. Of specific note were three “charter-killer” bills AB 2214 (Garcia, C), AB 2484 (Bonta), and SB 1343 (Leyva). CSDC tagged these three measures as among the top threats to charter schools in the 2021-22 legislative session. A huge shout out to everyone who engaged in our advocacy campaigns to kill these bills. We were successful in stopping all three threats.
Of interest to those who follow legislation are these fun facts: in the two-year session, lawmakers introduced a total of 5,129 bills; to date, the Governor has vetoed 73 measures; and so far 1,528 bills have already become law.
CSDC is following more than 150 bills of interest to the charter community. CSDC Members can now view our status updates for over 20 of the most critical bills. Status updates for just the 3 "charter killer" bills appear below.
For a much more robust discussion as well as more specific information on how these bills impact charter schools, be sure to attend the 2022 CSDC Conference on November 13-15 in Sacramento.
Status of 3 "Charter Killer Bills"
AB 2214 Garcia, C (D-Bell Gardens) Charter School Site Acquisitions
Last Amended: 4/25/22
Status: Died in committee
CSDC: Oppose
Summary: This bill would have placed additional schoolsite acquisition requirements on charter schools, including siting requirements for potential hazardous substances, hazardous emissions, or hazardous waste and requiring city or county facility approval. CSDC labeled this a “charter killer” bill because we believe it will make it difficult, if not impossible, for charter schools to acquire facilities in many areas of the state because it is nearly impossible to navigate the proposed restrictions quickly enough to acquire desirable commercial properties in a competitive environment while also navigating the burdensome pre-review processes required by this bill.
AB 2484 Bonta (Alameda-D) Charter schools: school closures: apportionments: facility ownership.
Last Amended: 5/3/22
Status: Died in committee
CSDC: Oppose
Summary: This measure would have established new requirements when a charter school that has received lease aid funding closes, including imposing restrictions on the sale and use of the leased property, requiring return of lease aid to the state in arrears under some circumstances, and designating the school district in which the charter school is located as the designated entity for disposing of net assets. Further, this bill would have imposed other, mandated, non-reimbursable duties on charter schools. CSDC labeled this bill a “charter killer” bill because it would have severely restricted the use of leased facilities when schools close, might have required return of large sums to the state, thereby making it very difficult for charter schools to acquire and lease facilities using state lease aid.
SB 1343 Leyva (D-Chino) Public employees’ retirement: charter schools.
Last Amended: 8/15/22
Status: Died
CSDC: Oppose
This bill would have required all charter schools authorized on or after January 1, 2025 to participate in the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). This bill also would have authorized county offices of education requisition up to three months of advance payments to CalSTRS and CalPERS for charter schools in their geographical boundaries when a charter’s education funding dollars are disbursed from the state. CSDC deemed this a “charter killer” bill because of the huge and increasing costs of participating in the public retirement systems and due to the negative impact that it could have on charter schools’ cash flow.
Status of Other Critical Bills
We have just posted our status updates and positions for over 20 critical bills affecting the California charter school community. CSDC Members may access this information by clicking below:
