California AB 124 Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020

ASSEMBLY BILL No. 124 Introduced by Assembly Members McCarty, Berman, Bonta, Burke, Carrillo, Chiu, Friedman, Eduardo Garcia, Gonzalez, Limón, Reyes, Santiago, Ting, and Wicks (Principal coauthors: Senators Dodd and Hill) December 03, 2018 An act to add Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 8498.100) to Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020, by providing the funds necessary therefor through an election for the issuance and sale of bonds of the State of California and for the handling and disposition of those funds. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 124, as introduced, McCarty. Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020. The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose of providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support service through full- and part-time programs. The act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer all California state preschool programs, which include part-day age and developmentally appropriate programs designed to facilitate the transition to kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-old children. Existing law establishes the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund in the State Treasury to provide funding for loans for the renovation, repair, or improvement of an existing building to make the building suitable for licensure for child care and development services, and for the purchase of new relocatable child care facilities, as provided. This bill would enact the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $500,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a preschool facility grant program. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the _____, 2020, statewide general election. DIGEST KEY Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: no Fiscal Committee: yes Local Program: no BILL TEXT THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 8498.100) is added to Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read: CHAPTER 2.2. Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 Article 1. General Provisions 8498.100. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020. 8498.101. As used in this chapter: (a) “Committee” means the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 Finance Committee created pursuant to Section 8498.105. (b) “Fund” means the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 Fund Created pursuant to Section 8498.102. (c) “Superintendent” means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Article 2. Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 8498.102. (a) The proceeds of bonds issued and sold pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury. The moneys in that fund shall be available for appropriation by the Legislature to the Superintendent for purposes of providing grants, specified in subdivision (b), to local educational agencies or contracting agencies that receive funding for a state preschool program operated pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 8235) of Chapter 2. (b) The grants provided in subdivision (a) shall be used for the renovation, repair, or improvement of an existing building to make the building suitable for licensure for preschool services, and for the purchase of new relocatable preschool facilities. Article 3. Fiscal Provisions 8498.103. (a) Bonds in the total amount of five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000), or so much thereof as is necessary, not including the amount of any refunding bonds issued in accordance with Section 8498.113, may be issued and sold to provide a fund to be used for carrying out the purposes expressed in this chapter and to reimburse the General Obligation Bond Expense Revolving Fund pursuant to Section 16724.5 of the Government Code. The bonds, when sold, shall be and constitute a valid and binding obligation of the State of California, and the full faith and credit of the State of California is hereby pledged for the punctual payment of both principal of, and interest on, the bonds as the principal and interest become due and payable. (b) The Treasurer shall issue and sell the bonds authorized in subdivision (a) in the amount determined by the committee to be necessary or desirable pursuant to Section 8498.106. The bonds shall be issued and sold upon the terms and conditions specified in a resolution to be adopted by the committee pursuant to Section 16731 of the Government Code. 8498.104. (a) The bonds authorized by this chapter shall be prepared, executed, issued, sold, paid, and redeemed as provided in the State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), as amended from time to time, and all of the provisions of that law apply to the bonds and to this chapter and are hereby incorporated in this chapter as though set forth in full in this chapter. (b) For purposes of this chapter, the references to “committee” in the State General Obligation Bond Law shall mean the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 Finance Committee created in Section 8498.105 and the references to “board” in the State General Obligation Bond Law shall mean the Superintendent. 8498.105. (a) Solely for the purpose of authorizing the issuance and sale pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law of the bonds authorized by this chapter, the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020 Finance Committee is hereby created. (b) The committee consists of the Controller, Treasurer, Director of Finance, and Superintendent. Notwithstanding any other law, any member may designate a representative to act as that member in his or her place for all purposes, as though the member were personally present. (c) The Treasurer shall serve as chairperson of the committee. A majority of the committee may act for the committee. 8498.106. The committee shall determine by resolution whether or not it is necessary or desirable to issue and sell bonds authorized pursuant to this chapter in order to carry out the actions specified in this chapter and, if so, the amount of bonds to be issued and sold. Successive issues of bonds may be authorized and sold to carry out those actions progressively, and it is not necessary that all of the bonds authorized to be issued be sold at any one time. 8498.107. There shall be collected each year and in the same manner and at the same time as other state revenue is collected, in addition to the ordinary revenues of the state, a sum in an amount required to pay the principal of, and interest on, the bonds each year. It is the duty of all officers charged by law with any duty in regard to the collection of the revenue to do and perform each and every act that is necessary to collect that additional sum. 8498.108. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, there is hereby continuously appropriated from the General Fund in the State Treasury, for the purposes of this chapter and without regard to fiscal years, an amount that equals the total of the following: (a) The sum annually necessary to pay the principal of, and interest on, bonds issued and sold pursuant to this chapter, as the principal and interest become due and payable. (b) The sum necessary to carry out Section 8498.110. 8498.109. The Committee may request the Pooled Money Investment Board to make a loan from the Pooled Money Investment Account, in accordance with Section 16312 of the Government Code, for the purpose of carrying out this chapter less any amount withdrawn pursuant to Section 8498.110. The amount of the request shall not exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that the committee has, by resolution, authorized to be sold for the purpose of carrying out this chapter, excluding any refunding bonds authorized pursuant to Section 8498.113, less any amount loaned pursuant to this section and not yet repaid and any amount withdrawn from the General Fund pursuant to Section 8498.110 and not yet returned to the General Fund. The committee shall execute any documents required by the Pooled Money Investment Board to obtain and repay the loan. Any amounts loaned shall be deposited in the fund to be allocated by the committee in accordance with this chapter. 8498.110. For the purposes of carrying out this chapter, the Director of Finance may authorize the withdrawal from the General Fund of an amount not to exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that have been authorized by the committee to be sold for the purpose of carrying out this chapter, excluding any refunding bonds authorized pursuant to Section 8498.113, less any amount loaned pursuant to Section 8498.109 and not yet repaid, and any amount withdrawn from the General Fund pursuant to this section and not yet returned to the General Fund. Any amounts withdrawn shall be deposited in the fund. Any moneys made available under this section shall be returned to the General Fund from proceeds received from the sale of bonds for the purpose of carrying out this chapter. 8498.111. All moneys deposited in the fund that are derived from premium and accrued interest on bonds sold pursuant to this chapter shall be reserved in the fund and shall be available for transfer to the General Fund as a credit to expenditures for bond interest, except those amounts derived from premium may be reserved and used to pay the cost of bond issuance prior to any transfer to the General Fund. 8498.112. Pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720), of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the cost of bond issuance shall be paid out of the bond proceeds, including premium, if any. To the extent the cost of bond issuance is not paid from premiums received from the sale of bonds, these costs shall be shared proportionally by each program funded through this chapter by the applicable bond sale. 8498.113. The bonds issued and sold pursuant to this chapter may be refunded in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with Section 16780) of Chapter 4 of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code, which is a part of the State General Obligation Bond Law. Approval by the voters of the state for the issuance of the bonds described in this chapter includes the approval of the issuance of any bonds issued to refund any bonds originally issued under this chapter or any previously issued refunding bonds. 8498.114. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, or of the State General Obligation Bond Law, if the Treasurer sells bonds pursuant to this chapter that include a bond counsel opinion to the effect that the interest on the bonds is excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes under designated conditions or is otherwise entitled to any federal tax advantage, the Treasurer may maintain separate accounts for the bond proceeds invested and for the investment earnings on those proceeds. The Treasurer may use or direct the use of those proceeds or earnings to pay any rebate, penalty, or other payment required under federal law or take any other action with respect to the investment and use of those bond proceeds required or desirable under federal law to maintain the tax exempt status of those bonds and to obtain any other advantage under federal law on behalf of the funds of this state. 8498.115. The proceeds from the sale of bonds authorized by this chapter are not “proceeds of taxes” as that term is used in Article XIII B of the California Constitution, and the disbursement of these proceeds is not subject to the limitations imposed by that article. SEC. 2. Section 1 of this act shall take effect upon the approval by the voters of the Preschool Facilities Bond Act of 2020, as set forth in Section 1 of this act. SEC. 3. Section 1 of this act shall be submitted to the voters at the ______, 2020 statewide general election in accordance with provisions of the Elections Code and the Government Code governing the submission of a statewide measure to the voters.