STATE NEWS
From the Capitol
Update: Legislative Proposals
by David Ngô
It has been just over two months since the start of the 2022 Legislative Session and CSEA has already made great progress on this year’s legislative agenda.
The Association has partnered with labor-friendly lawmakers and stakeholders to bring the will of the membership to fruition.
“We must work to ensure our members are protected,” said Legislative Committee Chair Matthew Harris of Santa Maria Elementary Chapter 129. “We have to make sure that CSEA is doing everything we can to maintain and build these relationships.”
"We have to make sure that CSEA is doing everything we can to maintain and build these relationships."
Matthew Harris, Chairperson, CSEA Legislative Committee
As the 2022 Legislative Session pushes forward, CSEA is committed to pursuing legislative actions that benefit all classified workers in California. SB 830, which would create a more equitable funding system for K-12 education, highlights how this year’s legislative proposals directly impact CSEA members.
“This bill will ensure that no school receives less funding per student than they currently receive. The truth is, attendance-based funding punishes students in schools that need the state’s financial support the most,” Association President Matthew “Shane” Dishman said during a press conference on February 10. “CSEA is co-sponsoring this bill to move to enrollment-based funding so that California schools will be funded equitably.”
All six legislative proposals are now moving through the legislative process in Sacramento. And with the support of the CSEA Legislative Committee, like-minded labor partners, classified-friendly legislators and our Governmental Relations team, CSEA aims to carry last year’s successes into 2022.
Here are updates on this year’s six legislative proposals:
Passage of merit system reform bill empowers classified employees
by Shannon Carr
CSEA member Jason Bozarth strongly believes that one of the most basic and fundamental rights we have as American citizens is the right to vote. “The lifeblood of any healthy democracy is the unfettered ability of its citizens to express their desires and hopes for the future, through their ability to cast a ballot,” said Bozarth, grounds equipment operator and president of Ocean View Chapter 375. But when Luis Guerrero, current president of Tustin Chapter 450 , and Dawn Marie Neate, former president of North Orange County Community College District Chapter 167, reached out to Bozarth and Merit Committee Representative Phi Tran seeking guidance on their desire for their districts to become merit system districts, he discovered this freedom was being threatened by “dirty tactics” being undertaken by their district administrators to prevent their members from voting for approval.
Senator Nancy Skinner, District 9
SB 878 (Skinner) Home to School Transportation Funding
To provide universal Home-To-School Transportation for all students to their neighborhood school and back home, and to reform the state's transportation funding mechanism with an equitable formula that adequately funds home-to-school transportation.
Status: Introduced on January 25. Set for its first hearing in Senate Education on March 30.
Senator Anthony Portantino, District 25
SB 830 (Portantino) Average Daily Membership (enrollment-based funding)
To provide supplemental funding for local education agencies based on Average Daily Membership (enrollment-based funding), which is the most equitable method to fund schools.
Status: Introduced on January 3. Referred to Senate Education Committee.
Assemblymember Jose Medina, District 61
AB 1691 (Medina) Classified School Employee Summer Assistance Program (CSESAP)
To make the Classified School Employees Summer Assistance Program (CSESAP) permanent, increase its funding to ensure a dollar-for-dollar match and expand it to include community college classified employees.
Status: Introduced on January 24. Set for its first hearing by the Assembly Public Employment & Retirement and Higher Education Committees on March 16.
Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, District 59
AB 1655 (Jones-Sawyer) Juneteenth
To make Juneteenth a state holiday, observed on June 19th, or a Friday or Monday if June 19th falls on the weekend.
Status: Introduced on January 14. Referred to Assembly Governmental Organization and Higher Education Committees.
Senator Dave Cortese, District 15
SB 874 (Cortese) Merit System Promotion Probation Parity
To provide classified employees of merit K-12 and CCC districts the same clarity that is provided in non-merit districts regarding their right to return to their prior classification if they are promoted and fail to complete probation for the new position.
Status: Introduced on January 24. Referred to Senate Labor, Public Employment & Retirement Committee.
Assemblymember Mia Bonta, District 18
AB 2484 (Bonta) Charter School Mid-Year Closure and Facilities
To bring additional accountability in the event a charter school closes voluntarily or through nonrenewal. AB 2484 clarifies that unspent funds should be reallocated proportionally to the public schools admitting displaced students, and by requiring that charter school facilities either transfer their property titles to their local public-school districts or reimburse the California School Finance Authority for taxpayers’ investments in a charter school property.
Status: Introduced on February 17.
