Copyright© 1999 by School Services of California, Inc.

July 23, 1999

Timelines For The 1999 Legislative Session

For the first time in more than a dozen years the Legislature was able to adjourn for the summer recess according to the actual date on its legislative calendar. Much has already been said and written about the first on-time State Budget in 13 years. As a result of the Legislature and Governor doing their jobs according to the Constitution, the legislators were able to depart Sacramento on July 16 to begin their 30-day summer recess. The Legislature will return to Sacramento on August 16 to complete the remainder of its 1999 legislative session. The following timelines reflect the 1999 calendar for the first year of the two-year Senate and Assembly 1999-2000 session:

July 16 Summer Recess begins
August 16 Legislature reconvenes
August 27 Last day for fiscal committees to meet
August 30 Start of Floor session only, no committee may meet for any purpose
September 10 Last day for any bill to be passed. Legislature adjourns for 1999
October 10 Last day for Governor to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature on or before September 10 and in his possession after September 10
January 3, 2000 Legislature reconvenes for second year of biennium

"Two-Year Bills"

"Two-year bills" are common legislative slang for legislation that is introduced in the first year of the biennium cycle and has not made it to the Governor's desk for his consideration. These bills may be held in a policy or fiscal committee pending action in the 2000 legislative session. Some of these bills may have been defeated in committee and the author may have requested reconsideration by the committee. As a result, it is difficult to call any bill "dead" that fails to pass a committee in the first year of the legislative cycle because the author can always amend the bill to address opposition concerns and bring the legislation back the following year.

Community College Issues Still on the Table for the 1999 Legislative Session

When the Legislature returns to Sacramento on August 16 several issues and bills that have an impact on community colleges will be considered. They are:

• The Governor vetoed an augmentation of $8.3 million that was earmarked for the EOPS and Puente programs. In his veto message he indicated that the Partnership for Excellence funding has already been augmented by $45 million, which provides resources for all districts to initiate and expand at their discretion these successful categorical programs or any others which improve student outcomes. An attempt may be made to amend legislation that would restore a portion or all of the $8.3 million vetoed by the Governor. This will likely be a fruitless exercise, as the legislature will probably not overturn a Governor's veto on this issue, and if a bill does reach the Governor's desk his "blue pencil" would be waiting.
  
• Part-time faculty legislation, AB 420 (Wildman, D-Glendale) has turned out to be the most visible community college legislation this year. The bill may be amended to address the concerns of the opposition (see page 114, "AB 420 (Part-Time Faculty) Update," this edition).

Other Issues

• AB 80 (Baldwin) community college Field Act exemption
• AB 91 (Hertzberg) joint powers agency-collective bargaining agreements
• AB 94 (Cedillo) classified member on the Board of Governors
• AB 734 (Romero) community college growth funding study
• AB 821 a committee bill that changes final compensation to 12 consecutive months
• SB 76 (Murray) community college student transfer to UC and CSU
• SB 358 (Ortiz) background checks for non-certificated employees
• SB 1203 (Costa) school and community college joint use facilities
• SB 1283 (Polanco) community college modernization projects

If the above bills fail to pass the committees they are currently in, they will become "two-year" bills.

-- Arnold Bray