Bill Text: CA AB1182 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1182 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Housing: Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2018-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1182 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB1182-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 03, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1182

Introduced by Assembly Member Low

February 17, 2017

An act to ~~amend Section 46300.2 of the Education Code, relating to elementary and secondary education.~~ add and repeal Part 15 (commencing with Section 53580) to Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1182, as amended, Low. ~~Elementary and secondary education: community school and independent study funds: apportionment claims.~~ Housing: Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program.

Existing law establishes the California Housing Finance Agency with a primary purpose of meeting the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law requires the California Housing Finance Agency to administer various housing finance assistance programs, including, among others, the Roberti-Greene Home Purchase Assistance Program, which provides first-time home buyers with home purchase assistance in the form of interest rate subsidies and downpayment assistance. Existing law authorizes the agency to create its own home purchase assistance programs, home purchase assistance products, or both, on such terms and conditions as the agency deems prudent. Existing law requires the agency to administer the Extra Credit Teacher Home Purchase Program, as specified, and any other school personnel home ownership assistance program that is set forth by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee.
This bill would establish the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program (pilot program) for the purpose of providing financial assistance to an eligible applicant who is teaching, or commits to teaching, in a high-cost county. The bill would require the California Housing Finance Agency to administer the pilot program, and would require the agency to adopt regulations to implement the pilot program. The bill would provide that financial assistance for purposes of the pilot program may include downpayment assistance or annual rental stipends. The bill would authorize an applicant to submit an application, which must contain certain information, to the agency to receive financial assistance under the pilot program. The bill would require the agency to review any application submitted to determine whether the applicant is eligible to receive financial assistance. The bill would require the agency when awarding grants under the pilot program to give priority to certain types of eligible applicants.
This bill would transfer $50 million from the General Fund to the Teacher Housing Assistance Fund, which this bill would create as a continuously appropriated fund within the State Treasury, and would require the agency to use amounts in that fund in accordance with a specified schedule. This bill would state that funds appropriated by this bill would not be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
This bill would provide that the pilot program shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023, or on the date that the agency certifies that all funds in the Teacher Housing Assistance Fund have been awarded. The bill would require the agency to, within one year after the pilot program becomes inoperative, submit a report to specified committees of the Legislature that must contain specified information relating to the demand and effectiveness of the pilot program, as well as a recommendation on whether the pilot program should be continued. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2024.
Existing law requires the State Department of Education to apportion funds for community school and independent study average daily attendance only for average daily attendance claimed by school districts and county superintendents of schools for pupils who officially reside in the county in which the apportionment claim is reported, or who officially reside in a county immediately adjacent to the county in which the apportionment claim is reported.
~~This bill would make nonsubstantive change in those provisions.~~

Vote: ~~MAJORITY~~2/3 Appropriation: NOYES Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Part 15 (commencing with Section 53580) is added to Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

PART 15. Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program
53580.
This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program.
53581.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The State of California is currently experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers.
(b) A number of factors, including the high cost of living, affect a school district’s ability to recruit the necessary number of teachers.
(c) A high cost of living particularly affects recruitment in city and suburban districts.
(d) According to a recent study, 89 percent of districts in cities and 69 percent of districts in suburban areas report experiencing a teacher shortage.
(e) San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Los Angeles are among the counties with the highest cost of living in the state.
53582.
The purpose of this part is to assist new and experienced teachers who are currently teaching or have committed to teach in a high-cost county to obtain housing within the county in which he or she is teaching or has committed to teaching.
53583.
For purposes of this part, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Agency” means the California Housing Finance Agency.
(b) “Eligible applicant” means a person who satisfies all of the following:
(1) Holds a valid teaching credential.
(2) Currently teaches or has committed to teaching in a school district located in a high-cost county.
(3) Resides within the high-cost county in which that person is teaching or has committed to teaching.
(c) “High-cost county” means a county where the median housing cost exceeds five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or the median rental cost exceeds three thousand dollars ($3,000). For purposes of the pilot program, high-cost county is limited to the City and County of San Francisco, the County of San Diego, the County of Santa Clara, or the County of Los Angeles.
(d) “Pilot program” means the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program established by this part.
53584.
(a) There is hereby established the Teacher Housing Assistance Pilot Program.
(b) The agency shall administer the pilot program for the purpose of providing financial assistance to eligible applicants. The agency shall adopt regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Government Code) to implement this part.
(c) Financial assistance shall consist of the following:
(1) A one-time downpayment assistance that is subject to the following requirements:
(A) The amount of the downpayment assistance shall not exceed 20 percent of the home sale price and may not exceed 20 percent of the median home cost for the high-cost county that the eligible applicant resides in.
(B) As a condition of receiving any funds under this paragraph, the eligible applicant shall commit to teaching in the high-cost county that the eligible applicant resides in for five years after the purchase of the house.
(2) An annual rental stipend that is subject to the following requirements:
(A) The amount of the stipend shall be provided in a lump sum to an eligible applicant in an amount that is equal to one-half of the eligible applicant’s annual rent, but that amount may not exceed an amount that is equal to one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per month, when divided by 12 months.
(B) As a condition of receiving any funds under this paragraph, the eligible applicant shall commit to teaching continuously in the high-cost county for each fiscal year in which the funds are received.
53585.
(a) In order to receive financial assistance pursuant to the pilot program, an applicant must submit an application to the agency, in a form and manner prescribed by the agency, that includes all of the following information:
(1) The school that the applicant is teaching in or has committed to teach in that is located in a high-cost county.
(2) The type of financial assistance requested.
(3) Any other information that the agency determines is necessary to process the application.
(b) The agency shall review any application submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) to determine whether the applicant is eligible for funding.
(c) In awarding grants to eligible applicants, the agency shall give priority to eligible applicants holding credentials in the following high-need subject matter areas:
(1) Bilingual education.
(2) Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
(3) Special education.
53586.
(a) There is hereby transferred from the General Fund to the Teacher Housing Assistance Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury, the sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000). Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, amounts in the Teacher Housing Assistance Fund are continuously appropriated to the agency to be used in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) Thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) to provide downpayment assistance to qualified applicants who are teaching, or have committed to teaching, in a high-cost county.
(2) Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) to provide annual rental stipends to qualified applicants who are teaching, or have committed to teaching, in a high-cost county.
(b) For purposes of making the computations required by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, the appropriation made by this section shall not be deemed to be “General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts,” as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 41202 of the Education Code, for the 2017–18 fiscal year and annually thereafter, and shall not be included within the “total allocations to school districts and community college districts from General Fund proceeds of taxes appropriated pursuant to Article XIII B,” as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202 of the Education Code, for the 2016–17 fiscal year and annually thereafter.
53587.
(a) Except for subdivision (b), this part shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023, or on the date that the agency certifies, and posts on its Internet Web site, that all funds appropriated to the pilot program have been awarded, whichever is earlier.
(b) (1) The agency shall within one year after this part becomes inoperative pursuant to subdivision (a) submit a report to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Appropriations that evaluates the demand for the financial assistance provided by the pilot program, and the effectiveness of the pilot program in addressing the state’s teacher shortage. The agency shall include in that report a recommendation on whether the pilot program should be continued.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c) This part shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2024, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2024, deletes or extends that date.

SECTION 1.Section 46300.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:
46300.2.
The department shall apportion funds for community school and independent study average daily attendance only for average daily attendance that is claimed by school districts and county superintendents of schools for pupils who officially reside in the county in which the apportionment claim is reported, or who officially reside in a county immediately adjacent to the county in which the apportionment claim is reported.