BILL NUMBER: SB 1381 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Mendoza
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Section 17053 to the Revenue and Taxation
Code, relating to taxation, to take effect immediately, tax levy.
33333.5 to the Education Code, relating to
teachers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1381, as amended, Mendoza. Personal income taxes:
credit: teachers. Teachers: grants.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Education, under
the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and
assigns to the department numerous duties relating to the financing,
governance, and guidance of the public elementary and secondary
schools in this state.
This bill would establish a grant program under the administration
of the department for full-time, credentialed teachers, as defined.
The bill would provide that, commencing with the 2017-18 school
year, and each school year thereafter, a full-time, credentialed
teacher who has completed his or her first school year of full-time
teaching as of the end of that school year would receive a grant of
$1,000 during the next school year. The bill would provide that,
commencing with the 2018-19 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed 2
school years of full-time teaching as of the end of that school year
would receive a grant of $1,000 during the next school year. The bill
would further provide that, commencing with the 2019-20 school year,
and each school year thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher
who has completed 3 school years of full-time teaching as of the end
of that school year would receive a grant of $2,500 during the next
school year. The bill would also provide that, commencing with the
2020-21 school year, and each school year thereafter, a full-time,
credentialed teacher who has completed 4 school years of full-time
teaching as of the end of that school year would receive a grant of
$2,500 during the next school year. The bill would also provide that,
commencing with the 2021-22 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed 5
school years of full-time teaching as of the end of that school year
would receive a grant of $5,000 during the next school year. The bill
would further provide that, commencing with the 2022-23 school year,
and each school year thereafter, a full-time credentialed teacher
who has completed 6 or more school years of full-time teaching would
receive a grant of $5,000 during the next school year.
The bill would specify that a qualifying teacher may receive
grants under these provisions in multiple school years, but would
prohibit a teacher from receiving more than one grant in a school
year under these provisions.
The bill would require the department to submit a report to the
Legislature on or before July 1, 2022, on the effectiveness of the
grant program.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the
taxes imposed by that law.
This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January
1, 2017, allow a credit under the Personal Income Tax Law in an
amount equal to $5,000 to a qualified taxpayer, as defined to include
specified full-time teachers. This bill would state the intent of
the Legislature to enact legislation to provide that the credit
amount in excess of tax liability would be refundable in those years
in which an appropriation for that purpose is made by the Legislature
and includes findings relating to that appropriation.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) In the last decade, there has been a 70-percent drop in the
number of people preparing to become California teachers. Last year,
22,000 new credentialed teachers were needed, but only 15,000 were
acquired.
(b) California has the highest pupil-teacher ratio in the nation,
and the gap widened during the budget cuts. By 2013, the state's
pupil-teacher ratio reached 24 to 1, compared to the national average
of 16 to 1.
(c) According to the California Teachers Association, nearly one
in three teachers leave the profession within seven years, 13 percent
of teachers leave the profession by the end of their second year,
and, every year, 10 percent of teachers in high-poverty schools
transfer to other schools.
(d) California's registered voters consider the shortage of K-12
teachers a very serious problem, according to a poll commissioned by
EdSource and the Learning Policy Institute. The survey of 1,002
registered voters statewide found there is strong support (85
percent) for having the state offer additional scholarships or
partially forgive a teacher's college loans as a way to increase the
number of those entering the teaching profession.
(e) A 1997 study by S. Paul Wright, Sandra P. Horn, and William L.
Sanders studied teachers and their classroom effects on pupil
achievement. Through their results, they found that the most
important factor affecting pupil achievement is the teacher, and that
improving the effectiveness of teachers can improve education for
children (Wright, Horn, and Sanders, 1997). A 2011 study conducted by
Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, and Jonah E. Rockoff suggested that
pupils with effective teachers are more likely to attend college,
attend higher-ranked colleges, earn higher salaries, live in higher
socioeconomic status neighborhoods, and save more for retirement.
(f) A study published by the Learning Policy Institute, Addressing
California's Emerging Teacher Shortage: An Analysis of Sources and
Solutions, reported that in mathematics and science, the number of
credentials awarded to new, fully prepared teachers plunged by 32
percent and 14 percent, respectively, over the last four years (Linda
Darling-Hammond, Roberta Furger, Patrick M. Shields, and Leib
Sutcher, 2016). Consequently, the amount of underprepared mathematics
and science teachers, such as those with temporary permits and
waivers and intern credentials, increased by 23 percent and 51
percent, respectively (Darling-Hammond, Furger, Shields, and Sutcher,
2016). In special education, the number of credentials issued
decreased by 21 percent between school years 2011-12 and school year
2013-14, while substandard permits and credentials decreased by 10
percent. Nearly one-half of the special education teachers licensed
in California in school year 2013-14 lacked full preparation for
teaching (Darling-Hammond, Furger, Shields, and Sutcher, 2016).
SEC. 2. Section 33333.5 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
33333.5. (a) The department shall administer a program providing
grants to full-time, credentialed teachers in accordance with all of
the following:
(1) Commencing with the 2017-18 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed his
or her first school year of teaching as of the end of that school
year shall receive a grant of one thousand dollars ($1,000) during
the next school year.
(2) Commencing with the 2018-19 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed two
school years of full-time teaching as of the end of that school year
shall receive a grant of one thousand dollars ($1,000) during the
next school year.
(3) Commencing with the 2019-20 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed three
school years of full-time teaching as of the end of that school year
shall receive a grant of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
during the next school year.
(4) Commencing with the 2020-21 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed four
school years of full-time teaching as of the end of that school year
shall receive a grant of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
during the next school year.
(5) Commencing with the 2021-22 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed five
school years of full-time teaching as of the end of that school year
shall receive a grant of five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the
next school year.
(6) Commencing with the 2022-23 school year, and each school year
thereafter, a full-time, credentialed teacher who has completed six
or more school years of full-time teaching as of the end of that
school year shall receive a grant of five thousand dollars ($5,000)
during the next school year.
(7) A qualifying teacher may receive grants under this section in
multiple school years, but no teacher shall receive more than one
grant in a school year under this section.
(b) As used in this section, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
(1) "Credentialed teacher" means a full-time teacher credentialed
pursuant to Sections 80021 to 80025, inclusive, of Chapter 1 of
Division 8 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, if he or
she serves as the teacher of record in a California public
elementary or secondary school for a classroom for at least one
schoolday during the taxable year in which the credit is claimed.
"Credentialed teacher" shall not include a teacher who solely
possesses a 30-day substitute teaching permit, as defined in Section
80025 of Chapter 1 of Division 8 of Title 5 of the California Code of
Regulations. "Credentialed teacher" shall not include a teacher
whose sole public school employment as a teacher of record during the
school year occurred at a charter school established under the
Charter Schools Act of 1992 (Part 26.8 (commencing with Section
47600) of Division 4).
(2) "Full time" means a minimum of 35 hours per week worked.
SEC. 3. The State Department of
Education shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before July
1, 2022, on the effectiveness of the grant program established
pursuant to Section 33333.5 of the Education Code as added by Section
2 of this act. This report shall be submitted in compliance with
Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 17053 is added to the
Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:
17053. (a) For each taxable year beginning on or after January 1,
2017, there shall be allowed to a qualified taxpayer a credit
against the "net tax," as defined in Section 17039, in an amount
equal to five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Full time" means a minimum of 35 hours per week worked.
(2) "Qualified taxpayer" means a full-time teacher credentialed
pursuant to Sections 80021 to 80025, inclusive, of Chapter 1 of
Division 8 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, if he or
she serves as the teacher of record for a classroom for at least one
schoolday during the taxable year in which the credit is claimed.
"Qualified taxpayer" shall not include a teacher who solely possesses
a 30-day substitute teaching permit, as defined in Section 80025 of
Chapter 1 of Division 8 of Title 5 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(c) (1) Subject to paragraph (2), in the case where the credit
allowed by this section exceeds the "net tax" the excess may be
carried over to reduce the "net tax," in the following year, and
succeeding years if necessary, until the credit is exhausted.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
provide that in the case where the credit allowed by this section
exceeds the "net tax," the excess, in lieu of the carryforward
pursuant to paragraph (1), may be refunded to taxpayers, upon
appropriation by the Legislature.
(d) Section 41 does not apply to the tax credit allowed by this
section.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that
it is the intent of the Legislature that, pursuant to legislation to
be enacted by the Legislature, the state would treat an
appropriation that would be made as described in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c) of Section 17053 of the Revenue and Taxation Code as
a tax expenditure program that would have no impact on school
funding, state reserves, or debt-related payments. To this end, any
appropriation for the refundable portion of the tax credit that would
be allowed pursuant to legislation by the Legislature would not
reduce state obligations set forth in Sections 8, 20, and 21 of
Article XVI of the California Constitution.
SEC. 3. This act provides for a tax levy within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect.