BILL NUMBER: SB 803 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 379
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 19, 2012
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 19, 2012
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 2012
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 10, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 4, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 33425) to
Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
and to add and repeal Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 18736) of
Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code, relating to youth education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 803, DeSaulnier. California Youth Leadership Project.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under
the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and
provides for numerous duties of the department with respect to the
education of youth.
This bill would establish the California Youth Leadership Project
under the department for the purpose of supporting and promoting
youth civic engagement by awarding scholarships to youth from 14 to
18 years of age, in accordance with specified criteria, for youth and
civic engagement programs that would improve the quality of life for
California's disconnected and disadvantaged youth, as specified. The
bill would create the California Youth Leadership Project Committee,
which would be chaired by the Superintendent and be composed of
specified appointed members. The bill would authorize the committee
to enter into an interagency agreement with the department to carry
out necessary administrative functions. The committee also would be
charged with determining when there are sufficient funds to support
the program, and if it determines that there are insufficient funds
to cover all costs, the activities of the project would cease.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes taxpayers to contribute
amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified
funds.
This bill would create in the State Treasury the California Youth
Leadership Fund to receive contributions from tax return designations
to support the California Youth Leadership Project. The bill would
allocate all moneys transferred to the California Youth Leadership
Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Franchise Tax
Board and the Controller for the reimbursement of costs incurred, and
to the department to provide for the California Youth Leadership
Project. The bill would provide for the repeal of this contribution
provision for this fund on January 1 of the 5th taxable year
following the first appearance of the California Youth Leadership
Fund on the tax return or on January 1 of an earlier calendar year,
if the Franchise Tax Board estimates that the annual contribution
amount will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount, as
specified, for subsequent taxable years. The bill also would
authorize the California Youth Leadership Project Committee to accept
gifts and grants from any source to help perform its functions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the needs
of California's youth can best be assessed by California's youth.
(b) The Legislature recognizes that there are more than 9,000,000
youth under 19 years of age in California and an additional 3,000,000
more young adults between 18 and 24 years of age.
(c) The Legislature recognizes that all young people need five key
developmental resources in order to become productive citizens:
caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education,
and opportunities to help others. The Legislature further recognizes
that young people who receive more of these developmental resources
fare better than young people who receive fewer, and that those young
people are more likely to avoid violence, contribute to their
communities, and achieve high grades in school. The Legislature
further recognizes the significant number of California's youth who
live disadvantaged lives. Of those youth, an estimated 200,000 minors
and thousands more youth between 18 and 24 years of age experience
homelessness each year. Another 60,000 youth are in the foster care
system, over 1,250 youth in California currently occupy juvenile
justice facilities, and more than 2,500 youth are on parole from
those facilities. Youth who are homeless, in the juvenile justice
system, or in foster care have limited opportunities to participate
in the policy process that ultimately impacts their well-being.
(d) The Legislature recognizes that there are limited civic
engagement opportunities for these disconnected and disadvantaged
youth, especially opportunities developed and designed for and with
them in mind.
(e) The Legislature is alarmed that hundreds of thousands of
California youth are among the two-thirds of America's children and
youth recently identified by the America's Promise Alliance as not
receiving sufficient developmental resources to safely put them on
the path to adulthood. The Legislature also is concerned that the
high school completion rate is less than 60 percent for pupils from
low-income households and pupils of color in California, that gang
and youth violence continue to be a concern and, although birth rates
to teen mothers have decreased, teen pregnancy and parenting
continues to be a significant social problem in California. The
Legislature is encouraged, however, by research indicating that
providing more of the five developmental resources for more young
people can help prevent many of these problems, and that millions of
dollars in later prison, health, and welfare costs can be avoided by
providing more developmental resources for more young people now.
(f) The Legislature also agrees with the America's Promise
Alliance's call for greater collaboration and integration in working
to turn failure into action and improve the lives of young people at
risk and with the actions of the more than 20 states that have
committed their state resources for the creation of statewide
entities charged with improving the developmental well-being of their
children and youth.
(g) The Legislature further acknowledges that youth with
disabilities often face even greater obstacles and barriers to
educational attainment and civic engagement opportunities than their
nondisabled peers and could benefit from outreach efforts to
participate in the California Youth Leadership Project. The most
recent data reveal significant disparities in achievement between
disabled and nondisabled youth. While 12 percent of the nondisabled
do not have a high school diploma, 28 percent of people with
disabilities do not have a high school diploma. In addition, only 4
percent of people with disabilities hold a college degree, compared
to 14 percent of those without a disability.
(h) The Legislature also believes that the quality of an
educational program directly impacts the ability of disabled youth to
live independently as adults. Nationally, only 29 percent of youth
with disabilities between the ages of 20 to 24 are employed, which is
far below the 60 percent figure for nondisabled youth. Moreover, the
unemployment figure for adults with disabilities later rises to an
astonishing rate of 72 percent.
SEC. 2. Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 33425) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 9.5. California Youth Leadership Project
33425. (a) The California Youth Leadership Project is hereby
established under the department for the purpose of promoting youth
civic engagement through meaningful opportunities to improve the
quality of life for California's disconnected and disadvantaged
youth.
(b) The California Youth Leadership Project shall support and
promote youth civic engagement by awarding scholarships to youth
between 14 and 18 years of age. Furthermore, youths awarded
scholarships by the California Youth Leadership Project shall be
given the opportunity to make meaningful recommendations regarding
legislation and policies that impact their own lives and the lives of
the thousands of other youth in California whose voices often go
unheard. An organization that operates civic engagement programs may
submit applications for participation in the project on behalf of
interested youth.
(c) The California Youth Leadership Project shall allocate
scholarship award funds to organizations that submit applications on
behalf of youth who are selected to receive scholarship awards under
this article. These organizations shall do, without limitation, all
of the following for the youth who receive scholarship awards under
this article:
(1) Provide youth participants tools to examine and discuss policy
and fiscal issues affecting the interests, needs, and conditions of
the youth of California.
(2) Provide youth participants the opportunity to formally advise
and make recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor on
specific issues affecting youth. These issues may include, but need
not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Education.
(B) Employment.
(C) Access to state and local governmental services.
(D) The environment.
(E) Behavioral and physical health.
(F) Safety.
(G) Technology.
(H) Criminal justice.
(I) Homelessness.
(J) Foster care.
(K) Child welfare.
(L) Emancipation.
(M) Financial literacy.
(N) Substance abuse.
(O) Driver's license requirements.
(P) Poverty.
(Q) Increased youth participation in state and local government.
(R) Issues affecting youth with disabilities.
(S) Any other policy or fiscal issues deemed appropriate by the
department.
(3) Provide youth participants the opportunity to consult with any
existing local level youth advisory commissions and community-based,
grassroots youth-led organizations for input and potential solutions
on issues related to youth.
(4) Provide youth participants the opportunity to convene and
conduct meetings to fulfill the purposes of this chapter.
(5) Provide youth participants the opportunity to act as an
information center on California youth policy and fiscal issues,
including, but not limited to, the issues listed in paragraph (2).
(6) When available, enable individual youth to travel to the State
Capitol to learn the legislative process and, on occasion, to
testify at legislative hearings.
(d) An organization that receives a scholarship award on behalf of
youth under this article shall use these funds only for
youth-related activities described in subdivision (c).
(e) For purposes of this article, disconnected and disadvantaged
youth described in subdivision (a) include, but are not limited to,
youth who are homeless between 18 and 24 years of age, youth with
disabilities, youth who are from minority racial or ethnic groups,
youth who are in or have been emancipated from foster care, youth who
have been in or are on parole from the juvenile justice system,
youth who are from low-income households, youth who are high school
dropouts or are at risk of dropping out of school, youth who are
pregnant or are young mothers, and other youth who could benefit from
participation in the California Youth Leadership Project.
33426. (a) The California Youth Leadership Project shall be
overseen by the California Youth Leadership Project Committee.
(b) The California Youth Leadership Project Committee shall be
established and oversee the California Youth Leadership Project and
distribute funds pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section
18736) of Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code and this article.
(c) Members of the California Youth Leadership Project Committee,
in making youth scholarship awards, shall take into consideration
that awarded youth represent the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic,
cultural, physical, and educational diversity of California. Priority
for awarding scholarships under this article shall be given to
at-risk or disadvantaged youth between 14 and 18 years of age, as
their participation in the California Youth Leadership Project will
provide keen insight into many of the issues that youth face in their
day-to-day lives.
(d) (1) The California Youth Leadership Project Committee shall be
chaired by the Superintendent, or his or her designee, and shall
include no more than six members.
(2) The Superintendent shall appoint the following four members to
the California Youth Leadership Project Committee:
(A) A representative from a statewide nonprofit youth
organization.
(B) A representative from a community-based nonprofit organization
that serves youth or deals with youth-related issues, including, but
not limited to, the issues described in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(c) of Section 33425.
(C) A representative of a local educational agency or school
district.
(D) A youth between 14 and 18 years of age who has participated in
a youth leadership program involving lobbying the Legislature on
issue areas affecting youth. This person shall serve only in an
advisory capacity.
(3) The California Health and Human Services Agency may also, but
is not required to, appoint a member to the California Youth
Leadership Project Committee.
(4) To the extent possible, a member of the California Youth
Leadership Project Committee, appointed under any of subparagraphs
(A) to (C), inclusive, of paragraph (2) shall have experience and be
trained to work with youth between 14 and 18 years of age on any of
the issues described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section
33425, and shall have special experience in civic engagement,
advocacy, and at least one of the following issue areas affecting
youth:
(A) Crisis prevention or intervention.
(B) Drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse prevention or intervention.
(C) Foster care.
(D) Juvenile justice.
(E) Homelessness.
(F) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights and social
justice.
(G) Mental health.
(H) Youth with disabilities.
(e) The members of the California Youth Leadership Project
Committee shall serve on a voluntary basis and shall not receive a
salary.
33427. Duties of the California Youth Leadership Project
Committee shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(a) Develop and provide applications for the California Youth
Leadership Project scholarship and collect applications from youth
who would like to apply.
(b) Determine ways to promote the program and make applications
available.
(c) Establish criteria for the selection of youth, and make awards
based on those criteria and the purposes of this chapter.
(d) Ensure that there is no discrimination based on race,
religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender, marital status,
disability, sex, or sexual orientation.
(e) Establish the time, location, and number of annual meetings of
the committee. The committee shall meet no less than once each year.
(f) If necessary, enter into a mutually agreed upon interagency
agreement with the department to carry out administrative duties
related to the project.
(g) Submit an annual budget and report to the department.
(h) (1) Determine when there are sufficient funds to support the
project. If the committee determines that there are insufficient
funds to cover all costs, the activities of the California Youth
Leadership Project shall cease.
(2) State funds shall not be used to support the California Youth
Leadership Project except as provided in Article 4.5 (commencing with
Section 18736) of Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code.
33428. (a) The funds for the California Youth Leadership Project
shall be allocated from the California Youth Leadership Fund pursuant
to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 18736) of Chapter 3 of Part
10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or from private
funds directed to the department and allocated to the California
Youth Leadership Project Committee for the purpose of funding
activities of the California Youth Leadership Project.
(b) The California Youth Leadership Project may accept gifts and
grants from any source, public or private, to help perform its
functions, pursuant to this article.
(c) The California Youth Leadership Project Committee shall have
the authority to define its program and utilize its funds in any way
necessary to carry out the duties of this article, including, but not
limited to, partnering with nonprofit groups or state agencies to
perform various duties required by this article, as long as the
program or activity is not in violation of a state law or regulation.
SEC. 3. Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 18736) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code, to read:
Article 4.5. California Youth Leadership Fund
18736. (a) An individual may designate on the tax return that a
contribution in excess of the tax liability, if any, be made to the
California Youth Leadership Fund established by Section 18737.
(b) The contributions shall be in full dollar amounts, and may be
made individually by each signatory on a joint return.
(c) A designation under subdivision (a) shall be made for any
taxable year on the original return for that taxable year, and once
made shall be irrevocable. If payments and credits reported on the
return, together with any other credits associated with the
individual's account, do not exceed the individual's tax liability,
the return shall be treated as though no designation has been made.
(d) If an individual designates a contribution to more than one
account or fund listed on the tax return, and the amount available is
insufficient to satisfy the total amount designated, the
contribution shall be allocated among the designees on a pro rata
basis.
(e) The Franchise Tax Board shall revise the form of the return to
include a space labeled "California Youth Leadership Fund" to allow
for the designation permitted under subdivision (a). The form also
shall include in the instructions information that the contribution
may be in the amount of one dollar ($1) or more and that the
contribution shall be used to support the California Youth Leadership
Project.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision, a voluntary contribution
designation for the California Youth Leadership Fund shall be added
on the tax return when another voluntary contribution designation is
removed or as soon as space is available on the tax return.
(g) A deduction shall be allowed under Article 6 (commencing with
Section 17201) of Chapter 3 of Part 10 for any contribution made
pursuant to subdivision (a).
18737. There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
California Youth Leadership Fund to receive contributions made
pursuant to Section 18736. The Franchise Tax Board shall notify the
Controller of both the amount of money paid by taxpayers in excess of
their tax liability and the amount of refund money that taxpayers
have designated pursuant to Section 18736 to be transferred to the
California Youth Leadership Fund. The Controller shall transfer from
the Personal Income Tax Fund to the California Youth Leadership Fund
an amount not in excess of the sum of the amounts designated by
individuals pursuant to Section 18736 for payment into that fund.
18738. All moneys transferred to the California Youth Leadership
Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be allocated as
follows:
(a) To the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for
reimbursement of all costs incurred by the Franchise Tax Board and
the Controller in connection with their duties under this article.
(b) To the State Department of Education to provide for the
California Youth Leadership Project, pursuant to Article 9.5
(commencing with Section 33425) of Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2
of Title 2 of the Education Code.
(c) All moneys allocated pursuant to subdivision (b) may be
carried over from the year in which they were received.
18739. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), this
article shall remain in effect only until January 1 of the fifth
taxable year following the first appearance of the California Youth
Leadership Fund on the tax return, and as of that date is repealed.
(b) (1) By September 1 of the second calendar year, and by
September 1 of each subsequent calendar year that the California
Youth Leadership Fund appears on a tax return, the Franchise Tax
Board shall do all of the following:
(A) Determine the minimum contribution amount required to be
received during the next calendar year for the fund to appear on the
tax return for the taxable year that includes that next calendar
year.
(B) Provide written notification to the State Department of
Education of the amount determined in subparagraph (A).
(C) Determine whether the amount of contributions estimated to be
received during the calendar year will equal or exceed the minimum
contribution amount determined by the Franchise Tax Board for the
calendar year pursuant to subparagraph (A). The Franchise Tax Board
shall estimate the amount of contributions to be received by using
the actual amounts received and an estimate of the contributions that
will be received by the end of that calendar year.
(2) If the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of
contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will
not equal or exceed the minimum contribution amount for the calendar
year, this article is repealed with respect to taxable years
beginning on or after January 1 of that calendar year.
(3) For purposes of this section, "minimum contribution amount for
the calendar year" means two hundred fifty thousand dollars
($250,000) for the second calendar year after the first appearance of
the California Youth Leadership Fund on the personal income tax
return or the adjusted minimum contribution amount adjusted pursuant
to subdivision (c).
(c) For each calendar year, beginning with the third calendar year
that the California Youth Leadership Fund appears on the tax return,
the Franchise Tax Board shall adjust, on or before September 1 of
that calendar year, the minimum estimated contribution amount
specified in subdivision (b) as follows:
(1) The minimum estimated contribution amount for the calendar
year shall be an amount equal to the product of the minimum
contribution amount for the prior September 1 multiplied by the
inflation factor adjustment as specified in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (h) of Section 17041, rounded off to the nearest dollar.
(2) The inflation factor adjustment used for the calendar year
shall be based on the figures for the percentage change in the
California Consumer Price Index received on or before August 1 of the
calendar year pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (h) of
Section 17041.
(d) Notwithstanding the repeal of this article, any contribution
amounts designated pursuant to this article before its repeal shall
continue to be transferred and disbursed in accordance with this
article as in effect immediately before that repeal.