Amended  IN  Senate  May 25, 2018
Amended  IN  Senate  March 19, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill No. 1177

Introduced by Senator Portantino

February 14, 2018

An act to add and repeal Section 45165.5 of the Education Code, relating to classified employees.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1177, as amended, Portantino. Classified employees: Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund.
(1) Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district not paying the annual or monthly salaries of persons employed by the school district in 12 equal monthly payments to withhold, upon election by the individual employee, a designated amount from each payment made to that employee.
This bill, notwithstanding the existing law referenced above, commencing with the 2019–20 school year, would authorize certain classified employees of local educational agencies that do not pay the annual or monthly salaries of their classified employees who do not receive their annual or monthly salary in 12 equal monthly payments to participate in the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund. The bill would authorize a participating employee to elect to have up to 10% of his or her paycheck withheld during a school year. The bill would require local educational agencies to deposit the amounts withheld from the paychecks of a participating classified employee in accordance with that employee’s choices in an account within its general fund, to be known as the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund.
The bill would require the State Department of Education to apportion moneys to each local educational agency with a classified employee who has opted to participate in the fund. The bill would specify that the apportionment would be in the amount of $2 for each $1, up to the equivalent of the amount paid to the classified employee during 80 hours of employment, or 10 days of employment, whichever is greater, during the school year, that has been deposited in the local educational agency’s Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund. The bill would prohibit this apportionment from exceeding $1 for each $1 that has been deposited in the local educational agency’s Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund.
The bill would require the local educational agency to pay the participating classified employee from the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund the amounts withheld in accordance with the employee’s choices, plus the amount apportioned by the department that is attributable to the amount withheld from that employee’s paychecks during the school year, as specified. The bill would become operative only upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other statute for its purposes. The bill would repeal these provisions on September 1, 2025.

Because this bill

To the extent this bill, once it becomes operative, would impose new duties on local educational agencies, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 45165.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:

45165.5.
 (a) Commencing January 1, 2019, a local educational agency shall establish a summer bridge program that meets all of the eligibility requirements set forth in this section. A program established pursuant to this section shall commence no later than the 2019–20 school year. The summer bridge program shall be available to all classified employees in the state who are interested in participating.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding Section 45165, commencing with the 2019–20 school year, a classified employee of a local educational agency that does not pay the annual or monthly salaries of its classified employees who does not receive his or her annual or monthly salary in 12 equal monthly payments may opt to participate in the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund. The employee may participate in the fund by informing the local educational agency, in writing, no more than 30 calendar days after the beginning of the fall term of the school year or 30 calendar days after the employee begins employment with the local educational agency, whichever is later, on a form developed and approved by the department, that he or she wishes to participate in the fund, and specifying the amounts that will be withheld from his or her paychecks during that school year and whether he or she chooses to have the amounts withheld paid out during the summer recess period in one or two payments. A participating employee may elect to have up to 10 percent of his or her paycheck withheld during a school year.
(2) (A)A classified employee shall not be eligible to participate in the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund if the employee’s regular annual pay received directly from the local educational agency is more than two and one-half times the full-time pay during the school year of an employee paid at the state minimum wage at the time of enrollment.

(B)A classified employee shall not be eligible to participate in the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund if the employee’s adjusted gross income is double the income threshold identified in subparagraph (A) or greater, adjusted for inflation, if filing taxes jointly as married or as a registered domestic partner.

(c) The local educational agency shall deposit the amounts withheld in accordance with the choices made by participating classified employees pursuant to subdivision (b) in an account within its general fund, to be known as the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund.
(d) (1)The department shall apportion moneys to each local educational agency with a classified employee who has opted to participate in the fund. This apportionment shall be in the amount of two dollars ($2) for each one dollar ($1), up to the equivalent of the amount paid to the classified employee during 80 hours of employment, or 10 days of employment, whichever is greater, during the school year, that has been deposited in the local educational agency’s Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund. not exceed one dollar ($1) for each one dollar ($1) that has been deposited in the local educational agency’s Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund pursuant to subdivision (c).

(2)A participating classified employee may withhold an amount in excess of the amount paid to the classified employee during 80 hours or 10 days of employment, but the classified employee shall not receive matching funds from the local educational agency or the department for the excess amount.

(e) The local educational agency shall pay to the participating classified employee from the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund the amounts withheld in accordance with the employee’s choices, plus the amount apportioned by the department that is attributable to the amount withheld from that employee’s paychecks during the school year. This amount shall be paid to the participating classified employee during the summer recess period, in either one or two payments, in accordance with the employee’s option under subdivision (b). The Legislature finds and declares that payments made pursuant to this section are deferred compensation for the services rendered by the classified employee during the school year.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize a certificated employee or confidential employee of a local educational agency to participate in the Classified School Employees Summer Furlough Fund.
(g) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.
(h) This section shall become operative only upon an appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act or other statute for purposes of this section.

(h)

(i) This section shall remain in effect only until September 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before September 1, 2025, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 2.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.