Policy Update! Including Potential Impact to Prop 49 (ASES)

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On July 28, 2008 Network Policy Committee Co-Chair Brian Lee, Deputy Director of the California offices of Fight Crime Invest In Kids offered a telephone workshop updating participants on the latest in California after school policy. In the workshop Mr. Lee update participants on the State Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee proposed language for a budget trailer bill that, if passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor would put an initiative to the voters to end the guaranteed continuous appropriation for the After School Education and Safety (ASES) program beginning in 2009-2010. Mr. Lee also offered an update on two pieces of after school legislation, the release of the next 21st Century Community Learning Centers RFP, and addressed questions from statewide workshop participants.

Proposition 49 (ASES) Legislative Update
The State Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee composed of  members or the California State Senate and Assembly, adopted language  for a budget trailer bill that attempts to repeal the guaranteed funding  allocation in Proposition 49, the After School Education and Safety  (ASES) program, which currently funds over 3,800 after school programs  statewide. This language goes further than originally proposed by  either house of the Legislature. It would submit an initiative to the voters that would give the Legislature the  authority to substantially reduce after school funding or eliminate  the state’s after school programs altogether. If placed on the  November Ballot and passed by California voters, the initiative would end the guaranteed continuous appropriation for ASES programs, and funding levels would be set annually by the Legislature.  In order to move any further, this measure would have to be part of a budget passed by  a two-thirds vote of the full Legislature, and be signed by the  Governor, before moving to the ballot.  If passed by voters in  November, this initiative could impact 2009-2010 after-school funding.

Click the play button above to listen to a telephone workshop offered by Network Policy Committee co-chair, Brian Lee from Fight Crime Invest in Kids to learn more!

To view a 3 minute video of the legislative session in which this language was adopted, click here.
For more information including a fact sheet, local data on after school funding, and potential actions being suggested by after school advocates, click here.

To learn more about Senate Bill 1674, visit: http://www.afterschoolnetwork.org/node/796

To learn more about ACR 134 and the creation of a legislative task force to address access to summer learning opportunities for low income youth, visit http://www.bayareapartnership.org/index.htm