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View the legislative bills report here. (updated July 12, 2024)
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July 12, 2024
K-14 Facilities Bond Makes General Election Ballot
Prior to the Legislature leaving for its summer recess last week, Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leadership came to an agreement on a K-14 facilities bond proposal to place before voters on the November 5, 2024, General Election ballot.
The finalized agreement was released to the public via Assembly Bill (AB) 247 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance) on Saturday, June 29, giving legislators just enough time to meet the 72-hour rule, which requires bills to be in print in their final form at least three days before being approved by the Legislature. On Wednesday, July 3, the Senate and Assembly both approved AB 247 and sent it to the Governor’s Office where it was signed by Acting Governor Mike McGuire (Governor Newsom and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis were both out of state, making Senate President pro Tempore McGuire the Acting Governor).
With AB 247 officially approved, it will join nine other statewide ballot measures that voters will decide this November.
As a reminder, the last school facilities bond placed before voters failed with 53% of voters rejecting the measure. However, that $15 billion proposal was placed on the March 3, 2020, primary election ballot (just one day before Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency for COVID-19 and 16 days before he issued the stay-at-home order), included funding for the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems, and had the unfortunate designation of Proposition 13 (2020).
The proponents hope that the cheaper price tag ($10 billion versus $15 billion), the type of ballot the proposal is on (General Election versus primary election), the exclusion of the UC and CSU systems, and the proposition number of the measure (Proposition 2 versus Proposition 13) will be enough to get voters to approve the measure.
Legislature Goes on Summer Recess
After committee hearings last Wednesday, July 3, the Legislature left for its monthlong summer recess and will not return to Sacramento until Monday, August 5. When they do return, legislators will have two significant legislative deadlines remaining:
- August 16—Deadline for the Appropriations Committee to approve bills
- August 31—Last day for the Legislature to approve bills
After August 31, legislators will return to their districts and go deeper into campaign mode as 100 out of the 120 seats that comprise the state Legislature are up for grabs this November.
Once the legislative session ends, the attention turns to Governor Newsom, who has until September 30 to sign or veto legislation sent to him at the end of session. While Governor Newsom can allow bills to become law without his signature (there are no pocket vetoes in California), it is very unlikely that will happen.
