BILL NUMBER: AB 1605AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 16, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Coto JANUARY 6, 2010 An act to add and repeal Section 17303.5toof the Education Code, relating to school facilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1605, as amended, Coto. School facilities: plan review. Existing law requires the Department of General Services to supervise the design and construction of school buildings to ensure that plans and specifications comply with various structural safety standards, as specified. Existing law requires a local educational agency to submit a plan for the construction, and in specified cases, the alteration, of any school building prior to adopting the plan. An applicant is required to pay a filing fee to the department based on the estimated cost of the work, in accordance with a specified schedule, and is required to make an election to either use the department to review the plan or request that the plan review be performed by a qualified plan review firm, as specified. If the department is elected, the department is required to take specified actions to expedite the review of the applicant's plan, including, among other things, employing additional staff on a temporary basis. This bill would authorize a local educational agency to agree to pay an additional fee to the department for the department's cost to employ additional staff to expedite its review of that local educational agency's plan. The bill would exempt employees funded by those fees from furloughs implemented by any state agency, board, or commission. The bill would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2017. 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. Section 17303.5 is added to the Education Code, to read: 17303.5. (a) A local educational agency may agree to pay an additional fee to the Department of General Services for the department's cost to employ additional staff to expedite its review of that local educational agency's plan if the school seeking construction or modernization is a low performing school, as identified by that school's position in the lowest two deciles of pupil performance in the year immediately preceding the year that the plan is submitted for review . (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an employee funded by a fee collected pursuant to this section is exempt from any furlough implemented by any state agency, board, or commission. (c) The Department of General Services shall complete and return its initial review of a school construction or modernization plan within 120 days from the date the plan was submitted by the local educational agency pursuant to this section. (d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.