Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1070 (Steinberg) – Career Technical Education Pathways Program.
Amended: March 26, 2012
Urgency: No
Hearing Date: May 24, 2012
Policy Vote: Education 8-0
Mandate: No
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1070 recasts and revises provisions of the Education Code that
govern the Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathways Initiative, and extends the
program’s sunset date from January 1, 2013 until January 1, 2018. This bill makes
numerous legislative findings and declarations.
Fiscal Impact:

Sunset extensions: Substantial General Fund cost pressure beginning in 2014-15,
after the program’s current funding source is reduced by $28 million. On-going
annual cost pressure of $48 million beginning in 2015-16, after the program’s
current funding source ends.
Background: SB 70 (Scott) Chapter 352/2005 established the CTE Pathways Initiative
and provided funding for its activities. The program is currently a component of the
California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) Program
and has served nearly 750,000 California middle and high school pupils and college
students through a variety of programs and services designed to increase their success
in college and career.
SB 1133 (Torlakson) Chapter 751/2006, the Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA)
implemented a settlement with the California Teachers Association and makes funding
available to allocate to elementary, secondary, and charter schools that are ranked in
either decile 1 or 2 as determined by the 2005 Academic Performance Index base.
Since then, QEIA money has been used to (among other purposes) provide funding for
the CTE Pathways Initiative grants and contracts. QEIA funding is budgeted through
2014-15 for this program, but its current annual funding level of $48 million will fall to
$20 million in 2014-15, the last year for which QEIA funds will be available. The
discrepancy in funding is caused by statute (which allocated the money) having been
enacted before the final settlement amount was reached. By 2014-15, the $2.71 billion
final settlement will have a remainder of $181 million, not the $450 million allocated for
2014-15 in statute.
Proposed Law: This bill makes changes to the governing principles and updates the
goals of the CTE Pathways Initiative. It sets out new requirements for grant priorities,
favoring programs that can demonstrate statewide benefit, and additional accountability
measures for grantees and requirements for grant renewal. This bill extends the CTE
SB 1070 (Steinberg)
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Pathways program sunset to January 1, 2018, and provides that funding is subject to a
Budget appropriation.
Related Legislation: SB 1402 (Lieu), a companion bill also scheduled to be heard by
this Committee on May 7, 2012, generally recasts and revises provisions governing the
California Community Colleges’ Economic and Workforce Development Program and
extends its sunset to January 1, 2018.
Staff Comments: This bill extends the sunset on a program that has received annual
funding of $48 million of QEIA settlement money past the end of that funding source,
creating General Fund cost pressure to continue funding the program through 20172018. Without the sunset extension authorized by this bill, the program would cease at
the end of its funding cycle.
The changes to the program’s principles and accountability are unlikely to result in
additional costs to the program.