SB 205: Qualified School Investment Bill

No. of Jobs

11,400

Category

Invest state and federal funds to create jobs

Proposal

This bill makes statutory changes to expedite construction projects to improve schools and put Californians to work.

Summary

This legislation will free up $773 million in federal funds to create jobs through expediting public school construction, as well as rehabilitation and repair projects for school improvement. Legislation is needed to authorize the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer these ARRA Qualified School Construction Bonds which are currently available.

Background

Federal Qualified School Construction Bond tax credits in the amount of $773 million are available to California school districts. These credits provide savings to school districts that issue local bonds by lowering or eliminating interest payments on those bonds. This high-demand program resulted in a lottery in which 43 California districts were selected to participate from 231 applications.

However, districts were unable to take advantage of the tax credits because of a lack of clarity in the state’s authority to distribute them.

This bill paves the way for tax credit distribution and provides a time extension so districts can now take advantage of the program. The bill extends this same opportunity to the state’s 11 largest school districts.

Read the Bill