Dept. of Finance v. Com'n on State Mandates

122 Cal. Rptr. 2d 447, 100 Cal. App. 4th 243
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 2, 2002
DocketC037645
StatusPublished

This text of 122 Cal. Rptr. 2d 447 (Dept. of Finance v. Com'n on State Mandates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dept. of Finance v. Com'n on State Mandates, 122 Cal. Rptr. 2d 447, 100 Cal. App. 4th 243 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

122 Cal.Rptr.2d 447 (2002)
100 Cal.App.4th 243

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
COMMISSION ON STATE MANDATES, Defendant and Respondent.
Kern High School District et al., Real Parties in Interest and Respondents.

No. C037645.

Court of Appeal, Third District.

July 17, 2002.
Review Granted October 2, 2002.

*448 Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Manuel M. Medeiros, Senior Assistant Attorney *449 General, Andrea Lynn Hoch, Louis R. Mauro and Leslie R. Lopez, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Camille Shelton, Sacramento, for Defendant and Respondent.

Jo Anne Sawyerknoll, Sacramento, and Jose A. Gonzales, San Diego, for Real Party in Interest and Respondent San Diego Unified School District.

No appearance by Real Parties in Interest and Respondents Kern High School District and County of Santa Clara.

DAVIS, Acting P.J.

The question in this appeal is whether two state statutes—requiring local school site councils and advisory committees for certain educational programs to prepare and post an agenda for their meetings and to provide for public comment on agenda items—constitute a reimbursable state mandate under article XIII B, section 6 of California's Constitution. We agree with the trial court that these statutes specify a "higher level of service" under state mandate principles.[1] We also agree with the trial court that a state mandate is not limited to situations of legal compulsion. We construe state mandate as also extending to situations where the local governmental entity has no reasonable alternative to the state scheme, or has no true choice but to participate in it. The Commission on State Mandates (the Commission) did not consider these issues. We will therefore remand this matter to the Commission for it to determine whether the test claimants have a reasonable alternative or a true choice not to participate in the educational programs at issue, and thus a reasonable alternative to paying the higher costs associated with the higher level of service specified in the two challenged statutes. In light of this remand, we will reverse the trial court's judgment that upheld the Commission's decision finding a state mandate.

BACKGROUND

In 1978, California voters adopted Proposition 13, which added article XIII A (Article XIII A) to the state Constitution. This measure limits the power of state and local governments to tax.[2] In 1979, the state voters added article XIII B to the Constitution (Article XIII B). This measure limits the power of state and local governments to spend.[3]' These two constitutional measures work in tandem; their goal is to protect California residents from excessive government taxation and spending.[4]

Article XIII B includes section 6 (section 6 or Article XIII B, section 6), which sets forth the concept of reimbursable state mandates. With certain exceptions not relevant here, section 6 provides: "Whenever the Legislature or any state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government ["local government" includes school districts], the state shall provide a subvention of funds to reimburse such local government for the costs of such program or increased level of service...."[5] "Section 6 recognizes that articles XIII A and XIII B severely restrict the taxing and spending *450 powers of local governments. [Citation.] Its purpose is to preclude the state from shifting financial responsibility for carrying out governmental functions to local agencies, which are `ill equipped' to assume increased financial responsibilities" in light of Articles XIII A and XIII B.[6]

A reimbursable state mandate does not equate to any "additional cost" that a state law may require a local government to bear.[7] The reimbursable mandate arises only when the state imposes on a local government a new program of governmental services or an increased level of service under an existing program.[8]

In the Government Code, the Legislature has set forth the procedure for determining whether a state law imposes state-mandated costs on a school district or other local agency under Article XIII B, section 6.[9] Pursuant to that procedure, two school districts (San Diego Unified and Kern High) and one county (Santa Clara) filed a "test claim" with the Commission.[10] Kern High and Santa Clara did not appear in the trial court proceedings, and we will refer to the test claimants as such or simply as San Diego Unified.

The test claim concerned two statutes: Government Code section 54952, as amended by Statutes 1993, chapter 1138 (this measure operated from April 1, 1994 to July 21, 1994, for the school site councils and advisory committees at issue here); and Education Code section 35147, as added by Statutes 1994, chapter 239, as an urgency measure (effective from July 21, 1994, onward, for those councils and committees). These two statutes will be referred to as the Test Claim statutes or the two Test Claim statutes.

The 1993 amendment to Government Code section 54952 redefined the "legislative body" that must comply with the open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act (the Brown Act),[11] including the requirement imposed by Government Code section 54954.2 to prepare and post an agenda. As amended by the 1993 legislation, section 54952 provides in relevant part:

"As used in this chapter, `legislative body' means:

"(a) The governing body of a local agency or any other local body created by state or federal statute.

"(b) A commission, committee, board, or other body of a local agency, whether permanent or temporary, decisionmaking or advisory, created by charter, ordinance, resolution, or formal action of a legislative body...."

Education Code section 35147 requires nine designated school site councils and advisory committees to comply with certain notice, agenda, and public comment requirements, but otherwise exempts them *451 from the Brown Act and other open meeting acts. Section 35147 specifies in relevant part:

"(a) Except as specified in this section, any meeting of the councils or committees specified in subdivision (b) is exempt from the provisions of this article, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act ..., and the Ralph M. Brown Act....

"(b) The councils and schoolsite advisory committees established pursuant to [Education Code] Sections 52012, 52065, 52176, and 52852, subdivision (b) of Section 54425, Sections 54444.2, 54724, and 62002.5, and committees formed pursuant to Section 11503 or [former] Section 2604 of Title 25 of the United States Code, are subject to this section.

"(c) Any meeting held by a council or committee specified in subdivision (b) shall be open to the public and any member of the public shall be able to address the council or committee during the meeting on any item within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council or committee. Notice of the meeting shall be posted at the schoolsite, or other appropriate place accessible to the public, at least 72 hours before the time set for the meeting. The notice shall specify the date, time, and location of the meeting and contain an agenda describing each item of business to be discussed or acted upon.

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Bluebook (online)
122 Cal. Rptr. 2d 447, 100 Cal. App. 4th 243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dept-of-finance-v-comn-on-state-mandates-calctapp-2002.