LATE SUBMITTALS DEFERRED BY SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE — As predicted in our Update of Tuesday, the Senate Subcommittee deferred action on virtually all projects that were submitted or adjusted by the March 24^th Department of Finance letter. With the exception of 3 seismic projects in the San Bernardino CCD all of the March 24^th submittals were deferred. The presence of Senator Brulte of San Bernardino as a member of the Subcommittee probably didn't hurt the chances of these projects avoiding deferral.

The much vaunted library construction issue that has been a hallmark of the Legislative Analyst's project analysis was little regarded as the subcommittee approved all of the proposed library projects as budgeted with some minor adjustments in some of them. The Chancellor's Office effectively thwarted the argument in which the LAO recommended expanding and rehabilitating existing libraries rather than building new libraries. Patrick Lenz testified that the Chancellor's Office routinely urges districts to explore the remodel avenue before seeking new facilities. In virtually all cases the new facility is the most effective course.

Two projects were approved by the subcommittee which would normally fall in the category of "end runs." Planning funds were approved by the subcommittee for a Compton CCD child development center, and planning funds were approved for a facility for the San Francisco Mission Campus. Both projects had Legislative support, but both had worked closely with the Chancellor's Office in the development of the proposals. End runs?

The attached table shows the proposed projects for 1999-2000. The "Senate" column shows the amount approved by the Senate yesterday. "Defer" means that the action was deferred to give the Legislative Analyst an opportunity to review the March 24^th submitted projects. These projects will not be revisited by the Subcommittee until May 19^th. Accordingly, I expect that the Assembly will take the same action on these projects at their scheduled hearing of April 21^st (next Wednesday). If you are planning on coming to Sacramento for this hearing for one of the Senate deferred projects, I suggest saving your airfare.

JOINT USE BILL PASSES SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE — SB 1203 (Poochigian) which would set up a priority system and interim financing mechanism for joint K-12 and community college facility projects passed the Senate Education Committee by a vote of 15 to 0. Next stop is the Senate Appropriations Committee.