This year AB 484 (Runner) was amended on June 27^th to take an innovative approach. It allows community college facilities built after January 1, 2002 to be built either under the provisions of the Field Act or the California Building Standards Code. This measure took this form in the Senate Education Committee, yesterday, so its fate is uncertain. Stay tuned.

NEW FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES? MAYBE — There are discussions taking place in the Capitol that might make additional construction funds available for schools and community colleges. The driving force behind this effort is the existence of a nearly $3.5 billion backlog of K-12 projects, and the ominous pending growth for the community colleges.

The proposal would be an authorization for up to $4.0 billion in revenue bonds of which $500 million would be for community colleges. In order to not impinge upon Proposition 98 funding, the proposal calls for augmenting the Proposition 98 entitlement by the amount needed to provide debt service for any outstanding revenue bonds.

Since some quarters in the Capitol view revenue bonds as equivalent to a credit card, the proposal faces tough sledding, but the demand factors may overcome the usual objections.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION INVITED — We are well into the planning phase for the 8^th Annual CCFC Conference, scheduled for November 14^th and 15^th in Sacramento. We invite members to submit proposals for workshops and presentations. Generally, workshops are conducted by those who step forward. There is likely to be substantial interest in the energy area this year, although the Governor thinks he has things under control. Even if that is the case, there are many energy issues that could provide interesting and useful workshops. So far we have workshop proposals from 3 member firms. We have space for approximately 15 workshops. Please use the attached form to submit ideas to either Paul Holmes or Shannon Mahoney at 916.441.3893 fax, or visit the CCFC website at www.caccfc.org to submit a workshop proposal electronically. If you have any questions, please contact Paul or Shannon at 916.446.3042 or e-mail at pholmes@m-w-h.com or sfife@m-w-h.com.

Paul H. Holmes