CHAPTER 12.88. Committee on Children and Youth

18987.80. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) California has the sixth largest economy in the world and leads the country in innovation and diversity, and yet California’s children rank 47th in terms of their economic well-being. (b) Accessible child care, early learning, quality educational and job training opportunities, comprehensive health care, and well-supported families are necessary to ensure the productive potential of all Californians, yet there has been no comprehensive effort to ensure that California’s children and youth have access to those necessities and opportunities. (c) California’s tax structure was designed during the Great Depression and is outdated, unfair, and unreliable, with newer economic sectors escaping tax obligations. (d) According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the total value of taxable sales has grown more slowly than the economy, necessitating higher sales tax rates to generate comparable revenue. (e) The increasing volatility of the state’s economy, and the stock market, has translated into greater unpredictability of state tax revenue, presenting challenges for budget forecasts. (f) According to the California State Library, the Legislature considered 4,600 tax proposals in the past two decades, the vast majority of which were directed at a single tax or group of taxpayers rather than to achieve comprehensive reform, demonstrating that fiscal necessity, rather than overarching policy considerations, has prompted most recent major tax changes. (g) It is necessary to increase revenue predictability and to ensure sufficiency of revenues adequate to meet the needs of California’s children and youth.

18987.81. (a) The Joint Legislative Committee on Children and Youth is hereby created. (b) The committee shall be composed of a total of 18 members, as follows: (1) Nine Members of the Senate, appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. (2) Nine Members of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. (c) The committee and its members shall have and exercise all of the rights, duties, and powers conferred upon investigating committees and their members by the Joint Rules of the Senate and the Assembly as they are adopted and amended from time to time. (d) The committee is authorized to act only until November 30, 2024, and on that date the committee’s existence shall terminate.

18987.82. (a) The Senate Committee on Rules may make money available from the Senate Operating Fund, as it deems necessary, for the expenses of the committee and its members. Any expenditure of money shall be made in compliance with policies set forth by the Senate Committee on Rules and shall be subject to the approval of the Senate Committee on Rules. (b) The committee, within 15 days of authorization and consistent with the normal annual appropriation process for funding legislative committees, shall present its initial budget to the Senate Committee on Rules for its review, comment, and approval.

18987.83. (a) (1) The committee shall develop “California’s Promise to its Children and Youth,” a framework for the care and welfare of the state’s children and youth in various contexts, including, but not limited to, health care, nutrition, homeless assistance, education, and foster care, to serve as an example to other states by raising the standard of living for California’s children and youth. (2) The committee shall consider Senate Concurrent Resolution No. __, the Bill of Rights for the Children and Youth of California, if it is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2018, for purposes of developing the framework described in paragraph (1). (b) By November 30, 2020, in consultation with medical organizations involved in child health care, educational organizations and institutions, organizations in child development and welfare, and applicable state agencies and commissions, the committee shall develop a plan to implement the framework by January 1, 2024. (c) By November 30, 2020, in consultation with experts and organizations in tax reform, academia, research institutes, business, labor, local government, the Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, and applicable state agencies and commissions, the committee shall identify and propose comprehensive tax reform solutions to increase revenue predictability and ensure sufficiency of revenues adequate to support the implementation of the framework, for presentation to the Legislature and, if necessary, to the voters of California. (d) At the close of each legislative session, the committee shall submit a report to the Legislature of the committee’s activities.