Thu, Oct 1, 2026
Legislation & Advocacy Committee meeting
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT · Zoom
Agenda: (1) 2026 Advocacy Report — final disposition of bills SSDA supported in 2026; (2) Review of 2027 Legislative Priorities; (3) Discussion of SSDA’s 2027 Policy Platform recommendations. Supporting materials are posted below: the bill list as of September 30 and the updated October 1 bill list, the SSDA 2026 Advocacy Platform, and the SSDA 2027 priorities — both adopted by the SSDA Board on September 26, 2026. Draft minutes of the meeting are also posted below for review. The 2026 Advocacy Report from Capitol Advisors, with the final outcomes on SSDA’s 2026 bills, is also posted below with two highlighted wins. Additional Board-approved 2026–27 platform items not listed in the published platform are listed with the platform below.
- SSDA Bill List — Enrolled Bills by Position (September 30, 2026)PDF · 216 KB
Supporting materials · Posted September 30, 2026
- SSDA 2027 Priority Advocacy Issues — Adopted by the SSDA Board (September 26, 2026)PDF · 128 KB
Supporting materials · Posted September 30, 2026
- SSDA Bill List — By Position (October 1, 2026)PDF · 284 KB
Supporting materials · Posted October 1, 2026
- SSDA 2026 Advocacy Platform — Adopted by the SSDA Board (September 26, 2026)PDF · 140 KB
Supporting materials · Posted September 30, 2026
Additional Board-approved 2026–27 platform items(6 items · approved September 26, 2026)
Approved by the SSDA Board September 26, 2026; not listed in the published platform PDF.
- SPED reform: Additional efforts to address tort reform and the costs of settlements.
- Instructional minutes for TK: Address instructional-minute requirements for transitional kindergarten.
- Administrator/teacher ratios: Adjust administrator-to-teacher ratio requirements.
- Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP): Address instructional-minute requirements, quality programs versus quantity, and ways to retain funding when districts do not meet the mandated daily time requirement.
- Raising the base: Address base costs, limit new programs, and push back against competitive grants.
- Dual enrollment: Address community colleges not cooperating and create a relationship with Calbright College.
- Minutes — October 1, 2026 (Draft)DraftPDF · 96 KB
Minutes · Posted October 1, 2026
- 2026 Advocacy Report: Final Outcomes on SSDA’s Bills (Capitol Advisors, October 1, 2026)PDF · 179 KB
Supporting materials · Posted October 1, 2026
Two wins from the 2026 Advocacy Report(2 items · prepared by Capitol Advisors · October 1, 2026)
The 2026 Advocacy Report covers the 31 bills on SSDA’s list that reached the Governor: the bill SSDA co-sponsored and all 11 bills SSDA supported were signed into law; of the three bills SSDA opposed, the Governor vetoed two and signed one; and of the 16 monitored bills, 15 were signed and one was vetoed. New laws generally take effect January 1, 2027; later dates are noted where the bill sets one.
- AB 2008 (Patel): Less paperwork, and a sunset on new reporting mandates: SSDA co-sponsored this bill, and the Governor signed it. It does two things for small districts, where the superintendent is often also the grant writer and the compliance office. One template for competitive grant reports: the California Department of Education must create a single standardized template for programmatic and expenditure reports on competitive state grants by October 1, 2027. Starting January 1, 2028, the Department must send the template with each grant award notice and prefill the LEA’s basic administrative information. A sunset on new planning and reporting requirements: beginning January 1, 2027, a bill that requires LEAs to complete a new plan or report must include a provision ending that requirement within four years, unless the Legislature directs otherwise. State agencies already get this protection for the reports they owe the Legislature; AB 2008 extends the same assurance to LEAs.
- AB 917 (Ávila Farías): Small district flexibility on permanent status preserved: SSDA opposed this bill, and the Governor vetoed it, citing our concerns. Current law lets districts with fewer than 250 ADA as well as COE- or JPA-operated regional occupational centers and programs (ROC/Ps) decide whether and when to grant permanent status to certificated employees after three years of service. AB 917 would have removed that local decision and required permanent status after two years and reelection for a third, the same rule that applies to larger districts. In his veto message, the Governor wrote that the bill “eliminates many of the flexibilities established for small school districts,” and that permanency can be addressed locally through collective bargaining. The veto keeps current law in place.