Thursday, October 22, 2009

ASES Weekend Programs Bill AB 983 Dies in Committee

Loyal readers of the Grant Goddess blog! We’re busy working on a brand new web site that will include information about pertinent legislation. Here’s a little sample of what’s coming.


ASES Weekend Programs Bill AB 983 Dies in Committee


What a long, strange trip it was for Assembly Bill 983 that died in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner authored the bill in February 2009 to help school districts use their After School Education and Safety program (ASES) grant to run programs on weekends as well as during the weekdays.

Many school districts that receive this funding have trouble using all the funding with after school weekday programming. Since many of these schools are located in neighborhoods where a weekend program would help keep kids out of trouble, it was a logical and cost-free solution.


But, not all of the Senators agreed that it was cost free because school districts that didn’t use their ASES funding had to return the unused dollars back to the state budget. The Senators labeled it a “cost pressure bill” because schools would use more of the money already granted leaving less to return to the state budget.

Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill the year before because in his opinion weekends didn’t fit the intent of the Prop 49 original legislation (that created ASES). In my experience, weekends typically do begin after school lets out on Friday...


After passing successfully through the Assembly, and the Senate Education Committee, AB 983 died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.


But the odyssey of AB 983 didn’t end there. Assemblywoman Skinner was suddenly pressed into action to author a recycling bill that would have added a redemption value to currently un-taxed beverage containers over 16 oz. in size including juice containers. So the education language was stripped out of AB 983 and an attempt was made to reuse the bill as a vehicle with an entirely new purpose.


This process failed and the “bottle” bill was re-authored and submitted as Senate Bill 402 passing both the Assembly and Senate, and subsequently vetoed by the Governor. Governor Schwarzenegger in his veto cited the bill placed too much burden on citizens already suffering in the bad economy and that the existing retainer fee fund has made large loans to the General Fund leaving no money to expand the program at this time.


Bottom line is that AB 983 failed to pass in any form and ASES grant recipients still cannot use the grant money for weekend programs. But, for what it’s worth, they can still buy large bottles of juice without a container redemption fee.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Working with a Grant Writer


Today's BlogTalkRadio Tips from the Grant Goddess show will focus on Working with a Grant Writer. We will be discussing how to know if a grant writer is right for you, what to look for when hiring a grant writer, what should be included in the contract, and what services you can expect from a grant writer.

Join us today online at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific) to hear the show LIVE. During the live broadcast, you can call in with your questions or comments.

If you can make it to the live broadcast, you can access the archived version from here on our blog, or by going to our show page at BlogTalkRadio.

Click here to read some quick tips about working with a grant writer.

The radio show will cover many more tips than those you can read on the website, so plan on taking 30 minutes to listen to the broadcast.

About Creative Resources & Research

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Woodland, CA, United States
Creative Resources and Research is a consulting firm specializing in grant writing, grant seeking, program evaluation and professional development training. We have worked with hundreds of clients including public and private schools, school districts, universities, non-profit organizations, and social service agencies throughout California, securing over $155 million from federal, state and private foundation funding sources over the past decade. Our primary grant writers and program evaluators have over 50 years of combined experience in the education and social services fields. At CRR we prefer a personal approach to the clients we work with; by developing long term relationships, we are better suited to match client’s needs with available funding sources. We provide a variety of services to help assist you, including grant writing, evaluation consulting, professional development opportunities, and workshops.