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Assembly committee advances bill to widen access to charter school revolving loan fund
Summary
The Assembly Education Committee voted to pass SB 631 as amended, which expands eligibility and loan size for the Charter School Revolving Loan Fund so more charter schools — including those affected by disasters — can seek low-interest loans.
Senator Richardson presented SB 631 to the Assembly Education Committee, asking the panel to approve technical amendments and to broaden access to the existing charter school revolving loan fund. The committee voted to pass the bill as amended to appropriations by a 9-0 margin.
The bill would modify the Charter School Revolving Loan Fund, established in 1996, which provides low-interest loans of up to $250,000 to new charter schools. Senator Richardson said the California School Finance Authority (CSFA) and the State Treasurer’s Office, which have administered the program since 2014, have seen applications decline while administrative costs rose. Richardson said the bill responds to those changes and to a request from the treasurer’s office to increase the program’s utility.
Khayim Morton, Deputy Treasurer, Office of the State Treasurer, testified the program has served “about 61,000 students and totaling about 61,000,000 in loans” and said the fund has been underutilized in recent years. Morton and Katrina Johanchan, described in the hearing as CSFA executive director, provided technical support for the measure and said updated practice and greater flexibility would allow the fund to serve schools impacted by recent disasters.
Assemblymember Bonta asked about the fund balance and recent disbursements; committee testimony put the fund balance at about $27,000,000 and indicated eight loans awarded from 2022–23 through 2024–25 with award totals around $2,000,000, though the witnesses clarified awards differ from amounts actually disbursed because schools must meet benchmarks before receiving funds.
Senator Richardson said the bill would expand eligibility (currently limited to schools in their first charter term) to all charter schools, with priority for startup schools and those impacted by natural disasters, and would increase the maximum loan from $250,000 to $500,000. The committee accepted the author’s amendments and passed the bill to appropriations, 9-0.
The vote sends the measure to the Appropriations Committee for further fiscal consideration.
