San Diego Unified School Dist. v. State of Cal.

BACKGROUND

“Enacted by initiative in 1979, article XIII B, section 6, subdivision (a) of the California Constitution says: ‘Whenever the Legislature or any state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, the State shall provide a subvention of funds to reimburse that local government for the costs of the program or increased level of service. . . ,’ with certain exceptions not relevant here.” (California School Boards Assn. v. State of California (2019) 8 Cal.5th 713, 719-720 (CSBA).) This

Undesignated statutory references are to the Government Code. 2 The nine appellants are San Diego Unified School District, San Jose Unified School District, Clovis Unified School District, Grossmont Union High School District, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Poway Unified School District, Castro Valley Unified School District, East Side Union High School District, and Fullerton Joint Union High School District.

2 provision serves “ ‘to preclude the state from shifting financial responsibility for carrying out governmental functions to local agencies.’ [Citation.]” (Id. at p. 724.) In 2017, the Legislature enacted section 17581.96 in part to…