California Goes Green with School Construction
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters passed Proposition 39 back in November and now the new law is set to go in effect at the beginning of 2013, which will bring in up to $550 million annually for efficiency and clean energy school construction projects.
The measure closes a corporate tax loophole for out-of-state businesses and gives money to school districts in need of renovation and retrofits, as well as technology and energy-efficient upgrades.
“(Prop 39) will drive more businesses towards retrofitting existing structures,” said Nicole Biggard, a professor at UC Davis’ Energy Efficiency Center in a statement. “I think the revenue coming in will be a big boost for our businesses. It will really increase the market of the construction industry. It will also grow the workforce as well.”
Most of the Prop 39 school money will be directed towards upgrading school facilities and not new construction, although the California General Assembly is still in the process of developing a plan for the allocation of funds.
“The legislature is figuring out how to distribute the money,” said Kate Gordon, vice president for energy and environment at the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C., in a statement. “Right now, there are three pieces of legislature before (the state assembly) and we expect the governor in January to put something in the budget that hopefully the legislature will consider.”
The timeline for when these schools will receive funds of needed renovations is still up in the air, according to Eric Lamoureux, a spokesperson for the California Department of General Services in a statement. The California Department of General Services oversees all school construction in the state, and Lamoureux explained that it is too soon to tell when the schools will get a piece of the Prop 39 funding.
“Right now we really don’t know how this will all shake out,” said Lamoureux. “We’re expecting a lot of activity around getting these funds into the construction business, but we just don’t know how long it will take and what (distribution) will look like.”
Even with the uncertainty around the timing — the excitement that the funding is actually available is sparking officials in the state to think about necessary projects that could be implemented in the very near future.
Cesar Diaz, legislative director for the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California said that most schools need to be retrofitted in almost every area. “We’re talking about plumbing, roofing, windows, water, electricity — you name it and the schools need it,” he said in a statement.
Gordon also explained that energy retrofits also need to take place in many of the state’s schools, especially those in the Central Valley area.
“There are schools that are literally falling apart,” she said in a statement. “There are huge air quality issues in some classrooms. There are a lot of portable classrooms that are not in great shape, so this is an obvious place to invest California dollars.”