Copyright© 1999 by School Services of California, Inc.

September 17, 1999

Community College Bills on Governor's Desk

AB 31 (Reyes): Rural Area Schools: Assumption Program of Loans for Education
Existing law establishes an assumption program of loans for education under which an applicant enrolled in a participating institution of postsecondary education, or an applicant who agrees to participate in a teacher trainee or teacher internship program, and who further agrees to obtain a teaching credential in subject areas that are designated as current or projected shortage areas or to provide classroom instruction in schools that serve large populations of students from low-income families, is eligible to receive a conditional warrant for loan assumption, to be redeemed pursuant to a prescribed procedure upon becoming employed as a teacher.

This bill would require, within these percentages, a proportional number of warrants to be issued to applicants who agree to provide classroom instruction in a school district serving a rural area.

AB 91 (Hertzberg): Joint Powers Agencies: Collective Bargaining
This bill would require joint powers entities - with employees separate from the parties to the joint powers agreement that meet certain additional criteria - to engage in collective bargaining with their separate employees.

The September 2, 1999 amendment joins AB 91 to AB 631 and both will only become operative if both are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2000 and AB 91 is enacted last. AB 631 would include charter schools in these provisions.

AB 192 (Scott): California Teacher Cadet Program
Existing law establishes the California Center on Teaching Careers, administered by the California State University, for the purpose of recruiting qualified and capable individuals into the teaching profession.

This bill would require the California Center on Teaching Careers, in conjunction with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Chancellor of the California State University, to operate the California Teacher Cadet Program for the purpose of introducing public high school pupils to the teaching profession.

AB 232 (Alquist): Retirement Benefits: PERS
The Public Employees' Retirement Law provides for survivor continuance allowances and special death benefits to surviving spouses not to cease upon remarriage. The provisions are not applicable to contracting agencies unless elected. This bill would make those benefits applicable to surviving spouses of deceased local members.

AB 311 (Honda): STRS Board
This bill would increase the number of board members to 15, require that 3 members of the board be elected by active members and participants, at an election provided for by the board, for 4-year terms commencing on January 1, 2001. The bill would require one appointed member to be an active member or participant employed by a K-12 school district or county office of education, one appointed member to be a community college member or participant, and two appointed members to be retired members or participants. The bill would delete the requirement that two members must be, respectively, officers of a life insurance company and a bank and instead provide that the Governor appoint three persons representing the public for 4-year terms, subject to Senate confirmation.

AB 344 (Knox): Inspection of Personnel Files
This bill would permit institutions of higher education to provide academic employees with access to academic peer review records in a form that does not reveal the identity of any of the reviewers. Also, materials within an academic employee's file may not be removed if it is a part of an academic performance evaluation. This provision provides an exception to the language contained in SB 172 that would have allowed employees to remove adverse materials from their personnel files that have not been used as part of an official act of discipline of the employee within two years.

AB 363 (Migden): PERS: Death Benefits
This bill would increase the death benefits available to school members of PERS from $600 to $5,000.

AB 378 (Steinberg): Community Colleges: Faculty
Existing law requires the governing board of any school district or community college district that has not adopted the merit system for its classified employees to prescribe rules and regulations governing the personnel management of the classified service. This bill, instead, would provide that the governing board's determination of the sufficiency of the cause for disciplinary action is final.

AB 420 (Wildman): Community College Faculty: Full-Time Hires
This bill changed the provisions regarding part-time office hours. The bill would state that this provision does not preclude compensation under the Community College Part-Time Faculty Office Hours Program for paid office time for each 20% of a full-time load, or fraction thereof, as defined by the community college district.

The September 2 amendments deleted the provisions pertaining to "pro-rata pay" and uniform salary schedules. As amended , the bill now contains language requiring CPEC to conduct a study of part-time faculty employment and compensation patterns. Office hours and health benefits language is still in the bill.

AB 422 (Steinberg): Instructional Materials: Disabled Students
Under existing law, a publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials offered for adoption or sale in California is required to comply with specified requirements, including providing to the state, at no cost, the right to transcribe, reproduce, and distribute the material in braille, large print, recordings, or other accessible media for use by pupils with visual disabilities. This right includes computer diskette versions of instructional materials if made available to any other state, and those corrections and revisions as may be necessary.

AB 655 (Scott): Nursing Report
This bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State University and the President of the University of California to jointly issue a report to the Governor and the Legislature with respect to a recommended plan and budget for significantly increasing the number of students graduating from nursing programs in the state. The bill would require the report to be submitted on or before January 1, 2001.

AB 667 (Romero): Transfer Policy
This bill, as amended August 17, 1999, would require that the plan be presented, in writing, to the California Postsecondary Education Commission for comments and recommendations on or before August 1, 2001. The bill would require the plan to be presented to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before November 1, 2001.

This bill would require the Board of Governors (BOG), and would request the Regents of the University of California, to continue collaborative efforts to improve the rate of transfer between the California community colleges and the University of California. The bill would require the (BOG), and request the Regents, to develop a plan for increasing the number of students transferring to the University of California from those community college campuses that transfer the lowest percentage of students to 4-year colleges and universities.

The September 3 amendments change the reporting date from March 31, 2001 to August 1, 2001 and November 1, 2001 for submission to the Legislature and Department of Finance.

AB 734 (Romero): Growth Funding
The bill, as amended May 6, 1999, deleted the original language in the bill, as amended, the bill would require the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to report, on or before January 15, 2000, to the Legislature and the Governor on prescribed issues relating to community college financing.

AB 1039 (Aroner): CalWORKS Program
Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. This bill would authorize the Director of Social Services to approve demonstration projects, in up to 5 counties , to provide subsidized employment as an alternative to community service activities, subject to certain conditions.

AB 1193 (Leonard): Sex Offender Registration
Existing law requires certain persons, including any person convicted of any specified sexual offense, for the rest of his or her life while residing or located within California, to register with the chief of police or the sheriff and with the chief of police of a campus of the University of California, the California State University, or community college if the person is residing or located upon the campus or in any of its facilities, within 5 working days of coming into, or changing his or her residence or location within, any city, county, or city and county, or campus.

This bill would make these provisions applicable to out-of-state residents who are employed in California or enrolled in an educational institution on a full-time or part-time basis.

The bill, as amended April 5, 1999, deleted the name identification of University of California, California State University and community colleges. The bill now refers to out-of-state residents who are employed in California or enrolled in an educational institution on a full-time basis or part-time basis. The bill also would provide that the period of rehabilitation for a registered sex offender shall be 10 years.

AB 1570 (Villaraigosa/Romero): Postsecondary Education: CPEC
Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth, among other things, the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, and their respective institutions of higher education.

This bill would require the California Postsecondary Education Commission, in developing this comprehensive data base, to ensure that the data base supports longitudinal studies of individual students, provides the interactive use of data, and provides each of the educational segments access to the data, as specified.

AB 1657 (Committee on Utilities & Commerce): Capital Facility Fees: Public Utility Districts
Existing law authorizes the imposition of capital facilities fees for the construction or expansion of public utility facilities on public entities, as prescribed.

This bill would require (1) specified notification to affected school districts, county offices of education, community college districts, California State universities, and the University of California prior to enacting or changing capital facilities fees, and (2) any judicial action or proceeding that seeks the refund of capital facilities fees to be commenced within 120 days of the effective date of an ordinance, resolution, or motion enacting or changing the capital facilities fee unless the specified notice requirements have not been followed.

SB 76 (Murray): Community College: Student Transfer
This bill would guarantee every community college student who attains an associate of arts or an associate of science degree in liberal arts in a community college and meets transfer course and grade point average requirements a place somewhere in the University of California or the California State University System.

The bill, as amended June 22, would require the Board of Governors (BOG) to report, on or before January 1, 2001, to the California Postsecondary Education Commission and the Legislature regarding the feasibility of an integrated associate degree program and any steps that have been taken to develop and implement such a degree.

SB 86 (Murray): Voter Registration
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that voter registration be maintained at the highest possible level and requires the Secretary of State to adopt regulations requiring each county to design and implement programs to identify qualified electors who are not registered voters, and attempt to register those persons to vote.

This bill instead would impose a state-mandated local program by requiring each county to design and implement an outreach plan, as specified, intended to identify qualified electors who are not registered voters, and attempt to register those persons to vote.

SB 131 (Baca): Teacher Training: Assumption Program of Loans for Education
Existing law establishes an Assumption Program of Loans for Education under which an applicant enrolled in a participating institution of postsecondary education, or an applicant who agrees to participate in a teacher trainee or teacher internship program, and who further agrees to obtain a teaching credential in subject areas that are designated as current or projected shortage areas or to provide classroom instruction in schools that serve large populations of pupils from low-income families, is eligible to receive a conditional warrant for loan assumption, to be redeemed pursuant to a prescribed procedure upon becoming employed as a teacher.

This bill would, commencing with the 2000-01 school year, extend the Assumption Program of Loans for Education to applicants who agree to provide classroom instruction in school districts with a high percentage of teachers holding emergency permits.

SB 154 (Polanco): Economic Development Programs
The bill would provide that the Board of Governors (BOG) shall give priority to the award of competitive grants for purposes of work force training, utilizing funds of the California Community Colleges Economic Development Program, to grant recipients providing substantial evidence that the proposed project serves regional industry needs, as identified by the local work force investment board. A community college district shall contribute in-kind or financial resources to the local one-stop career center in the same manner as other local partners of the center.

This bill would repeal the California Community Colleges Economic Development Program on January 1, 2001. The bill would provide that, if the program becomes inoperative on June 30, 1999, it shall become operative again on the effective date of this bill. The bill would require that program funds be expended with the highest priority being given the regional industry needs through comprehensive and customized needs assessment in consulting with specified groups. The bill would require the BOG and the Chancellor to submit accountability reports.

SB 159 (Johnston): STRS: Health Care Benefits
This bill would require STRS to develop a program to provide health care benefits to members of the system and to their beneficiaries, children, and dependent parents.

This bill would also require the costs incurred by the system to be paid by allocations from the Teachers' Retirement Fund as appropriated for that purpose.

The bill, as amended May 18, 1999, would provide that $650,000 be appropriated from the Teachers' Retirement Fund to develop a health care benefits program pursuant to the provisions of the legislation.

SB 172 (Escutia): Employees: Inspection of Personnel Records by Employees
Existing law requires employers to make employee personnel files available for inspection by employees, as specified. This bill would delete those exemptions. Allows employees to request that any negative information in their personnel file be deleted after 2 years if no disciplinary actions have been taken by the district.

SB 213 (Polanco): Community Colleges: Mexican International Trade Centers: Outreach Programs
Under existing law, nonpublic, nonsectarian schools and agencies that provide special education and designated services to individuals with exceptional needs who are served through contracts with local educational agencies are required to submit a list of uniform tuition fees for the provision of the services.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to review the effects of this provision and report back to the Legislature by January 31, 2000, on whether or not the department recommends the repeal of this section augment this amount by $1,050,000 for allocation for the establishment, commencing January 1, 2000, of 17 Mexican International Trade Centers for the purposes of increasing Mexican export opportunities for California.

SB 234 (Hughes): PERS Retirement Benefits
The bill, as amended September 2, 1999, has been double-joined to SB 400.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law requires the Board of Administration to annually transfer specified amounts to a supplemental account to fund the purchasing power protection allowance.

This bill would increase the purchasing power to 80%.

SB 251 (Knight): Tuition: Children of Deceased or Disabled Veterans
This bill, as amended May 28, 1999, deletes references to the percentage of income a student must not exceed in order to qualify for student aid.

This bill would provide that the waiver of mandatory systemwide tuition or fees under these provisions would apply for each academic year during which a student applies for the waiver, and not apply for a prior academic year. the bill would also provide that the waiver of mandatory systemwide tuition or fees under these provisions would apply only to a person who is determined, to be a resident of California.

Existing law prohibits any state-owned college, university, community college, or other school from charging any tuition or fees to certain dependents or survivors of veterans, including any child of any veteran of the United States military who has a service-connected disability, has been killed in service, or has died of a service-connected disability, where the annual income of the child, including the value of any support received from a parent, does not exceed $7,000.

This bill would provide that the maximum income of a child who would not be charged mandatory systemwide tuition or fees under this provision would be the national poverty level, as most recently calculated by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, rather than $7,000.

SB 355 (Hughes): Peace Officers: Community Colleges and School Districts
Existing law defines or describes certain peace officers who are authorized to respond to domestic violence calls or act in domestic violence cases, or are deemed eligible for a course or courses of instruction in the handling of domestic violence complaints.

This bill would include among these peace officers any member of a California Community College police department and any person employed as a member of a police department of a school district.

This bill would add another scope of authority to community college and school district police personnel and would provide that a judicial officer may issue an ex parte emergency protective order where a peace officer, community college and school district police has reasonable grounds to believe that a person is in immediate and present danger of stalking.

The bill would require community college and school district police to notify the sheriff or police chief of the city in whose jurisdiction the departments are located of any protection order served by the departments with respect to domestic violence incidents.

The bill, as amended July 15, 1999, would permit a court to issue an emergency protective order to community college and school district police if a specified memorandum of understanding exists and the police officer asserts that there is a demonstrated threat to campus safety. Because the bill would increase the duties performed by local officials, it would impose a state-mandated local programs. In addition, this bill would require any of these officers who takes custody of a firearm or other deadly weapon under these circumstances to deliver the firearm within 24 hours to the city police department or county sheriff's office in the jurisdiction where the college or school is located.

SB 361 (Dunn): Cross-Enrollment Program
This bill, as amended August 16, 1999, alters the deadlines for reports of the segments - reports are now due on June 30, 2002 and December 1, 2002.

Under existing law, the chapter that establishes the cross-enrollment program remains in effect only until January 1, 2000, and as of that date is repealed.

This bill would extend the repeal date of the chapter that establishes the cross-enrollment program until January 1, 2004.

The bill would extend the deadlines for the reports of the public postsecondary segments and CPEC to June 30, 2002, and December 1, 2002, respectively.

SB 400 (Ortiz): PERS/State And School Member Benefits
Under the Public Employees' Retirement Law, retirement allowances for school members are calculated, in part, based on the highest average compensation earnable during a consecutive 3-year period. This bill would instead base that calculation on the highest average compensation earnable during a consecutive 12-month period.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law prescribes a 2% at age 60 retirement formula for state miscellaneous, university, state industrial and school members. This bill would make that formula inapplicable to those members who retire on or after January 1, 2000, and would instead prescribe a 2% at age 55 retirement formula. The bill would also provide a 2 to 5% inclusive, retirement allowance increase for retired state and school members.

SB 437 (Rainey): Retirement Benefits: Surviving Spouse
The State Teachers' Retirement Law formerly provided that eligibility for certain benefits was affected by the remarriage of a surviving spouse.

This bill would authorize surviving spouses of deceased members who previously lost entitlement to benefits due to remarriage to resume benefit payments on or after January 1, 2000.

The bill, as amended April 5, 1999, would specify that the STRS Board shall be under no requirement to identify, locate, or notify a remarried spouse of a deceased member who previously lost entitlement as a result of remarriage about the resumption of benefits.

SB 583 (Baca): PERS: Retirement Benefits: Risk Pools
This bill, as amended July 7, 1999, would authorize the creation of separate risk pools for local and school miscellaneous, local safety, and school safety members and would authorize the assets and liabilities of contracting agencies and school districts participating in the same risk pool to be combined for purposes of setting employer contribution rates.

This bill would provide that participation in a supplemental defined benefit plan maintained by the employer that meets specified criteria shall not be deemed membership in another publicly funded retirement system or preclude concurrent participation and service credit in the PERS defined benefit plan and that plan if specified conditions exist.

This bill would also provide that if a member's combined benefits under the PERS plan and other defined benefit plans maintained by the employer exceed federal limits, the benefits payable under the other defined benefit plan shall be reduced.

SB 618 (Chesbro): Child Care Facilities: Fingerprinting & Criminal Record Information: Fees
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of child day care facilities by the State Department of Social Services.

This bill would limit the prohibition on fees being charged for the processing of fingerprints or for the obtaining of certain criminal records to volunteers at a child care facility who is are required to be fingerprinted.

SB 833 (Ortiz): STRS Retirement Benefits
The State Teachers' Retirement Law prescribes the method of determining the retirement benefits of members who reinstate and are eligible to receive multiple service or disability allowances.

The bill, as amended May 6, 1999, would prescribe the method of determining the benefits of (1) those members who first retired in 1998 and reinstated prior to July 1, 1999, and (2) those members who first retired prior to January 1, 1998, who reinstated for at least one year, and whose credited service equals or exceeds 30 years.

SB 1099 (Knight): California Defense Retention and Conversion Act of 1999
Existing law provides for various activities in regard to defense conversion and military base retention and reuse efforts in the state.

This bill would enact, until January 1, 2007, the California Defense Retention and Conversion Act of 1999, to establish the California Defense Retention and Conversion Council in the Trade and Commerce Agency.

SB 1118 (Alarcon): School and Community College District Governing Boards: Bonds
Existing law provides for various state bond acts that provide for the issuance, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of bonds and the expenditure of the proceeds therefrom to aid the school districts and the California Community Colleges for, among other things, the construction and equipping of educational facilities.

This bill would provide that when requested by a governing board of a school district or a community college district, the board of supervisors of any county may provide by resolution that the governing board within the county superintendent's jurisdiction may issue and sell bonds on its own behalf and would require the governing board of school or community college district that issued bonds or refunding bonds payable from ad valorem taxes to transmit the authorizing resolution and debt service schedule to the county auditor and county treasurer.

SB 1262 (O'Connell): Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act
This bill, as amended August 19, 1999, would include on the board a member of the Student Aid Commission appointed by the Governor, rather than the chief executive officer of the commission, and would add as board members the Secretary of Education, a member of the public appointed by the Governor, a representative from a California public institution of higher education appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and a representative from a California independent college or university appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. The bill would require the board to appoint an administrator of the program, who would serve at the pleasure of the board.

The bill also would require the board, rather than the commission, to adopt regulations, and to undertake other duties, applicable to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act.

This bill would make various changes to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act. Specifically, the bill would amend the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act to increase to 5 years the period of undergraduate study on which the calculation of maximum estimated qualified higher education expenses is based.

The bill would also authorize administrators of the scholarshare program to develop a method to make payment of qualified higher education expenses directly to beneficiaries in a manner consistent with applicable federal requirements. The bill would authorize custodians under the California Uniform Transfers to Minors Act to enter into participation agreements under the act in accordance with regulations adopted by the board.

SB 1283 (Polanco): Capital Facilities - Modernization Projects
This bill, as amended July 6, 1999, would require that funding for the purpose of the bill be appropriated in the annual Budget Act from general obligation bond proceeds approved by the voters after January 1, 2000.

The bill would authorize the Board of Governors (BOG) to allocate, upon appropriation by the Legislature, funds for modernization projects, as defined to include improvements to extend the useful life of, or to enhance the physical environment of, a community college campus. The bill would specify the types of costs that would be funded under the bill. The bill would require that the BOG would provide no more than 80% of the funding of, and the participating community college district would provide at least 20% of the funding of, a modernization project funded under the bill. The bill would set forth calculations to determine the amount of funding of projects under the bill.