4-27-07 Update on Community College Legislation

Volume 20 For Publication Date: April 27, 2007 No. 10

Update on Community College Legislation

Following is a review of the bills considered by the Assembly Higher Education Committee on April 17, 2007.

AB 145 (Coto): San Jose State University-National Hispanic University Collaboration

This bill would require the Trustees of the California State University to authorize San Jose State University and the National Hispanic University to enter into a collaboration agreement that would include outreach, transfer, joint classes for credit, and other programs of education, research, and public service as the trustees and the National Hispanic University deem to be in the public interest, and requires this collaboration to include a five-year pilot program to improve participation in higher education meeting specified requirements. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 5-2.

AB 262 (Coto): Public Postsecondary Education: Credit Card Marketing: Regulations

The Student Financial Responsibility Act requests the regents and the governing body of each accredited private or independent college or university in the state, and requires the trustees and the board of governors, to adopt policies to regulate the marketing practices used on campuses by credit card companies. This bill would urge the regents and require the trustees and board of governors to annually direct each campus to disclose exclusive credit card marketing arrangements with banks and financial institutions on those campuses and to prohibit card companies on each campus from offering gifts to students who complete credit card applications. The bill would urge the regents to revise the University of California Policy on the On-Campus Marketing of Credit Cards to Students as it relates to specified future contractual agreements. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-3.

AB 483 (Salas): School Facilities Contracting

Existing law requires the governing board of any community college district to let contracts for the purchase of equipment, materials, or supplies to be furnished, leased, or sold to the district, services other than construction services, and certain repairs, involving an expenditure of more than $50,000, and to let contracts for public projects, as defined, involving an expenditure of $15,000 or more, to the lowest responsible bidder who gives security as the governing board requires. This bill would raise from $15,000 to $22,000 the cost threshold for when a governing board of a community college district must let contracts for public projects, as defined, to the lowest responsible bidder who gives security as the governing board requires. The bill also would require this amount to be adjusted annually, as specified, commencing January 1, 2008. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 7-0.

AB 488 (Portantino): Community Colleges: California Community Colleges Campus-Based Financial Aid Grant Program

This bill would establish the California Community Colleges Access Grant Program, to be administered by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Under the program, grants would be made commencing with the 2008-09 academic year. The bill would authorize the chancellor, after consultation with various community college financial aid administrators and chief student service officers, to develop initial award policies and procedures and make annual adjustments in these policies and procedures as he or she deems necessary. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 577 (Ruskin): Community Colleges: Open Education Resources Centers: Foothill-DeAnza Community College District

The bill would provide that the Open Education Resources Center of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District would serve as a pilot program to provide faculty and staff from community college districts around the state with the information and methods to establish open education resources centers. The bill would define open education resources. The bill would specify the objectives to be met by the Open Resources Center of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District pursuant to the pilot program. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature to provide funding for the pilot program established by this bill in the annual Budget Act. Because the bill would impose new duties on the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 591 (Dymally): Community Colleges: Nontenure Track Temporary Faculty Employees

Existing law provides that service in professional ancillary services, including, but not necessarily limited to, governance, staff development, grant writing, and advising student organizations, by persons employed under these provisions shall not be used for purposes of calculating eligibility for contract or regular status unless otherwise provided for in a collective bargaining agreement applicable to a person employed under this provision. This bill would instead provide that any person who is employed to teach adult or community college classes for less than 100% of the hours per week considered a full-time assignment for regular employees having comparable duties would be classified as a nontenure track temporary faculty employee. The bill would require that a nontenure track temporary faculty employee receive pay and benefits that are equal to those of tenured and tenure track faculty of comparable qualifications doing comparable work, as determined on a parity basis, as defined. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-1.

AB 659 (Ma): California AIDS Program: Education: Youth and Elderly Populations

Existing law establishes various programs relating to treatment of persons with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), including the California Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Program (CAP), which is administered by the State Department of Health Services. This bill would, in addition, declare the Legislature's intent to encourage, in relation to the development and implementation of these HIV prevention strategies, the formation of age-appropriate educational materials for youth and senior citizen populations. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 668 (Portantino): Student Financial Aid: California Community College Student Federal and State Financial Aid Opportunity Act

This bill would enact the California Community College Student Federal and State Financial Aid Opportunity Act. The bill would express various findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the use of the federal Pell Grant program by students of the California Community Colleges, and would express the intent of the Legislature to increase the number of students of the California Community Colleges receiving awards from the federal Pell Grant program. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 767 (Walters): Student Financial Aid: Veterans and Dependents

This bill would enact the Golden State GI Bill of Rights for Higher Education, also known as the Cal GI Bill of Rights. The bill would prohibit any campus of the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges from charging any mandatory systemwide tuition or fees, including enrollment fees, registration fees, differential fees, or incidental fees, to a California resident, as defined, who is an undergraduate student or a graduate student seeking a postbaccalaureate degree, and who, irrespective of income level or need, was a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who enlisted therein while he or she was a California resident, or on active duty, as defined, as a member of the California National Guard, the State Military Reserve, or the Naval Militia, was honorably discharged from the Armed Forces, and has demonstrated, in a prescribed manner, that he or she has exhausted all educational benefits for which he or she is eligible under the federal GI Bill. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 883 (Dymally): Student Financial Aid: Assumption Program of Loans for Education: Pilot Program

This bill would establish, within APLE, a pilot program for loan assumption for interns and teachers who are qualified for participation under APLE and who agree to teach full time in the Compton Unified School District. The bill would require the commission, in selecting participants for this pilot program, to grant priority to applicants who are concentrating in mathematics, science, or special education, or who agree to teach full time in a school ranked in Decile 1, 2, 3, or 4 on the Academic Performance Index. The bill would authorize the assumption of up to $3,000 of the participant’s outstanding liability for each year of qualifying teaching service, up to a maximum of $12,000 of loan assumption for four consecutive years of qualifying teaching service. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-1.

AB 906 (Eng): Community Colleges: Salaries of Classroom Instructors

Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at community college campuses. An existing provision requires each community college district to expend, for payment of the salaries of classroom instructors, as defined, 50% of the district’s current expense of education, as defined. This bill would further provide that, in order to encourage compliance and to determine the extent to which districts are complying with this requirement, the chancellor shall conduct random audits of five community college districts each year. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 5-1.

AB 962 (Houston): Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists

This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature with respect to the services provided by speech-language pathology professionals and paraprofessionals. The bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in coordination with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to assess and discuss issues, information, and barriers relating to, and progress made in the accomplishment of, the creation of additional community college speech-language pathology training programs in a report to the Legislature. The bill would require the chancellor and the superintendent to confer with specified stakeholder groups in connection with this report. The bill would require this report to be submitted to the appropriate policy committees of the Assembly and the Senate on or before June 1, 2008. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 1038 (Feuer): Postsecondary Education: Student Fees

Existing law authorizes the public postsecondary education segments to require that mandatory systemwide fees, among other fees, be paid by students at these institutions. This bill would delete a provision that required the systemwide fees charged to resident undergraduate students at the University of California to be reduced in the 1998-99 and 1999- 2000 fiscal years. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 1052 (Torrico): Preschool: Teachers: Limited-English-Proficient Children

This bill would require the California Department of Education (CDE) to establish and implement a demonstration program that includes three counties in the state, including one county each from Northern, Central, and Southern California, as defined. The program would provide college coursework, training, and career ladder opportunities for preschool teachers who provide instruction to limited-English-proficient children, as defined for purposes of the program. Three grants of $450,000 each would be awarded to those counties per year for 3 years. Institutions of higher education, early childhood educational agencies, local educational agencies, nonprofit organizations, or consortia of those entities within each participating county would be eligible to apply for and receive those grant funds. The CDE, within one year of the completion date of the program, would be required to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report that includes recommendations regarding the continuation of the program and state and federal policy changes needed to support the goals of the program. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 1059 (De Leon): Child Care Personnel: Prekindergarten Assumption Program of Loans for Education: Child Development Teacher and Supervisor Grant Program

The bill would require a county that also participates in a Comprehensive Approach to Raising Educational Standards (CARES) program to align these programs and related educational requirements to the maximum extent feasible. The bill would require a county receiving funds for the purposes of this provision to grant priority to allocating funds at sites operated by publicly funded providers that are located in the attendance area of elementary schools that have been ranked in Decile 1, 2, or 3 of the Academic Performance Index or that employ child care workers enrolled in for-credit college or university early childhood development classes. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 5-1.

AB 1168 (Jones): Social Security Numbers

This bill would require all colleges and universities located in this state to implement policies and procedures regarding the retention of social security numbers in their electronic records that are accessible through the Internet, which shall provide for the redaction of social security numbers. The bill would require that these policies and procedures authorize the Attorney General, or any injured person, to bring a civil action to enforce this provision. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 1267 (Feuer): Civic Service

This bill would establish the Civic Service Loan Assumption Program under the administration of the commission. Under the program, California residents enrolled at a campus of the University of California or the California State University would be eligible to enter into an agreement for student loan assumption, to be redeemed after a qualifying period of civic service, as defined, or service as a volunteer, as defined. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 5-1.

AB 1305 (Charles Calderon): Community Colleges: Employment of Full-Time Faculty

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district, no later than December 31, 2010, to require that at least 75% of the hours of credit instruction in the district be taught by full-time instructors. The bill would require each community college district to allocate specified funds for that purpose. Because this bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit the board of governors from waiving these provisions. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-1.

AB 1329 (Houston): Student Financial Aid

This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature relative to services provided by, and shortages of, occupational therapists. The bill would require the Trustees of the California State University, in coordination with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and in consultation with stakeholder groups and organizations, to assess and discuss issues, information, and barriers relating to, and progress made in accomplishment of, the creation of additional occupational therapist training programs in a report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature by June 1, 2008. The bill would request the Regents of the University of California to participate as an equal participant with the trustees in the deliberations for, and making of, the report to the Legislature. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 7-0.

AB 1333 (Hancock): Regents of the University of California: Retirement System

Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature that the Regents of the University of California provide written notice to the Legislature of any proposed changes to retirement plan benefits, employer or employee contribution rates, or actuarial assumptions affecting the University of California Retirement System, as specified. This bill would require the Regents of the University of California to complete and provide independent actuarial studies for public review at least 120 days prior to a change in employer or employee contribution rates affecting the University of California Retirement System. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-2.

AB 1343 (Mendoza): Public Postsecondary Education: Faculty and College Excellence Act

This bill would enact the Faculty and College Excellence Act, and place that act within the Donahoe Higher Education Act. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that at least 75% of the full-time faculty on each campus of the California State University and the California Community Colleges be tenured or tenure-track, as defined, and that all part-time and temporary faculty shall receive pay and benefits that are equal to those of tenured and tenure-track faculty of comparable qualifications doing comparable work, as determined on a pro rata basis. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-1.

AB 1413 (Portantino): Public Postsecondary Education: California State University: Trustees

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature, as well as the intent of the Legislature, relating to executive compensation of top officials of the California State University and the ethical standards of the trustees. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-2.

AB 1423 (Davis): Community Colleges: Salary Schedules for Academic Employees

The governing board of each community college district is required to adopt and cause to be printed and made available to each academic employee a schedule of salaries to be paid. This bill would require all community college district salary schedules for academic employees to be uniform in application and effect. Because the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 4-1.

AB 1525 (Cook): Private Postsecondary Education

The Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989 generally sets minimum standards of instructional quality, ethical and business practices, health and safety, and fiscal responsibility for private postsecondary and vocational educational institutions, as defined. The act establishes the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires the bureau, among other things, to review and investigate all institutions, programs, and courses of instruction approved under the act. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature to provide for the protection of the interests of students who, and institutions which, have pending matters, or any other pending business, before the bureau as of June 30, 2007. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 1540 (Bass): Student Financial Aid: Cash for College Program

This bill would express the intent of the Legislature that California students with financial need be made aware of the opportunities afforded to them through the various state and federal financial aid programs. The bill would express various findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the Cash for College Program. The bill would establish the Cash for College Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and would authorize the commission to allocate funds for support of local Cash for College projects designed to accomplish prescribed goals. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 5-1.

AB 1559 (Berryhill): Community College Fees: Consumer Protection

This bill would require a community college district governing board to adopt and implement a merit-based admissions policy for a nursing education program if, for any academic term, there are more applicants seeking enrollment in that nursing program than may reasonably be accommodated. Because the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 5-0.

AB 1578 (Leno): Foster Youth Higher Education Preparation and Support Act of 2007: California competitive Grant Program

Under existing law, six unified school districts and consortia operating children's services program sites that provide instruction, counseling, tutoring, and related services for foster children receive an allowance from the State School Fund. Existing law also authorizes other school districts to provide educational services for foster children who reside in a regularly established licensed or approved foster home located within the boundaries of a program site, pursuant to a commitment by a juvenile court. Existing law provides funding for those other school districts for the provision of those services in any fiscal year, upon appropriation from the General Fund, or if sufficient funds are available, from the Foster Children and Parent Training Fund. This bill, which would be known as the Foster Youth Higher Education Preparation and Support Act of 2007, would make statements of legislative intent relating to the establishment and provision of service and financial support necessary to help foster youth achieve their educational goals. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 6-0.

AB 1649 (Alarcon): University of California: Retirement Benefits

Under existing law, the Regents of the University of California are encouraged and empowered to take all steps to implement a qualified defined contribution plan for its employees. This bill would instead encourage and empower the Regents of the University of California to take all steps necessary to implement a defined benefit plan for employees who do not participate in the University of California Retirement Plan. The bill would also encourage and empower the Regents of the University of California to contribute to the defined benefit plan an unspecified percent of the wages, as defined, payable to these employees, or at least an amount that would normally be required to be paid for an employee to participate in Social Security, as specified. This bill passed the committee on a vote of 5-2.

—Kim Seitz