All legislation pending consideration for this year must have passed out of its first policy committee in early May. These committees include the Senate Education and Assembly Higher Education Committees for community college-related legislation. Policy committees consider the implications of a bill on the state and ask, "Is this bill a good or bad idea?"
The Community College League of California deemed the following bills a high priority. Most of the bills cleared their policy committee review and . continued to the Appropriations Committees. In this step, committees consider the legislation's fiscal impact and provide an opportunity to amend or hold a problematic bill in an opaque appropriations process. Considering that there will likely be few new fiscal resources to spend on these pieces of legislation, many of the bills in Appropriations Committees will likely be held back or significantly amended. The deadline for legislation to clear the Appropriations Committee is on May 19, and the League will provide a follow-up legislative update.
The bills that passed their policy committees are listed below, with detail on their current status in the legislative process. The League maintains a comprehensive list of legislation that affects community colleges online. https://ccleague.org/advocacy/bill-tracking
AB 91 (Alvarez) Exemption from Non-Resident Tuition: SDICCCA
Exempts from the non-resident tuition fee a non-resident, low-income student who is a resident of Mexico, registers for lower division courses at a San Diego and Imperial Counties Community Colleges Association (SDICCCA) college, and has residence within 45 miles of the California-Mexico border.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 91: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB91
AB 252 (Holden) Student Athlete Protection Act
Creates a regulatory agency empowered to investigate and manage all of California's collegiate athletic practices related to student academic, mental, and physical health. Additionally, it mandates the creation of a degree completion fund for student-athletes that obtain an athletic scholarship.
League Position: OPPOSE
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 252: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB252
AB 260 (Santiago) Community Colleges: Part-Time Employees
Requires the pay ratio for part-time faculty members to equal their full-time colleagues. This funding is a requirement upon receipt of funds allocated for student success categorical programs and thus would not be a reimbursable mandate.
League Position: OPPOSE
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 260: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB260
AB 299 (Holden) Hazing: Institutional Liability
Makes educational institutions, including community colleges, liable for hazing activities occurring within student body organizations affiliated with those institutions.
League Position: OPPOSE
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 299: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB299
AB 358 (Addis) Field Act Exemption
Exempts community college housing from the Field Act, which requires the Department of General Services to supervise the design and construction of school buildings, except upon request by the community college district
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: State Senate
Link to AB 358: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB358
AB 472 (Wicks) Compulsory Leaves of Absence
Among other items, requires schools and community colleges to fully compensate an employee for lost wages if that employee was placed on unpaid leave due to an investigation into criminal or administrative charges, but the investigation was found in the employee's favor.
League Position: WATCH
Location: Assembly Floor
Link to AB 472: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billSearchClient.xhtml?quickSearchBoolean=true&quicksrchSelect=billNumber&quickSearchParam=472
AB 634 (Ward) CDCP Programs
Requires CDCP (career development and college preparation) courses to be funded via a positive attendance funding count or on a census date basis, depending on when and how often the course meets, either in person or online.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 634: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB634
AB 680 (Rubio) Non-resident Tuition
Creates a new AB 540 pathway for community college students to qualify for in-state tuition at any California public college or university by (1) completing 60 semester-based credit units or 90 quarter-based credit units in a California community college or by (2) attaining an associate degree for transfer.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 680: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB680
AB 1190 (Irwin) Part-Time Faculty Office Hours
As a condition of receiving student success funds, requires pay for part-time faculty members who have office hours at the same ratio as paid to full-time faculty members who have office hours.
League Position: OPPOSE
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 1190: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1190
AB 1541 (Fong) Student Advisory Vote
Gives each student member of the Board of Trustees of a community college district an advisory vote.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 1541: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1541
AB 1542 (Fong) BOG Member Compensation
Increases the pay of each student member of the Board of Governors to $4,000 per semester via the Student Success Completion Grant.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 1542: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1542
AB 610 (Holden) Transit Passes
Creates a free student transit program by awarding grants to transit agencies for the costs of creating, designing, developing, advertising, distributing, and implementing free transit passes to persons attending certain educational institutions, providing free transit service to holders of those passes.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 610: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB610
SB 629 (Cortese) Community Colleges: fee waivers
Authorizes any community college district to adopt a policy that uses local unrestricted general funds to provide fee waivers to students with the greatest financial need. Funds can be used to assist students with addressing their total cost of attendance. Districts that benefit from this policy must ensure that 100% of students complete FAFSA or the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) and the district has a fully staffed Basic Needs Center.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Senate Appropriations Committee
Link to SB 629: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB629
AB 1400 (Bryan) Community College Transfers to Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Provides up to $5,000 in financial aid scholarships to community college students transferring to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Students must have completed an associate degree for transfer pathway, and HBCUs must have an ADT MOU with the CCC Chancellor's Office. For funding purposes, this would redirect current funds received through the College Access Tax Credit Fund.
League Position: SUPPORT
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Link to AB 1400: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billHistoryClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1400
This article was authored by Andrew Martinez.
Andrew Martinez serves as the Senior Director of Government Relations for the League. As the Director, Andrew is responsible for budget and policy analysis, strategy development, and engaging the legislature and administration on issues critical to the community colleges.
Contact: Advocacy@ccleague.org
