January, 2019

In This Issue:

  • New Session Brings New Leadership 
  • League’s Policy Priorities for the Annual Legislative Conference
  • Districts Encouraged to Comment on Proposed Title IX Regulations
  • Federal Grant Opportunities – Presented by Downs Government Affairs
  • Upcoming Events

New Session Brings New Leadership

On Monday, January 7, the California Legislature reconvened in Sacramento to officially begin the 2019 Legislative Session. This will be the first year of the two-year 2019-20 Legislative Session. A day full of ceremonies included the swearing-in of the new gubernatorial administration and the 40th Governor, Gavin Newsom. Just days after taking the oath of office, Governor Newsom will release the 2019-20 budget proposal, expected for Thursday, January 10th at 10:00 a.m.

The recent election brings 17 new members to the California legislature – eight new assembly members and nine new senators. Ten of the 17 new members are women. New members bring an array of backgrounds and experience ranging from business, education, labor, and local government. Along with returning members of the Legislature, they will take part in a busy week of new bill introductions.

In preparation for the start of the session, both Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon recently announced leadership positions and committee assignments for the 2019-20 session. The Senate welcomes new education leadership with the announcement of Senator Connie Leyva (D – Chino) as the Chair of the Senate Education Committee and Senator Richard Roth (D – Riverside) as the Chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance. Below is the membership listing of several key Legislative committees the League monitors on behalf of community colleges.

Senate Education Committee
Senators Connie M. Leyva (D; Chair), Scott Wilk (R;Vice Chair), Ling Ling Chang (R), Maria Elena Durazo (D), Steven M. Glazer (D), Mike McGuire (D), Richard Pan (D)

Senate Appropriations Committee
Senators Anthony Portantino (D; Chair)
, Pat Bates (R; Vice Chair), Steven Bradford (D), Jerry Hill (D), Brian Jones (R), Bob Wieckowski (D), and one vacancy

Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
Senators Holly Mitchell (D; Chair)
, Jim Nielsen (R; Vice Chair), Jim Beall (D), Maria Elena Durazo (D), Melissa Hurtado (D), Brian Jones (R), Connie M. Leyva (D), Mike McGuire (D), Bill Monning (D), John Moorlach (R), Mike Morrell (R), Richard Pan (D), Richard Roth (D), Nancy Skinner (D), Henry Stern (D), Jeff Stone (R), Thomas Umberg (D), and Bob Wieckowski (D)

Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education
Senators Richard D. Roth (D; Chair)
, Connie M. Leyva (D), and Mike Morrell (R)

Assembly Higher Education Committee
Assembly Members Jose Medina (D; Chair), Steven Choi (R; Vice Chair), Joaquin Arambula (D), Richard Bloom (D), Jesse Gabriel (D), Jacqui Irwin (D), Kevin Kiley (R), Marc Levine (D), Evan Low (D), Jim Patterson (D), Miguel Santiago (D), and Shirley Weber (D)

Assembly Appropriations Committee
Assembly Members Lorena Gonzalez (D; Chair)
, Frank Bigelow (R; Vice Chair), Richard Bloom (D), Rob Bonta (D), William Brough (R), Ian Calderon (D), Wendy Carrillo (D), Ed Chau (D), Tyler Diep (R), Susan Eggman (D), Vince Fong (R), Jesse Gabriel (D), Eduardo Garcia (D), Jay Obernolte (R), Cottie Petrie-Norris (D), Bill Quirk (D), and Robert Rivas (D)

Assembly Budget Committee
Assembly Members Phil Ting (D; Chair)
, Jay Obernolte (R; Vice Chair), Joaquin Arambula (D), Richard Bloom (D), William Brough (R), David Chiu (D), Jim Cooper (D), Vince Fong (R), Jim Frazier (D), James Gallagher (R), Cristina Garcia (D), Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D), Tom Lackey (R), Monique Limón (D), Brian Maienschein (R), Devon Mathis (R), Kevin McCarty (D), Jose Medina (D), Melissa Melendez (R), Kevin Mullin (D), Al Muratsuchi (D), Adrin Nazarian (D), Patrick O’Donnell (D), Jim Patterson (R), James Ramos (D), Eloise Gómez Reyes (D), Luz Rivas (D), Blanca Rubio (D), Mark Stone (D), Shirley Weber (D), Buffy Wicks (D), and Jim Wood (D)

Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education
Assembly Members Kevin McCarty (D; Chair)
, James Gallagher (R), Monique Limón (D), Brian Maienschein, Jose Medina (D), Al Muratsuchi (D), and Patrick O’Donnell (D)


League’s Policy Priorities for the Annual Legislative Conference

In preparation for the Annual Legislative Conference, we are pleased to share the League’s preliminary legislative priorities. The California Community College Trustees (CCCT) Board and the Chief Executive Officers of California Community Colleges (CEOCCC) Board identified voter-supported facilities projects, dual enrollment legislation (AB 30 Holden), and affordability as key advocacy priorities. We invite you to join us in advocacy around these important issues. Copies of the final 2019 Policy Priorities will be available at the Legislative Conference and include a response to the Governor’s Budget Proposal.

COLLEGE FACILITIES

  • Honor Voters’ Will and Fund the Backlog of Capital Outlay Projects
    In 2016, California voters approved a facilities bond providing a $2 billion infrastructure investment in California’s community colleges. The failure to fund all Board of Governors approved and vetted facilities projects in the last two state budget cycles has resulted in an extensive backlog. This lack of action dismisses strong voter support for Proposition 51 and massive facilities needs of $42 billion over the next 10 years. Failing to fund these capital projects represents a missed opportunity to create jobs, preempt substantial building cost increases, and to cultivate a skilled and educated workforce in communities throughout the state. 

PROTECT AND EXPAND DUAL ENROLLMENT PATHWAYS

  • Support Assembly Bill 30 (Holden) - Remove the Sunset on College and Career Access Pathways and Streamline the Process to Develop Dual Enrollment Partnerships
    All students deserve exposure to and the opportunity to pursue higher education. For at-risk students, participation in dual enrollment courses results in increased college-going rates and greater persistence in higher education.  In developing seamless pathways to college and degree completion, college leaders have employed dual enrollment partnerships to facilitate student success. Key among the benefits of dual enrollment courses are: reduction of time-to-degree completion, increase in college attainment, and reducing achievement gaps for underrepresented students.  Dual enrollment also lays the foundation to strengthen connections between high schools and colleges. Community colleges are committed to working with the Legislature and the Administration to maximize the benefits of dual enrollment and to remove the sunset on the College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) Act.

AFFORDABILITY, FOOD & HOUSING ACCESS

  • Assist Community Colleges in Helping Students Meet Their Basic Needs
    Help colleges reduce food insecurity on campus by removing legal barriers and the red tape colleges face to qualifying as CalFresh approved vendors.  Districts and colleges have the potential to create more sustainable and effective partnerships to address students’ food and housing access challenges.

FINANCIAL AID

  • Equitably Fund Cal Grants for Community College Students 
    As currently structured, Cal Grants continue to distribute less than 10% of its resources to California community college students despite the fact that our students comprise two-thirds of the higher education population.  The lack of adequate financial aid leads students to take fewer classes, extends their time to graduation, makes college unaffordable and makes a degree substantially more difficult to obtain. It’s time to reform Cal Grants to cover a student’s total cost of attendance.

EDUCATIONAL QUALITY & LONG-TERM PLANNING

  • Increase Formula Funding Rates
    General operating dollars fund innovation on campuses.  An investment in general resources through an increase to formula funding rates enable and support high functioning campuses.  A cost-of-living adjustment is essential for district sustainability.
  • Address Unfunded Employee Liabilities
    Unfunded pension liabilities continue to represent a major fiscal burden for both the state government and local education agencies (LEAs) within California. These increasing costs are crowding out the services intended for student success. We ask the Legislature to partner with LEAs and buy down pension liabilities.
Not registered for the Annual Legislative Conference?

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NOTE: Due to scheduling conflicts, there was a modification in our keynote speaker lineup. We are pleased to announce that Senator Connie M. Leyva will be the Closing Keynote Speaker on Monday, January 28.


Districts Encouraged to Comment on Proposed Title IX Regulations

On November 29, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education published proposed new federal Title IX regulations pertaining to campus sexual assault policies. This begins a 60-day public comment period. As opposed to a Dear Colleague Letter, federal regulations are legally enforceable against educational institutions. The proposed regulations include definitions of the appropriate standard of proof for campus-based proceedings, investigation methods, and the role of campus officials. The proposed regulations also include provisions that limit a public education employer’s responsibility to investigate potential Title IX violations to incidents that allegedly occurred on campus or within an educational program or activity. Further, the proposed regulations guarantee a person accused of sexual misconduct the right to cross-examine the accuser and allow employers more flexibility to use mediation and other resolution procedures previously discouraged in federal guidance.

Given the potential consequences of this proposal, districts should consider providing feedback during the public comment period. More information and details about the proposed Title IX changes are available here.


Federal Grant Opportunities

Presented by Downs Government Affairs

The League, in partnership with Downs Government Affairs, provides a list of federal grants to assist your community college in improving its programs and services. If you have any questions about the following grants, please feel free to reach out to Thomas Downs at TCDowns@downsgovaffairs.com.

For a full list of federal grants available to community colleges, visit our Federal Grants page at: www.ccleague.org/federal-grant-opportunites


Upcoming Events

Consultation Council
January 10 | Sacramento, CA

Board of Governors Meeting
January 14-15 | Sacramento, CA

2019 League Annual Legislative Conference
January 27-28 | Sacramento, CA

2019 National Legislative Conference 
February 11-13 | Washington, D.C.


Follow Bills Tracked at: www.ccleague.org/bills
Follow news related to Budget and Policy at: http://www.ccleague.org/policy


For more information, contact the League's Government Relations and Communications staff:

Lizette Navarette, Vice President | lizette@ccleague.org
Ryan McElhinney, Legislative Advocate | ryan@ccleague.org
Laura Murrell, Communications Manager | laura@ccleague.org
Gerson Light-Sanchez, Government Relations & Communications Fellow | fellow@ccleague.org

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