BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 131
AUTHOR: Cedillo
AMENDED: May 27, 2011
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 22, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : California Dream Act of 2011.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the California Dream Act of 2011
which expands the existing exemption from non-resident
tuition established by AB 540 (Firebaugh, Chapter 814,
Statutes of 2001) to include students who graduate from
technical schools and adult schools and, beginning July 1,
2012, expands eligibility for financial aid benefits to all
students exempt from paying non-resident tuition under AB
540 as it:
1) Requests the University of California (UC) and
requires the California
State University (CSU) and the Board of Governors of
the California Community Colleges (CCC), and the
California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), beginning
July 1, 2012, to establish procedures and forms to
enable AB 540 students to be eligible to apply for and
participate in all student financial aid administered
by these segments.
2) Expands eligibility for state administered student
financial aid programs to
include AB 540 students.
3) Requires the California Community Colleges to waive
the student fees of
any AB 540 students who would otherwise qualify for
such a waiver, as specified.
BACKGROUND
Current law provides for a variety of student financial aid
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programs including the Cal Grant programs, the Community
College Board of Governors (BOG) fee waiver, a variety of
systemwide and/or campus-specific grant and/or loan
programs and other state administered financial aid
programs. Participation in these programs is, among other
criteria, typically limited to California residents.
Current law (established by AB 540, Chapter 814, Statutes
of 2001) exempts specified California nonresidents from
paying nonresident tuition at UC, CSU and the CCCs if they
meet all of the following:
1) Attended a California high school for three or more
years.
2) Graduated from a California high school or attained an
equivalent degree.
3) Registered or attended an accredited California higher
education institution not before fall of the 2001-02
academic year.
4) Filed an affidavit, if an alien without lawful
immigration status, stating that the student has filed
an application to legalize their immigration status or
will file such an application as soon as they are
eligible to so do. (Education Code § 68130)
In general, these students are not currently eligible for
federal, state and/or campus-based financial aid.
Current law also designates secondary schools as high
schools, technical schools, and adult schools. (EC § 52)
ANALYSIS
This bill establishes the California Dream Act of 2011.
More specifically it:
1) Expands the existing exemption from non-resident
tuition established by AB 540 to include students who
attend and graduate from technical schools and adult
schools, if at least one of those years included
attendance at a high school.
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2) Beginning July 1, 2012:
a) Requests the UC and requires the
CSU and the Board of Governors of the CCC to
establish procedures and forms to enable AB 540
students to apply for and participate in all
student aid programs administered by these
segments, to the full extent permitted by federal
law.
b) Prohibits the number of financial
aid awards received by California resident
students from financial aid programs administered
by the segments from being diminished as a result
of (a).
c) Makes AB 540 students eligible to
apply for and participate in any state
administered student financial aid program to the
full extent permitted by federal law.
d) Requires the California Student
Aid Commission to establish procedures and forms
that enable AB 540 students to apply for and
participate in all state administered student
financial aid programs to the full extent
permitted by federal law.
e) Prohibits AB 540 students from
being eligible for Competitive Cal Grant A and B
awards unless funding remains available after all
other eligible California students have received
awards.
f) Requires the California Community
Colleges to waive the student fees of any person
exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the
provisions of AB 540 and who would otherwise
qualify for a waiver and declares this provision
to be consistent with specified federal
immigration law.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . The author is concerned that
California high school graduates who have been
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accepted to our premier public colleges and
universities may be ineligible for state financial
aid. According to the author, these students confront
a difficult challenge in financing their college
education because they are ineligible for any federal
grants or loans and are unable to legally work. This
bill would allow the state to fund its neediest
students while they await legalization by authorizing
their eligibility for state and campus administered
student aid programs and require the creation of
procedures to apply for this aid using state-developed
forms.
2) Related court case . In 2005, Martinez v. Regents of
the University of California et al. was filed against
the UC, CSU, and the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges, challenging the
legality of AB 540. In October 2006 a California
Superior Court ruled in favor of AB 540 stating its
provisions were in accordance with federal law. In
September 2008 a California Court of Appeal overturned
the Superior Court's ruling in Martinez v. Regents and
held that California state law authorizing in-state
tuition to "illegal aliens" is preempted by federal
immigration law and void. The decision was appealed
and in December 2008 the Supreme Court of California
agreed to review the case.
In November 2010, the California Supreme Court
reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, finding
that the provisions of AB 540 did not violate the
federal immigration law and concluding that the
plaintiffs' remaining challenges to the provisions of
AB 540 lacked merit. Plaintiffs then filed a petition
for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court
seeking further review. On June 6, 2011, the U.S.
Supreme Court announced that it had declined to review
the California Supreme Court's unanimous decision
upholding the legality of AB 540.
3) Similar legislation . AB 130 (Cedillo), effective July
1, 2012, requires that AB 540 students attending CSU,
the CCC, or the UC be eligible to receive a
scholarship derived from non-state funds (received for
the purpose of scholarships) at the segment where the
student is enrolled. AB 130 was heard and passed by
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this committee on June 8, 2011, by a vote of 7-3. AB
130 is currently awaiting action in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
Staff notes that both AB 130 and AB 131 propose
amendments to a section of existing law which extends
immunity from monetary damages to the public segments
as a result of implementing each of the bills'
provisions. Should these bills be double joined to
ensure that no unintended chaptering out of provisions
occurs?
4) What financial aid programs would these students be
eligible for ? The majority of student financial aid
is provided through either federal or state
administered programs (e.g. Pell grants which is a
federal program or Cal grants which is a state
program). However, in addition to this aid,
individual campuses also directly administer some
financial aid programs including specialized grants,
loans and work study as well as aid derived from
student fees (typically 20%- 30% of student fee
revenue is set aside for institutional financial aid
at UC and CSU). This bill would make AB 540 students
eligible for Cal Grants, institutional aid at the UC
and CSU, Board of Governors fee waivers at the
community colleges, and any other state administered
programs.
5) Limits on awards . This bill specifically provides that
the number of awards received by California residents
through campus administered programs not be diminished
as a result of expanding access to these programs to
include AB 540 students. While the number of
institutional aid awards cannot be diminished, the
bill could result in a change in the mix of recipients
and a change in the amounts received by students.
This bill also makes provision for AB 540 students to
be eligible for Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards
once all California students have received an award.
Given that demand for the Competitive Cal Grant far
exceeds the amount of funding typically provided it is
unlikely that AB 540 students would receive funds from
this program.
6) Adding adult schools . High school students who
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combine attendance at a high school with attendance at
an adult school may jeopardize their eligibility for
the nonresident tuition exemption if their attendance
at the high school is for less than three years. This
bill addresses this situation by requiring one year of
attendance at a high school, but allowing the
remaining two years of attendance to be at a high
school, adult school, or technical school, or any
combination thereof.
7) Mandated costs . Legislative counsel has identified
mandated costs, likely as the result of the
requirement imposed upon the California Community
Colleges that fee waivers be granted to qualifying AB
540 students.
8) How many students ? Recent data from the UC, CSU and
CCC indicate that overall, AB 540 students make up
less than one percent of enrollment at all three
systems. More specifically:
a) At the UC, AB 540 students were less than
three-tenths of a
percent of 220,000 students in 2007-08. More
than 68 percent of the 1,941 students were U.S.
citizens or "documented" immigrants.
b) At the CSU, 3,633 AB 540 students were less
than one percent of
the 440,000 students enrolled in the current
school year.
c) In the California Community Colleges, 34,057
students of the 2.89
million students enrolled in the 2008-09 school
year were granted AB 540 waivers, again, less
than one percent.
The CSU and the CCC do not identify the immigration
status of AB 540 students, but believe that
undocumented students make up a larger proportion of
these students than they do at the UC.
9) Prior legislation . Since 2003, the Legislature has
considered several bills which have attempted to
ensure that AB 540 students were able to receive
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financial assistance to attend college. The most
recent efforts included
SB 1460 (Cedillo, 2010) and AB 1432 (Fuentes, 2010)
which were substantively similar to each other in that
they proposed the expansion of the existing exemption
from nonresident tuition established by AB 540 to
include students who graduated from technical schools
and adult schools and proposed expansion of
eligibility for financial aid benefits to all students
exempt from paying nonresident tuition under AB 540.
Both bills were ultimately vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger whose veto message read, in pertinent
part:
I have always wholeheartedly supported the policy
of making higher education opportunities as
affordable as possible for all California's
students. Our state's university and community
college systems are amongst the finest in the
country and should be made accessible to those
seeking a better life through higher education.
Unfortunately, given the precarious fiscal
situation that the state faces, it would not be
practical to adopt a new policy that could limit
the financial aid available to students that are
in California legally, in order to provide that
benefit to those students who are not.
Other similar Dream Act measures include:
SB 160 (Cedillo, 2009)
AB 2083 (Nunez, 2008)
SB 160 (Cedillo, 2007)
SB 1 (Cedillo, 2007)
SB 1301 (Cedillo, 2008)
SB 160 (Cedillo, 2005)
SUPPORT
Advancement Project
AltaMed Health Services Corporation
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
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Employees, AFL-CIO
California Community College Chancellor's Office
California Federation of Teachers
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Postsecondary Education Commission
California School Employees Association
California State Student Association
California Teachers Association's Community College
Association
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy
Chicano Federation of San Diego County
City of Long Beach
City of Oakland
City of San Pablo City Council
Community Charter Middle School
Community College League of California
Community College League of California
Fontana Unified School District
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Hartnell College
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Korean Resource Center of Los Angeles
Latino Equality Alliance
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Los Angeles Leadership Academy
MAAC Community Charter School
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Council of La Raza
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
Para Los Ninos
Rio Hondo Community College District
San Diego Community College District
San Jose-Evergreen Community College District
Service Employees International Union Local United Long
Term Care Workers
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
University of California
University of California Student Association
OPPOSITION
Californians for Population Stabilization
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
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