BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 636
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          Date of Hearing:   May 3, 2011

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
                                 Marty Block, Chair
                    AB 636 (Knight) - As Amended:  April 12, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :   Military service: benefits.

           SUMMARY  :   Requires public postsecondary educational 
          institutions and private postsecondary educational institutions 
          to provide specified accommodation for students who are required 
          to report for military service.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Requires the higher education institution to credit tuition 
            and fee charges for a subsequent academic term when a student 
            is required to report for military service, for a period of 
            three years.

          2)Requires the higher education institution to provide a refund 
            of tuition and fees paid for the academic term in which the 
            student is required to report for military service, regardless 
            of the institution's withdraw date.

           EXISTING LAW  :  The federal Service members Civil Relief Act 
          (SCRA), which expanded the former Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil 
          Relief Act (SSCRA), provides a wide range of protections for 
          individuals entering, called to active military duty, and 
          deployed service members (United States Code § 101).  The intent 
          is to postpone or suspend certain civil and financial 
          obligations to enable service members to devote "full attention 
          to duty."  Reservists and members of the National Guard when in 
          active federal service are also protected under SCRA.  State law 
          provides various protections including:

          1)Protections to service members that are consistent with those 
            found within SCRA, including but not limited to protections 
            regarding court proceedings, credit contract obligations, 
            rental agreements, and eviction protections.  (Military and 
            Veterans Code § 800-811)

          2)The California Military Families Financial Relief Act of 2005, 
            which protects college students called to active duty from 
            tuition loss by requiring institutions to either 1) credit 
            100% of the tuition and fees toward a subsequent academic year 
            or 2) provide a full refund of the tuition and fees if the 








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            student withdraws before the withdraw date established by the 
            institution.  This law was expanded to include members of the 
            National Guard ÝSB 1075 (Correa), Chapter 284, Statutes of 
            2010].  (MVC § 824)   

          3)Requires the California State University (CSU) and the 
            California Community Colleges (CCC), and requests the 
            University of California (UC), to establish, and update as 
            necessary, a written policy concerning students who are called 
            to active military service, as specified, and to refund fees 
            to students who are called to active military service.  
            (Education Code § 66023)

          4)Existing state law requires CSU and CCC, and requests UC, to 
            grant priority registration for enrollment to former members 
            of the Armed Forces of the United States within two years of 
            leaving active military duty.  (EC § 66025.8)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   This bill was approved by the Assembly Veterans 
          Affairs Committee on April 5, 2011, by a vote of 7-0.

           Background  :  Under current law, students who is called to 
          military service, including members of the California National 
          Guard who are called to respond to an emergency, are entitled to 
          a credit for subsequent academic terms for which they have paid 
          and a refund of tuition and fees they have paid for the current 
          academic term in which they are enrolled, up to the established 
          withdrawal date that applies to all students who withdraw from a 
          class.  Withdraw dates are generally set around the midpoint in 
          the academic term.  For purposes of this section, a 
          postsecondary institution includes UC, CSU, CCC, and private 
          postsecondary educational institutions, as defined.

           Need for this bill  .  According to the author, "If a military 
          member is called to active duty and is forced to leave school, 
          current law does not allow for a refund after a withdrawal date 
          specified by the educational institution.  Therefore, service 
          men and women may be forced to leave their institution with no 
          credit or reimbursement, if they are required to leave after the 
          withdrawal date has passed."

           Credit v. refund  .  While existing law allows for the institution 
          to provide a credit, this bill would establish a three-year 








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          limit for the student to use that credit.  The three segments 
          report that they generally issue refunds to members called to 
          active duty, which are easier and less expensive to administer.  
          Further, a credit limits a student's options, since they must 
          remember they have the credit and return to that institution to 
          redeem the credit.  Staff suggests an amendment to replace 
          "credit" with "refund" and delete the associated three-year 
          limit on use of the credit.

           Academic accommodations  .  Existing law requires the educational 
          institutions to provide reasonable academic accommodations to 
          students who are called to active duty.  Since it is in the 
          student's and the institution's best interests for the student 
          to receive academic credit for their work, staff suggests an 
          amendment to trigger the refund when academic accommodations are 
          not possible.

           Clarifying amendment  .  Active military members often have their 
          tuition and fees paid for by financial aid and/or veterans 
          benefits programs.  State and federal regulations require 
          financial aid and veterans benefits to revert to the funding 
          entity.  Thus, staff suggests an amendment to clarify that the 
          institutions will refund the tuition and fees  that the student 
          paid  .

           Related legislation  .  AB 372 (Hernández), which is set for 
          hearing in this Committee on May 3, 2011, would require CCC 
          faculty to provide academic credit to military personnel, among 
          others, for college-level learning gained in non-academic 
          settings.  AB 649 (Harkey), which passed this Committee and is 
          pending on the Assembly Floor, would extend veterans' priority 
          registration enrollment from two to five years after leaving 
          active duty.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          California Federation of Teachers

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.

           








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          Analysis Prepared by  :    Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916) 
          319-3960