BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                          AB 844 (Lara)
          
          Hearing Date: 08/15/2011        Amended: 06/29/2011
          Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 7-2
          _________________________________________________________________
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: AB 844 authorizes any student, including a person 
          without lawful immigration status or AB 540 students, to serve 
          in any capacity in student government and to receive any grant, 
          scholarship, fee waiver, or reimbursement for expenses at the 
          California State University (CSU) and the California Community 
          Colleges (CCC), consistent with federal law, and requests the 
          University of California (UC) to comply with these same 
          provisions.
          _________________________________________________________________
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2011-12      2012-13       2013-14       Fund
           
          CCC compensation                    ----Likely minor ongoing 
          costs----             Local/General

          CSU compensation                    ----Likely minor ongoing 
          costs----             Local/General

          UC compensation                       ----Likely minor ongoing 
          costs----             Local/General
          _________________________________________________________________
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: 
          
          This bill authorizes AB 540 students, or any undocumented 
          students who may be attending a UC, CSU or CCC to serve in any 
          capacity in student government and to receive any grant, 
          scholarship, fee waiver, or reimbursement for expenses related 
          to holding that position. Explicitly making all students 
          eligible to hold any student government position is unlikely to 
          generate any new costs to the CCC, CSU, or UC (should the UC 
          comply with the bill's request). Any potential cost to the bill 
          would likely come from allowing students to receive compensation 
          (in various forms) for participation who might not otherwise 








          AB 844 (Lara)
          Page 1


          have received that compensation.

          The state does not require any of the higher education segments 
          to compensate student government participants for their 
          positions, but it is common practice to provide some level of 
          compensation for certain student government leadership 
          positions. Compensation for student leadership positions is 
          typically funded by student fees.  Some CSU campus leadership 
          positions are considered jobs, and students holding them are 
          compensated hourly as employees; other campuses offer stipends, 
          instead. The CSU estimates that there are 70-80 students 
          system-wide who are compensated in some way for their student 
          leadership activities. 

          Undocumented students are not currently eligible to be employed 
          by the CSU. To the extent that this bill allows undocumented 
          students who hold paid positions to be paid when they were not 
          previously eligible for funding (as the author states is the 
          intent of the bill), this bill would result in additional costs 
          to the CSU. The number of undocumented students in these 
          positions is likely small, within an already small pool of paid 
          student leaders. Staff also notes that these costs are budgeted 
          within CSU campuses' existing resources, because this bill does 
          not change the number of eligible paid positions. Additionally, 
          CSU campuses are not required by the state to pay any student 
          for his or her participation in student government. 

          The CCCs vary in whether and how they compensate students in 
          leadership positions, as well. The CCC Chancellor's Office 
          surveyed 42 CCCs, and found that only 10 offer any compensation 
          for one or more student leadership positions; all 10 offered 
          stipends. To the extent that this bill allows undocumented 
          students who hold stipend positions to be paid when they were 
          not previously eligible for funding, this bill would result in 
          additional costs to the CCCs that pay student leaders. As 
          previously noted, the costs identified are budgeted within 
          campuses' existing resources, because this bill does not change 
          the number of eligible paid positions, and CCCs are not required 
          by the state to pay any student for his or her participation in 
          student government. CCC, CSU, and UC campuses also reimburse 
          travel and related expenses for various conferences and meetings 
          in which student leaders are asked to participate; these 
          reimbursements come from a variety of funds, depending on the 
          purpose of the travel or other expense. It is unclear whether 








          AB 844 (Lara)
          Page 2


          undocumented students are ever denied reimbursement for those 
          expenses.

          This bill contains immunity provisions for the higher education 
          segments with regard to parties seeking monetary damages. It 
          allows a court that finds the provisions of this bill unlawful 
          to invalidate them, but not to provide additional monetary 
          damages. The provisions of this bill are very likely to be 
          litigated, because it appears to allow individuals who cannot be 
          lawfully employed in the United States to be employed (in 
          certain circumstances) by the CCC, CSU, and UC. The bill 
          specifies that it applies "to the full extent consistent with 
          federal law," but even attempted implementation of its 
          provisions within that context is likely to invite litigation, 
          as other contentious benefits for undocumented students have in 
          the past.