BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1899
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1899 (Mitchell) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill extends eligibility for residency, for tuition/fee
purposes, and student financial aid programs, to noncitizen
victims of trafficking, domestic violence and other serious
crimes, as defined, to the same extent as available to
individuals admitted into the country as refugees.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Exempts students who are victims of trafficking, domestic
violence, and other serious crimes who have been granted a T
or U visa under federal law, from paying nonresident tuition
at the California State University (CSU) or the California
Community Colleges (CCC) to the same extent as individuals who
are admitted into the U.S. as refugees.
2)Provides eligibility to those students as in (1) for student
financial aid programs and scholarships administered by a
public postsecondary educational institution or the state.
3)Requests the University of California (UC) comply with the
above provisions.
4)Requires CCC districts to waive the fees of students as in
(1).
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Summary . Staff estimates that this bill will result in the
following costs: General Fund (Prop 98) costs of $60,000
annually, General Fund costs of $43,000 in the first year and
$160,000 in the fourth year and thereafter, and annual revenue
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losses of $25,000 and $11,000 to the CCC and CSU,
respectively.
UC, CSU, and the CCC do not know how many students or
perspective students would benefit from this bill at their
respective segments. The National Immigration Law Center
estimates 75 to 100 students annually, based on the number of
individuals granted T or U status nationally in 2011, the
undocumented population, the number likely living in
California, and the number of AB 540 students.
Based on a recent action of the UC Board of Regents, the
university is already in compliance with the requirements of
this bill, thus enactment of this measure will have no fiscal
impact with regard to UC students except for state financial
aid costs.
It is assumed that, if 100 students benefited annually from
this bill, 85 would attend CCC, 10 at CSU, and 5 at UC.
2)Residency . To qualify for the lower resident fees, students
are generally required to have resided in California for more
than one year and one day immediately preceding the residence
determination date and undertake other specified actions such
as registering to vote or registering one's car in California.
The bill will allow students who obtain T or U status to
claim California residency, for tuition purposes, without
having to wait. Given the significant cost differential
between in-state and non-resident tuition/fees-over $200 per
credit at the CCC and about $11,000 at CSU-and assuming that
almost all of these students are low income and would
otherwise delay their studies in order to avoid the
non-resident cost differential, there would be no revenue
impact and only a minor cost impact to the segments from these
students. If 10% of the students do not defer their studies
and would thus benefit from the bill, there would be an annual
revenue loss of about $25,000 at the CCC and $11,000 at the
CSU.
3)CCC Fee Waiver . Assuming one-third of the 80 CCC students are
full-time and the remainder are part-time, the General Fund
(Proposition 98) cost to backfill these students' BOG fee
waivers for one year until they achieve residency status, and
thus would be eligible for the BOG fee waiver under current
law, would be $60,000 annually for each new cohort of
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students.
4)State Financial Aid . The California Student Aid Commission,
using similar assumptions about participation as above,
estimates first-year General Fund costs of $43,000 for Cal
Grant Entitlement awards, increasing to about $160,000 in the
fourth year.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Nonresident students who meet specified criteria
established by AB 540 in 2001 are exempt from paying the
state's more costly nonresident tuition/fee rates.
Non-immigrant victims of trafficking, domestic violence, and
other serious crimes, who are granted a special status, known
as T or U non-immigration status, are not eligible for
residency under the provisions of AB 540, however, because the
law excludes holders of non-immigrant visas, as defined.
2)Purpose . AB 1899 extends to holders of T and U non-immigrant
status eligibility for in-state tuition/fees and state
financial aid programs that are available to a person admitted
to the U.S. as refugees, thus enabling these students to
utilize the AB 540 path to residency for tuition/fee and
financial aid purposes. The author contends that, "A
technical fix in the law is needed to ensure that these crime
victim survivors can continue their education uninterrupted
when they secure a lawful status, and that any disincentive to
cooperate with law enforcement in prosecuting the perpetrators
of crimes against them is minimized."
3)"T" and "U" Visas . Congress created the T and U nonimmigrant
classifications with passage of the Victims of Trafficking and
Violence Protection Act in October 2000. The T visa provides
immigration protection to victims of a severe form of human
trafficking. The U visa is designated for victims of certain
crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse because of
the crime and who are willing to assist law enforcement and
government officials in the investigation of the criminal
activity. The legislation was intended to strengthen the
ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and
prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault,
trafficking of persons and other crimes, particularly against
immigrant crime victims, while at the same time offering
protection to victims of such crimes. Unlike many other
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non-immigrant statuses, individuals with T and U status have a
pathway to lawful permanent residence (LPR), and are generally
eligible to apply for LPR status after three years.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081