BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 813 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 813 (Committee on Veterans Affairs) - As Amended: August 15, 2011 Policy Committee: Higher EducationVote:9-0 Veterans Affairs 9-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes SUMMARY This bill expands the term of eligibility for priority registration for classes-required at the California State University (CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC), and requested at the University of California (UC)-to members or former members of the Armed Forces from two years to four years after leaving active state duty. The bill limits military registration priority to California residents, whereas current law does not. FISCAL EFFECT Minor absorbable costs to UC and CSU to expand eligibility for priority registration. Costs to the CCC would be state reimbursable, but also likely be minor. (While SB 272 (Runner), Statutes of 2007, which originally established priority registration for veterans at CSU and CCCs, was a new mandate on the CCCs, no mandate claim was filed to implement its provisions.) COMMENTS Purpose . According to the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, the two-year timeframe currently permitted an honorably discharged veteran to exercise priority enrollment often does not coincide with the various enrollment and admission processes at public postsecondary institutions. For example, a veteran SB 813 Page 2 separates from service in February, comes home, looks for employment but subsequently wishes to attend college, and then applies to a university or college. Given the condition of public higher education funding, many campuses have closed enrollment earlier and are offering fewer courses. Thus veterans could lose almost the entire two years of eligibility for priority enrollment. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081