BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 940 Page 1 Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 940 (Committee on Education) - As Amended: June 14, 2011 Policy Committee: Higher EducationVote:9-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY The bill makes several technical and non-controversial changes to higher education-related statutes, including: 1)Removing statutory references to the Office of the Secretary of Education and redirecting responsibilities to the Governor's Office or the State Board of Education. 2)Clarifying that a student who has met the transfer degree requirements, pursuant to legislation enacted in 2010, is granted priority for the purposes of enrollment planning and admissions consistent with the priorities previously outlined in existing law. 3)Repealing specified obsolete reporting requirements and making other technical changes. FISCAL EFFECT Negligible fiscal impact. COMMENTS 1)Rationale. This bill authored by the Senate Education Committee provides for technical and non-controversial "clean-up" to the Education Code, relative to higher education. 2)Office of the Secretary of Education (OSE) . In January, 2011, Governor Brown eliminated the OSE. This bill deletes statutory references to the OSE and replaces them with the SB 940 Page 2 Governor's Office. Additionally, the Scholarshare Program, administered by the Scholarshare Investment Board, offers a tax-advantaged college tuition savings plan allowing families to invest and save for a college education with state tax-deferred and federal tax-free benefits. At the request of the Governor's Office, this bill replaces the Secretary of Education with the Executive Director of the State Board of Education, or their designee, as a member of the Investment Board. 3)Transfer degree priority admission . SB 1440 (Padilla)/Chapter 428 of 2010, granted priority for the purposes of enrollment planning and admissions to the California State University (CSU) for CCC students who complete the transfer degree authorized by SB 1440. This bill clarifies that these students be granted priority consistent with the priorities outlined in existing law. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081