BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair SB 960 (Rubio) - California State University (CSU): Mandatory Fees. Amended: April 17, 2012 Policy Vote: Education 8-0 Urgency: No Mandate: No Hearing Date: May 24, 2012 Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez SUSPENSE FILE. Bill Summary: SB 960 prohibits campus-based mandatory fees, other than those for instruction-related purposes or that are specifically authorized by statute, at the California State University (CSU), from being established without an affirmative vote of either the student body or a campus fee advisory committee, as specified. Fiscal Impact: This bill will likely result in minor costs to individual CSU campuses, and potentially significant cost pressure to the state to backfill CSU to the extent that it was unsuccessful in passing fee increases. Requirements to raise fees: To the extent that CSU campuses use the student referendum option to pass new fees, campuses will incur costs of approximately $25,000 to publicize the referendum. Seeking a vote of the majority of a campus's fee advisory committee is likely to result in only minor and absorbable costs. Barriers to raising and reallocating student fees: If this bill results in CSU campuses being unable to raise or reallocate student fees to meet campus needs, it will result in additional cost pressure for the state to fund the CSU at a higher level, at a time when budget reductions continue. Background: There is no statutory guiding policy on mandatory system-wide student tuition and fees beyond the current fiscal condition and the stated needs of University of California and CSU, as negotiated in the budget deliberations. Campus-based fees are generally used to support on-campus activities such as health facilities and services, student university unions, athletic programs, transit/transportation SB 960 (Rubio) Page 1 systems, and recreational opportunities. The state does not provide funding to support these activities. The Trustees adopted standing orders providing the Chancellor the authority and responsibility to take whatever actions are necessary for the appropriate functioning of the CSU including, but not limited to, establishment, oversight, and adjustment of campus-based mandatory fees Proposed Law: This bill establishes a new required process for CSU campus administrations to follow, if they wish to raise or reallocate mandatory fees that are not instruction-related: the administration must either obtain an affirmative vote of the student body or a campus fee advisory committee. In the absence of either, the fee could not be raised or reallocated. Staff Comments: This bill will make it more difficult to establish or reallocate student fees than it is currently. The bill attempts to ensure that fees imposed on CSU students are used for their intended purpose, and any changes must be done through a process that requires affirmative student participation. If a campus administration wishes to, for example, establish a new fee, it must either obtain an affirmative vote from the campus's student fees advisory committee or from the student body. The first option is the most expeditious and is unlikely to have measurable costs; a committee vote will likely be the one most often used. In the event that the committee does not approve the fee, the administration would have the ability to either hold a student referendum or to not raise/change the fee. According to the CSU, a student referendum costs approximately $25,000 to publicize and hold. This includes advertisement in the campus newspaper, printing a voter guide, and all other marketing costs associated with promoting the referendum. The campus also incurs the cost of printing and counting ballots. The state does not reimburse CSU campuses for referenda or any student election-related activity, but such activities do put additional pressure on campus budgets. If a referendum was not attempted, or was unsuccessful, the CSU campus could not impose the fee changes it sought. An inability for a CSU campus to change its fees to meet campus needs creates SB 960 (Rubio) Page 2 pressure for the state to increase funding to CSU because the state will have (in passing this bill) specifically made it more difficult for CSU campuses to raise their own revenue. Committee Amendments: The amendments limit the requirements imposed on CSU to instances in which a CSU campus seeks to reallocate to a new purpose the funding collected for a fee which was originally approved by an affirmative vote of the student body.