BILL NUMBER: SB 1466 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator De León
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 18872 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code, relating to taxation. add and repeal Section
69432.75 of the Education Code, relating to student financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1466, as amended, De León. Personal income taxes:
voluntary contributions. Student financial aid: Cal
Grant Program eligibility.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant
Program (Cal Grant Program), establishes the Cal Grant A and B
Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer
Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal
Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration
of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility
requirements for awards under these programs for participating
students attending qualifying institutions. The Cal Grant Program
establishes different maximum household income levels for recipients
of each of those Cal Grant awards.
This bill would, commencing with the 2014-15 academic year, and
notwithstanding those different maximum household income levels,
require the maximum household income level for all Cal Grant
recipients to be no greater than $150,000, as specified. The bill
would repeal this provision when all funds in the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund, which would be
established by another bill, are expended. The bill also would make
specified findings and declarations relating to the need to fund
postsecondary education.
This bill would become operative only if SB 1356 is enacted and
takes effect on or before January 1, 2013.
Existing law states that it is the intent of the Legislature to
encourage persons who prepare tax returns, as specified, to inform
their clients, in writing, that they may make a voluntary
contribution to specified funds or programs as provided on the state
income tax return.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) In addressing California's fiscal crisis, state budget
solutions over the last several fiscal years have included deep cuts
and payment deferrals that have decimated billions of dollars in
funding for all segments of postsecondary education.
(b) In 2000, the state contributed 18.6 billion dollars to public
postsecondary education, and this funding has declined every year
since then. In the 2010-11 fiscal year, the state contributed 12.4
billion dollars to postsecondary education.
(c) The share of expenditures borne by students in the form of
fees has tripled, from 13 percent in 2000, to 40 percent in 2011,
making a public postsecondary education unaffordable for the middle
class. Most middle income students are leaving school thousands of
dollars in debt, and they end up sending monthly payments to
out-of-state banks rather than contributing to the local economy.
(d) With less access to postsecondary education due to courses
being cut, each year students are taking longer and longer to
graduate. It now takes the average student 7 years to graduate from a
California Community College, 6.5 years to graduate from a
California State University, and 4.5 years to graduate from a
University of California.
(e) Educational attainment levels predict the overall economic
performance of states and nations. California was always among the
top states in degree-completion rates, but it now ranks among the
bottom 10 states.
(f) By 2018, 63 percent of all of jobs in the United States will
require some form of postsecondary education or training, according
to estimates by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the
Workforce. The United States is on track to deliver only a fraction
of this education. Currently, only 38 percent of America's young
adults have a college degree, compared to 58 percent in South Korea.
(g) California's postsecondary education system has helped build
and sustain an entrepreneurial spirit that has shaped new sectors of
the state's economy. During tough times like these, we need novel
approaches to steer the state back on track.
(h) Estimates show that the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit
Program Special Fund will be fully subscribed for each of the five
years of the program, allowing the California Student Aid Commission
to expand eligibility for Cal Grant awards for middle class families.
(i) All Californians deserve access to an affordable postsecondary
education.
SEC. 2. Section 69432.75 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
69432.75. (a) Commencing with the 2014-15 academic year, and
notwithstanding subdivision (k) of Section 69432.7, the maximum
household income for all Cal Grant recipients shall be no greater
than one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000), which shall be
calculated in a manner that is consistent with the requirements
applicable to this chapter and Section 69506.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until all funds in
the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund are
expended, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before all funds in the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund are expended, deletes or
extends that period.
SEC. 3. This act shall become operative only if
Senate Bill 1356 is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1,
2013.
SECTION 1. Section 18872 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code is amended to read:
18872. The Legislature finds and declares that it is important to
inform taxpayers of their ability to make voluntary contributions to
certain funds or programs, as provided on the state income tax
return. The Legislature further finds and declares that many
taxpayers remain unaware of the voluntary contribution check-offs on
the state income tax return. Therefore, it is the intent of the
Legislature to encourage all persons who prepare state income tax
returns to inform their clients in writing, prior to the completion
of any tax return, that they may make a contribution to any voluntary
contribution check-off on the state income tax return if they so
choose.