BILL NUMBER: SB 1466 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 2, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator De León
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to 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. 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
any other law, require a student to be eligible for the receipt
of a Cal Grant Award funded from the Higher Education Investment Tax
Credit Program Special Fund pursuant to specified priorities if he or
she meets the requirements established for a Cal Grant Award for the
2011-12 academic year, except that a student granted the lowest
priority may have a maximum household income that is no greater than
$150,000 . 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 on a specified date, and
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: 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,
any other law, a student shall be eligible
for the receipt of a Cal Grant Award funded from the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund pursuant to the
priorities established in subdivision (b) if he or she meets the
requirements established for a Cal Grant Award for the 2011
-12 academic year, except that for students granted
priority pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) 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) The commission shall grant the following priorities when using
funds from the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program
Special Fund to award Cal Grants to students eligible pursuant to
subdivision (a):
(1) First priority shall be given to students who meet the
eligibility requirements established for a Cal Grant A, B, or
Transfer Entitlement Award for the 2011-12 academic year.
(2) Second priority shall be given to students who meet the
eligibility requirements established for a Competitive Cal Grant A or
B Award for the 2011-12 academic year, up to the maximum number of
awards authorized for Competitive Cal Grant A or B Awards in the
annual Budget Act.
(3) Third priority shall be given to all other students who meet
the eligibility requirements established for a Cal Grant Award for
the 2011-12 academic year, except that, notwithstanding subdivision
(k) of Section 69432.7, these students may have a maximum household
income no greater than one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000),
as calculated pursuant to subdivision (a).
(b)
(c) This section shall remain in effect only
until December 1, 2018, or until all
funds in the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program Special
Fund are expended, whichever date comes last, and as of
that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is
enacted before December 1, 2018, or before the date when
all funds in the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program
Special Fund are expended, whichever comes last, 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.