BILL NUMBER: SB 1466 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2012
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 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 $100,000 .
The bill would state that any moneys that may be appropriated for
purposes of this bill would be required to be in addition to, and
intended to supplement, other moneys appropriated for the Cal Grant
Program. The bill also would provide that those moneys are intended
to provide initial and renewal Cal Grant A, B, and Transfer
Entitlement awards, pursuant to specified priorities, to students who
would otherwise be ineligible if not for the expanded eligibility
provided by this bill. The bill would repeal this provision 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 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 shall be no greater
than one hundred fifty thousand dollars
($150,000) ($100,000) , 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) ($100,000) , as
calculated pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) (1) Any moneys that may be appropriated from the Higher
Education Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund for purposes of
this section shall be in addition to, and are intended to supplement,
other moneys appropriated for the Cal Grant Program.
(2) Any moneys that may be appropriated from the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund for purposes of this
section are intended to provide initial and renewal Cal Grant A, B,
and Transfer Entitlement awards, pursuant to the priorities specified
in (b), to students who would otherwise be ineligible if not for the
expanded eligibility provided by this section.
(d) This section shall remain in effect 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.