BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 13
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 13 (Chávez and Quirk-Silva)
As Amended March 11, 2013
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 13-0 VETERANS AFFAIRS 10-0
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|Ayes:|Williams, Chávez, Bloom, |Ayes:|Muratsuchi, Chávez, |
| |Fong, Fox, Jones-Sawyer, | |Atkins, Brown, Eggman, |
| |Levine, Linder, Medina, | |Fox, Grove, Melendez, |
| |Hagman, Quirk-Silva, | |Salas, Yamada |
| |Weber, Wilk | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, | | |
| |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | |
| |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, | | |
| |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Exempts former members of the Armed Forces, who were
honorably discharged or released from active duty within the
immediately prior year, from paying nonresident tuition at the
California State University (CSU) and California Community
Colleges (CCC).
EXISTING LAW establishes uniform residency requirements for
purposes of ascertaining the amount of fees to be paid by
students at CSU and CCC and establishes various exceptions to
these residency requirements, including many for current and
former members of the Armed Forces (Education Code Sections
68074 and 68075). The University of California (UC), as a
result of its constitutional autonomy, establishes its tuition
policies; however, these policies traditionally mirror state
policies.
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in revenue losses or around
$1.4 million in the first year and $250,000 annually thereafter
to UC and $1 million to CSU in the first year and $200,000
annually thereafter to CSU. The CCC would incur revenue losses
probably in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars.
COMMENTS : Current law establishes the requirements for
determining residency for purposes of paying the lower-cost
"in-state" student fees at UC, CSU, and CCC. To qualify for the
lower resident fees, students are generally required to have
resided in California for more than one year immediately
preceding the residence determination date and undertake other
specified actions such as registering to vote or registering
one's car in California.
What benefit does this bill provide? By removing the
requirement that veterans must have served in California for one
year immediately prior to discharge, this bill would allow
veterans from other states to pay resident tuition rates instead
of the higher nonresident rate for up to one year. The
Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits fund a student's in-state tuition and
fees. Thus, this bill would provide a subsidy equaling the
difference between the resident and non-resident fees at the
student's college or university during his or her first year.
After the first year, when the student will have had the
opportunity to establish residency, the Post-9/11 GI Bill would
fully cover the student's fees.
Benefits of California-resident classification. UC, CSU, and
CCC are publicly subsidized with the proceeds of state taxes;
the lower resident fees for students who reside in California
reflect the contribution they and their parents have already
made by paying taxes in California. The fees charged to
non-California residents are intended to cover the cost of the
subsidy that is generated by California taxpayers. In addition
to in-state tuition and fees, full-time undergraduate students
pay the following nonresident tuition:
UC $22,878 per year
CSU $11,140 per year
CCC $208 per unit
According to the author, the difference between resident and
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nonresident tuition is a significant financial barrier for
veterans from other states who wish to attend a California
public institution directly after discharge and before they have
had the opportunity to establish residency.
This bill would extend a benefit to veterans from other states
that are not always provided to California veterans. According
to the author, only 19 states currently offer similar residency
waivers, although several states are considering similar
legislation. Federal legislation has been introduced in both
the House and the Senate to require institutions that are
eligible for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to charge any veteran
the resident tuition rate.
All three segments (UC, CSU, and CCC) have seen significant
reductions in state support in recent years, resulting in
tuition and fee increases and enrollment reductions. This
measure would result in further revenue losses to the segments
and competition with California residents struggling to get
courses. If the intent of this bill is to provide a benefit to
non-Californian members of the military, it may be more
appropriate to provide this benefit directly, such as through a
Cal Grant dedicated to these students for the one year it takes
to establish residency. This would allow the Legislature to
more easily track the costs of the program, as well as review
its merits relative to other student financial aid programs and
other state-supported programs, and would spare the segments
revenue losses.
Related legislation: SB 290 (Knight), pending in the Senate, is
very similar to this bill. AB 2250 (Beth Gaines) of 2012, which
died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, was substantially
similar to this bill. AB 2478 (Hayashi), Chapter 405, Statutes
of 2012, allowed a student veteran to establish residency within
two years, rather than one year, of discharge. Several similar
bills have been introduced annually since 2006, and all were
held in the Appropriations committees.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0000788
AB 13
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