Amended in Senate June 27, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 15, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1358

Introduced by Assembly Member Fong

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 76060.5 of the Education Code, relating to community colleges.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1358, as amended, Fong. Student body association: student representation fee.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a community college district to authorize the students of a college to organize a student body association to encourage students to participate in the governance of the college and conduct any activities, including fundraising activities. Existing law authorizes the governing body of a student body association to order an election be held to establish a student representation fee of $1 per semester, collected by officials of the community college at or before registration, and requires an affirmative vote of 2⁄3 of the students voting in the election to establish the fee.

This bill would instead authorize the election to establish the begin insert student representation end insert fee in the amount of $2, would require an affirmative vote of a majority of the students voting in the election to establish the student representation fee, and would, for a student representation fee adopted on or after January 1, 2014, require $1 of the $2 student representation fee to be expended to establish and support the operations of an independent statewide community college student organization, recognized by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, with governmental affairs representatives to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities. The bill would, for a student representation fee adopted before January 1, 2014, provide that the student body association shall retain begin insert the end insert authority to continue to receive the $1 student representation fee, and authorize the student body association to conduct an election to instead adopt a $2 student representation fee, as described above. begin insert The bill would also require preparation of a summary by a community college district describing the amount of student representation fees collected and expenditures of the proceeds of the student representation fee and the amount distributed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The bill would require that the summary be presented at the community college district board meeting each year and posted to the district Internet Web site. end insert To the extent that this additional requirement would impose new collection duties on the community colleges, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 76060.5 of the Education Code is
amended to read:

76060.5.  

(a) If a student body association has been established
at a community college as authorized by Section 76060, the
governing body of the association may order that an election be
held for the purpose of establishing a student representation fee
of two dollars ($2) per semester. The election shall be held in
compliance with regulations of the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges and shall be open to all regularly
enrolled students of the community college. The affirmative vote
of a majority of the students voting in the election shall be
sufficient to establish the fee. However, the election shall not be
sufficient to establish the fee unless the number of students who
vote in the election equals or exceeds the average of the number
of students who voted in the previous three student body
association elections.

(b) The student representation fee authorized by this section
shall be collected by the officials of the community college,
together with all other fees, at the time of registration or before
registration and shall be deposited in a separate fiduciary fund
established per the California Community Colleges Budget and
Accounting Manual for student representation fees. The money
collected pursuant to this section shall be expended to provide begin delete for
the end delete support begin delete of end delete begin insert for end insert governmental affairs representatives begin insert of local or
statewide student body associations end insert who may be stating their
positions and viewpoints before city, county, and district
governments, and before offices and agencies of the state
government.

(c) One dollar ($1) of every two-dollar ($2) fee collected shall
be expended to establish and support the operations of an
independent statewide community college student organization,
recognized by the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges, with governmental affairs representatives to advocate
before the Legislature and other state and local governmental
entities. This subdivision shall only apply to student representation
fees adopted on or after January 1, 2014.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), a student body association
that adopted a student representation fee before January 1, 2014,
shall retain begin insert the end insert authority to continue to receive the one-dollar ($1)
fee as authorized pursuant to this section as it read begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert
January 1, 2014. The student body association may conduct an
election pursuant to subdivision (a) to adopt a revised student
representation fee. If an election conducted pursuant to subdivision
(a) establishes the revised student representation fee, then one
dollar ($1) of every two-dollar ($2) fee collected shall be expended
as described in subdivision (c).

(e)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The chief fiscal officer of the community college shall
have custody of the money collected pursuant to this begin delete section end delete
begin insert section, end insert and the money shall be disbursed for the purposes
described above upon the order of the governing body of the
student body association. begin delete The end delete

begin insert

(2) The community college district shall annually prepare a
summary of all revenue collected from the student representation
fee and the expenditures of the proceeds of the student
representation fee. The summary shall include the amount
distributed to the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges each year. The summary shall be presented at the
community college district board meeting each year and posted
to the community college district Internet Web site.

end insert

begin insert (3) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert community college district may retain a portion of the
fees collected and deposited pursuant to this section that is equal
to the actual cost of administering these fees up to, but not more
than, 7 percent.

(f) The student representation fee authorized by this section
may be terminated by a majority vote of the students voting in an
election held for that purpose. The election shall be called and held
in compliance with regulations of the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges and shall be open to all regularly
enrolled students of the community college.

(g) A student may, for religious, political, financial, or moral
reasons, refuse to pay the student representation fee established
under this section. The refusal shall be submitted in writing to the
community college officials at the time the student pays other fees
collected by the community college officials. The refusal shall be
submitted on the same form that is used for collection of fees as
provided by the community college, which, as determined by the
community college, shall be as nearly as practical in the same form
as a model form prescribed by regulations of the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges.

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.