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 student representation 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 ofbegin delete an independentend deletebegin insert aend insert statewide community college student organization, recognized by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges,begin insert with effective student representation and participation in state-level community college shared governance andend insert with governmental affairs representatives to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities.begin insert
The bill would specify the underlying goals of a statewide community college student organization and would require the organization to comply with specified open records and open meetings laws. The bill would require the fees expended to establish and support the operations of the statewide community college organization to be distributed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for further distribution to the recognized statewide community college student organization if the organization satisfies certain conditions.end insert The bill would, for a student representation fee adopted before January 1, 2014, provide that the student body association shall retain the 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 require the statewide community college student organization to reimburse the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for any costs incurred to implement these provisions.end insert
The bill would also require preparation of a summary by a community college district describing the amount of student representation feesbegin delete collected andend deletebegin insert collected, theend insert expenditures of the proceeds of the student representationbegin delete feeend deletebegin insert fee,end insert and the amount distributed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The bill would requirebegin delete thatend delete the summarybegin insert toend insert be presented at the community college district board meeting each
year and posted to the district Internet Web site. 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 76060.5 of the Education Code is
2amended to read:
(a) If a student body association has been established
4at a community college as authorized by Section 76060, the
5governing body of the association may order that an election be
6held for the purpose of establishing a student representation fee
7of two dollars ($2) per semester. The election shall be held in
8compliance with regulations of the Board of Governors of the
9California Community Colleges and shall be open to all regularly
10enrolled students of the community college. The affirmative vote
11of a majority of the students voting in the election shall be
12sufficient to establish the fee. However, the election shall not be
13sufficient to establish the fee unless the number of students who
14vote in the
election equals or exceeds the average of the number
15of students who voted in the previous three student body
16association elections.
17(b) The student representation fee authorized by this section
18shall be collected by the officials of the community college,
19together with all other fees, at the time of registration or before
20registration and shall be deposited in a separate fiduciary fund
21established per the California Community Colleges Budget and
22
Accounting Manual for student representation fees. The money
23collected pursuant to this section shall be expended to provide
24support for governmental affairs representatives of local or
25statewide student bodybegin delete associationsend deletebegin insert organizationsend insert who may be
26stating their positions and viewpoints before city, county, and
27district governments, and before offices and agencies of the state
28government.
29(c) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insert One
dollar ($1) of every two-dollar ($2) fee collected
30shall be expended to establish and support the operations ofbegin delete an begin insert aend insert statewide community college student organization,
31independentend delete
32recognized by the Board of Governors of the California Community
33Colleges,begin insert with effective student representation and participation
34in state-level community college shared governance andend insert with
35governmental affairs representatives to advocate before the
36Legislature and other state and local governmental entities. This
37subdivision shall only apply to student representation fees adopted
38on or after January 1, 2014.
P4 1(2) The underlying goals of a statewide community college
2student organization shall include, but are not limited to, all of
3the following:
4(A) Establishing a sustainable foundation for statewide
5community college student representation and advocacy.
6(B) Promoting institutional and organizational memory.
end insertbegin insert
7(C) Ensuring and maintaining responsible community college
8student organizational oversight and decisionmaking.
9(D) Strengthening regional approaches for community college
10student representation and coordination.
11(E) Promoting and enhancing student opportunities for
12engagement in community college student issues and affairs.
13(F) Providing for open and public transparency and
14accountability.
15(d) Fees collected pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be annually
16distributed to the Board of Governors before February 1. The
17Board of Governors shall have custody of the moneys and shall,
18each year by April 15, distribute the moneys to the recognized
19statewide community college student organization if the recognized
20statewide community college student organization satisfies all of
21the following:
22(1) Is established as a legal entity registered with the Secretary
23of State.
24(2) Demonstrates compliance with all applicable state and
25federal laws and reporting requirements.
26(3) Exercises prudent fiscal management by establishing
27
generally accepted accounting controls and procedures.
28(4) (A) Commencing after the first year it receives funding
29pursuant to this subdivision, completes an annual independent
30financial audit, the results of which shall be annually provided to
31the Board of Governors for review.
32(B) (i) Except as provided in clause (ii) and after the first year
33funding is received, it shall be a condition for funding pursuant
34to this subdivision that the results of the annual audit identify no
35significant audit findings.
36(ii) In no event shall funds be withheld from the statewide
37community college student organization unless the statewide
38community college student organization fails to address and correct
39any identified exceptions, concerns, errors, or deficiencies
P5 1contained in the annual
audit after being given a reasonable
2opportunity to do so.
3(5) Meets the obligations and addresses the goals described in
4subdivision (c).
5(e) Meetings of the recognized statewide community college
6student organization shall be open to the public and shall comply
7with the requirements of the California Public Records Act
8(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of
9Title 1 of the Government Code) and the Ralph M. Brown Act
10(Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division
112 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
12(d)
end delete
13begin insert(f)end insert Notwithstanding subdivision (c), a student body association
14that adopted a student representation fee before January 1, 2014,
15shall retain the authority to continue to receive the one-dollar ($1)
16fee as authorized pursuant to this section as it read before January
171, 2014. The student body association may conduct an election
18pursuant to subdivision (a) to adopt a revised student representation
19fee. If an election conducted pursuant to subdivision (a) establishes
20the revised student representation fee, then one dollar ($1) of every
21two-dollar ($2) fee collected shall be expended as described in
22subdivision (c).
23(e)
end delete
24begin insert(g)end insert (1) The chief fiscal officer of the community college shall
25have custody of the money collected pursuant to this
section, and
26the money shall be disbursed for the purposes described above
27upon the order of the governing body of the student body
28association.
29 (2) The community college district shall annually prepare a
30summary of all revenue collected from the student representation
31fee and the expenditures of the proceeds of the student
32representation fee. The summary shall include the amount
33distributed to the Board of Governors of the California Community
34Colleges each year. The summary shall be presented at the
35community college district board meeting each year and posted to
36the community college district Internet Web site.
37(3) The community college district may retain a portion of the
38fees collected and deposited pursuant to this section that is equal
39to the actual cost
of administering these fees up to, but not more
40than, 7 percent.
P6 1(f)
end delete
2begin insert(h)end insert The student representation fee authorized by this section
3may be terminated by a majority vote of the students voting in an
4election held for that purpose. The election shall be called and held
5in compliance with regulations of the Board of Governors of the
6California Community Colleges and shall be open to all regularly
7enrolled students of the community college.
8(g)
end delete
9begin insert(i)end insert A student may, for religious, political, financial, or moral
10reasons, refuse to pay the student representation fee established
11under this section. The refusal shall be submitted in writing to the
12
community college officials at the time the student pays other fees
13collected by the community college officials. The refusal shall be
14submitted on the same form that is used for collection of fees as
15provided by the community college, which, as determined by the
16
community college, shall be as nearly as practical in the same form
17as a model form prescribed by regulations of the Board of
18Governors of the California Community Colleges.
19(j) Any costs incurred by the Office of the Chancellor of the
20California Community Colleges to implement subdivisions (c) and
21(d) shall be reimbursed by the statewide community college student
22organization.
23(k) If no statewide community college student organization that
24qualifies for funding in accordance with this section is recognized
25by the Board of Governors, the funds collected pursuant to this
26section shall be held by the Office of the Chancellor of the
27California Community Colleges until a qualifying statewide
28community college student organization is recognized, or shall be
29returned to
the source of funds.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
31Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
32a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
33charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
34level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
3517556 of the Government Code.
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