BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1358 (Fong) - Community Colleges: Student Representation Fee
Amended: July 11, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 7-2
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1358 allows the current community college
student representation fee (SRF) to be increased from $1 to $2,
per semester, subject to an affirmative majority vote of a
community college's students. This bill directs the additional
$1 fee increase to be expended on the establishment and support
the operations of a statewide community college student
organization, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
Revenue: Potentially significant additional revenue, to the
extent that the student representation fee is increased on
various community college campuses. That revenue would be
primarily earmarked to fund the statewide student
organization.
Administrative fees: This bill allows the California
Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) to reimburse
itself for any administrative expenses from the fee revenue.
It further allows a community college district (CCD) which
collects the increased fee to reimburse itself for the
actual costs of fee administration, up to 7 percent of the
fee, which the CCCCO has opined will be sufficient to cover
its costs (and is above the current allowable rate for the
existing fee it collects).
Background: Existing law permits the governing board of a CCD to
authorize the students of a college to organize a student body
association. (Education Code � 76060)
Existing law provides that a student body association (SBA) may
order an election be held for the purpose of establishing an SRF
of $1 per semester, and that an affirmative vote of two-thirds
AB 1358 (Fong)
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of the students voting in the election shall be sufficient to
establish the fee. However, the number of students who vote must
equal or exceed the average number of students who voted in the
previous three student body elections. The fee money collected
is required to be expended to provide support of governmental
affairs representatives who may be stating their positions and
viewpoints before city, county, and district governments and
before offices and agencies of state government. Students may
refuse to pay the fee for religious, political, financial, or
moral reasons. The chief fiscal officer of the community college
has custody of the fee money collected, but the funds are
disbursed to the student body association for the specified
purposes. The CCD is authorized to retain a portion of the fees
collected that is equal to the actual cost of administering
these fees up to, but not more than, 7 percent. (EC � 76060.5)
Proposed Law: AB 1358 increases the current community college
SRF from $1 to $2 per semester, subject to an affirmative
majority vote of a community college campus's students and
directs the additional $1 fee increase to be expended on the
establishment and support the operations of a statewide
community college student organization, as specified. More
specifically, this bill:
1) Clarifies that current and prospective SRF revenue may be
expended on local or statewide student body associations.
2) Authorizes an SBA to call campus-wide elections to
determine whether to assess a SRF of $2 per semester.
3) Reduces the affirmative vote from two-thirds to a majority
of the students voting in the election, as specified, to
establish the SRF.
4) Specifies that $1 of every $2 fee collected shall be
expended to establish and support the operations of an
independent statewide community college student
organization with specified goals, that is recognized by
the Board of Governors (BOG) of the California Community
Colleges, to advocate before the Legislature and other
state and local governmental entities. The measure
specifies this provision only applies to SRFs adopted on or
after January 1, 2014.
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5) Specifies requirements for the statewide community college
student organization, if formed, including that it: a) is
established as a legal entity registered with the Secretary
of State; b) demonstrates compliance with all applicable
state and federal laws and reporting requirements; c)
exercises prudent fiscal management by establishing
generally accepted accounting controls and procedures; d)
completes an annual independent financial audit, the
results of which shall be annually provided to the BOG for
review; e) opens its meetings to the public and complies
with the requirements of the California Public Records Act.
6) States that any community college SBA that has adopted a
SRF before January 1, 2014 retains authority to continue to
receive the $1 fee as authorized prior to enactment of this
measure. The SBA may conduct an election to adopt a revised
SRF - if the students pass the revised SRF, then $1 of
every $2 collected shall be expended for purposes
specified.
7) Requires a CCD to annually prepare a summary of all revenue
collected from the SRF and the expenditures of the
proceeds, as specified.
8) Permits a CCD to retain a portion of the fees collected
that is equal to the actual cost of administering these
fees up to, but not more than, 7 percent.
Staff Comments: This bill is unlikely to have a significant
fiscal impact on the state. To the extent the bill results in
campus SBAs holding elections to authorize increasing the
campus's SRF to $2 per semester, and the students vote to do so,
there would be increased revenue held by the CCCCO for a
specific purpose. Absent success in increasing the SRF, advocacy
will likely continue as it is currently.
The CCCCO and CCDs are likely to be able to recover any
administrative costs they incur to administer the fee through
their reimbursement authority in the bill.