BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, 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  








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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.









          AB 1358 (Fong)
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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.