BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1781|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1781
Author: Linder (R), et al.
Amended: 6/11/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/4/14
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Hancock, Huff, Monning
NO VOTE RECORDED: Correa, Vacancy, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 4/24/14 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : California National Guard Education Assistance Award
Program
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill permits a person who receives a California
National Guard (CNG) Education Assistance Award Program (EAAP)
grant to use the grant in summer session if the person submits a
letter from his/her unit commander that states that the summer
session will not adversely impact the person's attendance at
mandatory military training, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the CNG EAAP to enhance
retention within the CNG by providing grant awards to obtain a
certificate, degree, or diploma and sets specific conditions of
eligibility for participation in the program, including, but not
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limited to the following:
1. The person is a resident of California, as specified in
existing law;
2. The person is an active member of, and has served two years
in, the CNG, the State Military Reserve, or the Naval
Militia;
3. The person has been accepted or registered at, enrolled in,
a qualifying institution, as specified in existing law;
4. The person agrees to use the award to obtain a certificate,
degree, or diploma that he/she does not hold at the time they
apply for an award, and enrolls as specified; and
5. The person has submitted the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid to the United States Department of Education.
Existing law specifies that the academic terms specifies that
the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) is responsible for
issuing the awards upon receipt of a certificate from the
Adjutant General verifying that the applicant meets the
eligibility requirements and requires CSAC to report annually to
the Legislature regarding the EAAP participants, as specified;
and further specifies that qualifying members shall not receive
both a CNG EAAP and any Cal Grant award in the same academic
year and specifies the amount of an award generally consistent
with the Cal Grant program, as specified.
Existing law tasks the Legislative Analyst's Office, on or
before January 1, 2016, to prepare and submit to the Legislature
a report on the CNG EAAP, including recommendations for
modifying or extending the CNG EAAP; and specifies that the CNG
EAAP, as of July 1, 2019, shall become inoperative, and on
January 1, 2020, is repealed.
This bill:
1. Permits a person who receives a CNG EAAP grant to use the
grant in summer sessions if the person submits a letter from
his/her unit commander that states that the summer session
will not adversely impact the person's attendance at
mandatory military training, as specified.
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2. State legislative intent to build upon the success of the
CNG EAAP by providing student-soldiers more flexibility in
achieving their academic goals.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/14)
AMVETS Department of California
California State Student Association
California State University
Community College League of California
Veterans Caucus of the California Democratic Party
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office
because summer term is not part of the EAAP eligibility formula,
student-soldiers don't have the flexibility to take courses on
their own schedule if they happen to have a free summer, extra
time in winter, or if they have some sort of hardship keeping
them from enrolling during the traditional spring and fall
semester/quarters. The CNG students will not be allocated any
more money than they are now, instead they will simply be able
to extend whatever EAAP money they currently receive for a
summer school term, if they chose to.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 4/24/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nestande, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gray, Harkey, Mansoor, Nazarian, Vacancy
PQ:d 7/2/14 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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