BILL NUMBER: SB 285	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator De León

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2013

   An act to add Section 69431.7 to the Education Code, relating to
student financial aid, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 285, as introduced, De León. Student financial aid: Cal Grant
Program.
   Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant
Program (Cal Grant Program), establishes the Cal Grant A and B
Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Cal
Grant Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards,
the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the
administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes
eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for
participating students attending qualifying institutions. Under the
Cal Grant B Entitlement Program, awards may be made for access costs,
defined as living expenses and expenses for transportation,
supplies, and books, in an amount not to exceed $1,551 annually, as
adjusted in the annual Budget Act.
   This bill would appropriate, without regard to fiscal years, an
amount certified by the Student Aid Commission as available for
expenditure from the College Access Tax Credit Fund to the commission
for distribution to students to supplement Cal Grant B access cost
awards to bring those students' total annual awards for access costs
to not more than $5,000.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) In addressing California's fiscal crisis, state budget
solutions over the last several fiscal years have included deep cuts
and payment deferrals that have resulted in the loss of billions of
dollars in funding for all segments of postsecondary education.
   (b) In the 2011-12 fiscal year, the state contributed $16.4
billion to postsecondary education. However, the share of
expenditures borne by California State University students in the
form of fees has nearly doubled, from 18 percent in 2007-08, to 30
percent in 2011-12. A public postsecondary education has become
unaffordable for the middle class. Most students are leaving school
thousands of dollars in debt, and they end up sending monthly
payments to out-of-state banks rather than contributing to the local
economy.
   (c) With less access to postsecondary education due to courses
being cut, each year students are taking longer and longer to
graduate. It now takes the average student seven years to graduate
from a California Community College campus, six and one-half years to
graduate from a California State University campus, and four and
one-half years to graduate from a University of California campus.
   (d) Educational attainment levels predict the overall economic
performance of states and nations. California was always among the
top states in degree-completion rates, but it now ranks among the
bottom 10 states.
   (e) By 2018, 63 percent of all jobs in the United States will
require some form of postsecondary education or training, according
to estimates by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the
Workforce. The United States is on track to deliver only a fraction
of this education. Currently, only 38 percent of America's young
adults have a college degree, compared to 58 percent in South Korea.
   (f) California's postsecondary education system has helped build
and sustain an entrepreneurial spirit that has shaped new sectors of
the state's economy. During tough times like these, we need novel
approaches to steer the state back on track.
   (g) Estimates show that the College Access Tax Credit Fund will be
fully subscribed for each of the three years of the program,
allowing the California Student Aid Commission to fund larger access
grants to California's neediest students.
   (h) All Californians deserve access to an affordable postsecondary
education.
  SEC. 2.  Section 69431.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   69431.7.  (a) As used in this section, "fund" means the College
Access Tax Credit Fund created by Section 17053.86 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code.
   (b) Any moneys that may be appropriated from the fund for purposes
of this section shall be in addition to, and are intended to
supplement, other moneys appropriated for the Cal Grant Program. Upon
the creation of the fund, and during its existence, the amount of
the Cal Grant B access award as established in the annual Budget Act
shall not be adjusted below the amount set forth in the Budget Act of
2012.
   (c) On April 1, 2015, and on April 1 annually thereafter, the
commission shall certify the amount of moneys available for
distribution from the fund for the academic year commencing the
following July 1. The amount available for distribution in any
academic year shall not exceed 85 percent of the certified fund
balance. Notwithstanding any other law, the commission shall
thereafter determine the amount of the supplemental awards to be
granted. The amount certified by the commission under this
subdivision is hereby appropriated to the commission, without regard
to fiscal years, for the purpose of making awards to students in
accordance with this section.
   (d) If, after making supplemental awards pursuant to subdivision
(e), moneys remain in the fund, those moneys shall remain in the fund
for allocation in future fiscal years.
   (e) Disbursements shall be made under this section to supplement
awards made for access costs under Article 3 (commencing with Section
69435), Article 4 (commencing with Section 69436), and Article 5
(commencing with Section 69437). The amount of the supplemental
award, when added to the amount of the award made for access costs
established by the annual Budget Act, shall not exceed five thousand
dollars ($5,000). An award under this section is payable only to the
extent that moneys are available from the fund. The commission shall
inform each recipient of an award under this section that the award
is for one academic year only, is not an entitlement, and that future
supplemental awards are subject to the availability of moneys in the
fund.