BILL NUMBER: SB 285 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator De León
( Coauthors: Senators
Correa, Hancock, Lara, and Monning
)
FEBRUARY 14, 2013
An act to add Section 69431.7 to the Education Code, relating to
student financial aid, and making an appropriation therefor.
aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 285, as amended, De León. Student financial aid: Cal Grant
Program.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant
Program (Cal Grant Program), Program,
establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards,
awards, the California Community College
Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Awards,
awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards,
awards, the Cal Grant C Awards,
awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards
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, require the Treasurer to certify the amount of
moneys available in an academic year from the College Access Tax
Credit Fund for distribution, and provide that an amount
certified determined by the Student Aid
Commission as would be
available for expenditure expenditure, upon
appropriation to the commission by the Legislature in the
annual Budget Act, from the College Access Tax Credit
Fund to the commission Fund, 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.
The bill would become operative only if SB 284 is enacted and
becomes operative on or before January 1, 2014.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes no
. 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 Treasurer 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 , and include that amount in
the budget change proposals submitted each fiscal year pursuant to
Section 69518 . The amount certified
determined by the commission under this subdivision is
hereby appropriated to the commission, without regard to fiscal
years shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature to the commission in the annual Budget Act , 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.
SEC. 3. This act shall become operative only if
Senate Bill 284 is enacted and becomes operative on or before January
1, 2014.