Amended in Senate May 21, 2013

Amended in Senate April 24, 2013

Senate Bill No. 285

Introduced by Senator De León

(Coauthors: Senators Correa, Hancock, begin insert Hueso, end insert Lara, and Monning)

February 14, 2013

An act to add Section 69431.7 to the Education Code, relating to student financial 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, 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 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 determined by the Student Aid Commission would be available for expenditure, upon appropriation to the commission by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, from the College Access Tax Credit 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 begin insert and to defray the administrative costs incurred by the commission in implementing the bill end insert .

The bill would become operative only if SB 284 is enacted and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2014.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: 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
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
determined by the commission under this subdivision 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 begin delete to end delete begin insert for both
of the following purposes: end insert

begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert To end insert 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.

begin insert

(2) To defray the administrative costs incurred by the
commission in implementing this section.

end insert

SEC. 3.  

This act shall become operative only if Senate Bill
284 is enacted and becomes operative on or before January 1,
2014.