BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 290
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 6, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
SB 290 (Knight) - As Amended: May 28, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Nonresident tuition exemption: veterans.
SUMMARY : Allows a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States who was stationed in this state on active duty for more
than one year immediately prior to being discharged to utilize
the currently authorized one-year exemption from nonresident
tuition as an undergraduate at California State University (CSU)
or University of California (UC) within 2 years of being
discharged if he/she files an affidavit with the enrolling
institution stating that he/she intends to establish residency
in California as soon as possible.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the cost of the nonresident tuition exemption to the
UC and CSU depends upon the number of veterans that meet the
narrow requirements to qualify for the exemption.
Each affected veteran enrolling as an undergraduate in the CSU
would be eligible to pay $5,472 per year, instead of $5,472 +
$372 per unit (which would be an additional $11,160 per year for
two 15-unit course load semesters). Each affected veteran
enrolling as an undergraduate in the UC would be eligible to pay
$12,192 instead of $35,070, a difference of $22,878.
The number of veterans who will be eligible to benefit from this
bill is not known, but it likely to be very small (although, the
number may increase with this additional benefit). The CSU has
indicated it currently serves approximately 350 nonresident
veterans. If even 10% of them meet the other eligibility
criteria in this bill to qualify for in-state tuition under this
bill, and were full-time students, revenue loss to the CSU would
be nearly $400,000.
COMMENTS : Background . Existing California law allows a
discharged military student to pay resident tuition until the
student has stayed in California long enough to establish
residency (normally one year). This non-resident tuition
SB 290
Page 2
exemption applies to students who were stationed in California
for one year prior to discharge. For tuition purposes, there
may be only one residence; in order to become a California
resident the student must relinquish residency in the student's
former state of residence.
In order to provide veterans time after discharge to return to
their home state to settle affairs, in 2012 the Legislature
approved AB 2478 (Hayashi) to allow CCC students to utilize the
residency tuition benefit within two-years from date of
discharge. Under this allowance, students are required to file
an affidavit declaring their intention to establish residency as
soon as possible. This bill extends this provision to
undergraduate students at CSU and UC.
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, currently
veterans who have served at least 90 days on active duty are
eligible to receive a Government Issued Bill (or GI Bill) to
help pay for their college education. These federal dollars pay
up to 100% of in-state tuition costs, in addition to providing a
housing allowance and a book allowance to the veteran. However,
many veterans who were stationed at bases in California just
prior to discharge (and have been paying California State Taxes)
have not had the opportunity to establish residency. This bill
would allow a qualifying veteran student up to two years to
utilize the benefit of in-state tuition as an undergraduate at a
public four year institution in California.
UC Constitutional autonomy . The California Constitution (Section
9 of Article IX) establishes UC as a public trust and confers
the full powers of the UC upon the UC Regents. The Constitution
establishes that the UC is subject to legislative control only
to the degree necessary to ensure the security of its funds and
compliance with the terms of its endowments. Judicial decisions
have held that there are three additional areas in which there
may be limited legislative intrusion into university operations:
authority over the appropriation of state moneys; exercise of
the general police power to provide for the public health,
safety and welfare; and, legislation on matters of general
statewide concern not involving internal university affairs. UC
retains authority to establish residency and tuition policies
for veterans, including the authority to choose to adopt the
provisions of this legislation; however, UC policies have
traditionally mirrored state policies in this arena.
SB 290
Page 3
CSU relevant information . While CSU has not taken a position on
this bill, the committee did receive a letter from CSU regarding
this bill. Specifically, CSU notes that there are three
state-mandated tuition waiver programs in place; CSU indicates
that the tuition fee revenue forgone by the CSU for these
existing programs was more than $30.5 million in 2012-13. CSU
requests that "a specific appropriation be added to the program
proposed by this bill."
Related legislation . AB 13 (Ch�vez) provides the exemption
contained in this bill to members of the Armed Forces discharged
or released within the immediately prior year but does not
require that the individual have been stationed in California
immediately prior to being discharged. This bill was approved by
a vote of 13-0 on March 19, 2013 in this Committee and is
currently pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Committee staff recommends authors address chaptering out issues
prior to the two bills moving to the Governor.
Double-referral . This bill has been double-referred to Assembly
Veterans Affairs Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Legion-Department of California
AMVETS-Department of California
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Community College League of California
Veterans Caucus, California Democratic Party
VFW-Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Council
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960