BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 384
AUTHOR: Gaines and DeSaulnier
AMENDED: May 7, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 5, 2013
URGENCY: Yes CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : California Memorial Scholarship Program.
SUMMARY
This bill, an urgency measure, extends the deadlines by
which eligible victims of 9/11 must be notified of their
eligibility for, and must inform and execute agreements to
participate in the California Memorial Scholarship Program
administered by the Scholarshare Investment Board.
BACKGROUND
Current law establishes the California Memorial Scholarship
Program, administered by the Scholarshare Investment Board
and funded by Vehicle Code provisions, to provide
scholarships for surviving dependents of California
residents killed as a result of the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks. (Education Code § 70010)
Current law also requires the California Victims
Compensation and Government Claims Board to identify all
persons who are eligible for scholarships under the
California Memorial Scholarship Program by July 1, 2003.
Current law also requires that eligible persons, or the
parent or guardian of an eligible person, inform the
Scholarshare Investment Board of their decision to
participate in the program and execute agreements to do so
no later than July 1, 2005.
(EC § 70010.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill , an urgency measure extends the deadlines for
notification of eligibility and participation in the
California Memorial Scholarship Program. More specifically
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it:
1) Extends the deadline by which the California
Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board must
identify all persons who are eligible for scholarships
from July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2014.
2) Extends the deadline by which eligible persons, or
the parent or guardian of an eligible person, must
inform the Scholarshare Investment Board whether they
choose to participate in the program and execute
agreements to do so from July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2015.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . The California Memorial
Scholarship Program was established for the surviving
dependents of 9/11 victims. According to the author,
the notification of eligibility was not done in a
timely or complete manner and thus many eligible
participants did not meet the deadline for stating
their interest. This bill intends to remedy that
problem by extending the time frames in which the
Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board must
provide notice and the time in which the interested
persons must execute an agreement, utilizing revenues
still being received from the specialty memorial
license plates.
2) California Memorial Scholarship Program . The
California Memorial Scholarship (CMS) Program,
established by AB 1759 (Wesson, Chapter 38, Statutes
of 2002) was established to provide scholarships of up
to $5,000 for dependents of California victims who
died during the terrorist attacks on September 11,
2001. The program is funded through the sale of
memorial license plates authorized by the California
State Legislature.
Dependents, or the parents or guardians of minor
dependents, were to be notified of their eligibility
for the CMS by the California Victim Compensation and
Government Claims Board. Eligible dependents
interested in receiving scholarship funds must have
contacted the ScholarShare Investment Board (SIB) and
executed a participation agreement prior to the June
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30, 2005, deadline set by the Legislature.
Under the administration of the Scholarship Investment
Board, scholarship funds were deposited on behalf of
beneficiaries to accounts within the Golden State
ScholarShare College Savings Trust (ScholarShare
Trust). The scholarships can be used at eligible
vocational, technical and trade schools, in addition
to four-year colleges, universities, and two-year
colleges, to pay for qualified higher education
expenses until the beneficiary's 30th birthday or the
year 2015, whichever occurs later. The funds also may
be used for graduate studies.
The scholarship and earnings are the property of the
State of California until requested by the beneficiary
to pay for qualified higher educational expenses. Any
unused funds must be returned to the State on the
beneficiary's 30th birthday or year 2015, whichever
occurs later. These funds are specifically designated
to revert to the Antiterrorism Fund, created under
existing Vehicle Code provisions.
3) Auditor report . According to an April 2013 report on
Special Interest License Plate Funds by the Bureau of
State Audits, the Victim Compensation Board did not
identify and notify all individuals eligible for the
Memorial Scholarship by July 1, 2003, as required
under state law. According to the report, while the
Board believes that its outreach was adequate to
identify all individuals who might be eligible for the
scholarship program, most of the outreach that the
Board performed predated the establishment of the
scholarship program and did not mention the program by
name. The report notes that three of the 16
participants learned of the program through means
other than Victim Compensation's outreach. In
addition, the Board did not notify all eligible
individuals of the scholarship program before the
deadline, thus allowing those individuals fewer than
three months to apply for the scholarship instead of
the two years state law intended. The Auditor found
that only 13 of the 43 individuals that the Board
identified as eligible for the scholarship program and
three other individuals who were not screened for
eligibility ultimately participated.
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SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.