SB 1028 Senate Bill - INTRODUCED

BILL NUMBER: SB 1028	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Jackson

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2014

   An act to amend Section 69439 of the Education Code, relating to
student financial aid.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1028, as introduced, Jackson. Student financial aid: Cal Grant
C awards.
    Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant
Act, establishes the Cal Grant C Program under the administration of
the Student Aid Commission and establishes eligibility requirements
for awards under this program. The act requires that a Cal Grant C
award be used only for occupational or technical training, as
defined, in a course of not less than 4 months. The act requires the
commission, after consultation with state and federal agencies, to
determine the areas of occupational or technical training for which
Cal Grant C awards shall be awarded. Existing law also requires the
Student Aid Commission to develop, and regularly review and update at
least every 5 years, the areas of occupational or technical training
for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards and to give
priority in granting the awards to students pursuing occupational or
technical training in areas that meet specified criteria. The act
requires the maximum award amount and total amount of funding for the
Cal Grant C Program to be determined each year in the annual Budget
Act. The act requires the number of the awards made each year to be
the same as the number of awards made for the 2000-01 fiscal year.
The act requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to report every
odd-numbered year to the Legislature on the outcomes of the Cal Grant
C program, as specified.
   This bill would revise and recast the act to, among other things,
require the number of awards made each year to be at least the same
number of awards made for the 2000-01 fiscal year and would require
the amount awarded to be not less than $3,009, and not more than
$5,000, per award. The bill would reserve 2,500 awards for the
California's long-term unemployed. The bill would additionally
authorize the award be expended for the student's living expenses.
The bill would require the commission, in consultation with specified
entities, for purposes of the Cal Grant C program, to prioritize
occupational training programs and industry clusters. The bill would
require the commission to consult with specified public entities to
develop a plan to publicize the grant award program to the California'
s long-term unemployed and a plan to make students receiving awards
aware of job search and placement services available through
specified public entities. The bill would require the commission,
instead of the Legislative Analyst's Office, to submit to the
Legislature the above-described reports and would require the reports
to provide information separately on the awards reserved for the
long-term unemployed.
   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.  Section 69439 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   69439.  (a)  For the purposes of this section, the following
terms have the following meanings:  
   (1) "Career pathway" means an identified series of positions, work
experiences, or educational benchmarks or credentials with multiple
access points that offer occupational and financial advancement
within a specific career field or related fields over time. 

   (2) "Economic security" means, with respect to a worker, earning a
wage sufficient to support a family adequately, and, over time, to
save for emergency expenses and adequate retirement income, based on
factors, such as household size, the cost of living in the worker's
community, and other factors that may vary by region.  
   (3) "Industry cluster" means any of the following:  
   (A) A geographic concentration or emerging concentration of
interdependent industries with direct service, supplier, and research
relationships.  
   (B) Independent industries that share common resources in a given
regional economy or labor market.  
   (C) A group of employers closely linked by common products or
services, workforce needs, similar technologies, and supply chains in
a given regional economic or labor market.  
   (4) "Long-term unemployed" means, with respect to an award
applicant, a person who has been unemployed for more than 26 weeks at
the time of submission to the commission of his or her application.
 
   (5) "Occupational or technical training" means that phase of
education coming after the completion of a secondary school program
and leading toward recognized occupational goals approved by the
commission. 
    (b)     (1)    A Cal Grant C
award shall be utilized only for occupational or technical training
in a course of not less than four months.  There 
 Except as provided in paragraph (4), there  shall be  ,
at least,  the same number of Cal Grant C awards each year as
were made in the 2000-01 fiscal year.  The  
   (2) A minimum of 2,500 Cal Grant C awards shall be reserved for
California's long-term unemployed. 
    (3)     The  maximum award amount and
the total amount of funding shall be determined each year in the
annual Budget Act.   Act, but the annual award
amount of Cal Grant C awards shall be no less than three thousand
nine dollars ($3,009) and no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000)
per award.  
   (4) If the total amount of funding provided in the annual Budget
Act for a fiscal year is insufficient to provide the same number of
Cal Grant C awards made in the 2000-01 fiscal year at the minimum
award level of three thousand nine dollars ($3,009) for each award,
the commission shall ensure the amount awarded for each award is not
less than three thousand nine dollars ($3,009).  
   (b) "Occupational or technical training" means that phase of
education coming after the completion of a secondary school program
and leading toward recognized occupational goals approved by the
commission. 
   (c) The commission may use criteria it deems appropriate in
selecting students  with occupational talents  to
receive grants for occupational or technical training  and may
use different criteria for awards reserved for the long-term
unemployed  .
   (d) The Cal Grant C award recipients shall be eligible for renewal
of their grants until they have completed their occupational or
technical training in conformance with terms prescribed by the
commission. A determination by the commission for a subsequent award
year that the program under which a Cal Grant C was initially awarded
is no longer deemed to receive priority shall not affect an award
recipient's renewal. In no case shall the grants exceed two calendar
years.
   (e) Cal Grant C awards  shall be   may be
used  for institutional fees, charges, and other costs,
including tuition, plus training-related costs, such as special
clothing, local transportation, required tools, equipment, supplies,
 and books.   books, and living expenses. 
In determining the  amount of grants and training-related
costs,   individual award amounts,  the commission
shall take into account other state and federal programs available to
the applicant.
   (f) (1) To ensure alignment with the state's dynamic economic
needs, the commission, in consultation with appropriate state and
federal agencies,  including the Economic and Workforce
Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges and the California Workforce Investment
Board,  shall  develop   identify 
areas of occupational and technical training for which students may
utilize Cal Grant C awards. The commission,  if necessary,
may   to the extent feasible, shall  also consult
with  nongovernmental stakeholders that develop or provide
workforce training or employ graduates of occupational and technical
training programs for this purpose.   representatives of
the state's leading competitive and emerging industry clusters,
workforce professionals, and career technical educators, to determine
which occupational training programs and industry clusters should be
prioritized. 
   (2)  The   (A)     Except
as provided in subparagraph (B), the  areas of occupational and
technical training developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
regularly reviewed and updated at least every five years, beginning
in 2012. 
   (B) By January 1, 2016, the commission shall update the priority
areas of occupational and technical training. 
   (3) The commission shall give priority in granting Cal Grant C
awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in
areas that meet  at least two of  the following
criteria: 
   (A) High employment need.  
   (A) High employer need or demand and likelihood of the student
being placed in a job for which the student is being trained. 
   (B) High employment salary or wage  projections. 
 projections for workers employed in the occupations for which
they are being trained.  
   (C) High employment growth.  
   (C) The likelihood of job placement in a position with a well
articulated career pathway to a job providing economic security.
 
   (D) High employment growth in the occupational field or industry
cluster for which the student is being trained. 
   (g) The commission shall determine areas of occupational or
technical training that meet the criteria described in paragraph (3)
of subdivision (f) in consultation with the Employment Development
 Department   Department, the Economic and
Workforce Development Division of   the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and the California
Workforce Investment Board  using projections available through
the Labor Market Information Data Library.  The commission may
supplement the analyses of the Employment Development Department's
Labor Market Information Data Library with the labor market analyses
developed by the Economic and Workforce Development Division of the
Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the
California Workforce Investment Board, as well as the projections of
occupational shortages and skills gap developed by industry leaders.
 The commission shall publish, and retain, on its Internet Web
site a current list of the areas of occupational or technical
training that meet the criteria described in paragraph (3) of
subdivision (f), and update this list as necessary.
   (h) The commission shall examine the graduation rates and job
placement data of eligible programs. Commencing with the 2014-15
academic year, the commission shall give priority to Cal Grant C
applicants seeking to enroll in programs that rate high in graduation
rates and job placement data. 
   (i) (1) The commission shall consult with the Workforce Services
Branch of the Employment Development Department, the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the California
Workforce Investment Board, and the local workforce investment boards
to develop a plan to publicize the existence of the grant award
program to the California's long-term unemployed.  
   (2) The commission shall consult with the Workforce Services
Branch of the Employment Development Department, the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the California
Workforce Investment Board, and the local workforce investment boards
to develop a plan to make students receiving awards aware of job
search and placement services available through the Employment
Development Department and the local workforce investment boards.
 
   (i) 
    (j)  (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the
Government Code, the  Legislative Analyst's Office 
 commission  shall submit a report to the Legislature on the
outcomes of the Cal Grant C Program on or before April 1, 2015, and
on or before April 1 of each odd-numbered year thereafter. This
report shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, information
on all of the  following:   following, with
information on awards that are reserved for the long-term unemployed
provided separately: 
   (A) The age, gender, and segment of attendance for recipients in
two prior award years.
   (B) The occupational and technical training program categories
prioritized.
   (C) The number and percentage of students who received selection
priority as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f).
   (D) The extent to which recipients in these award years were
successfully placed in jobs that meet local, regional, or state
workforce needs.
   (2) For the report due on or before April 1, 2015, the 
Legislative Analyst's Office   commission  shall
include data for two additional prior award years and shall compare
the mix of occupational and technical training programs and
institutions in which Cal Grant C recipients enrolled before and
after implementation of subdivision (f).
   (3) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.