BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 13
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 25, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
13 (Chávez) - As Amended March 4, 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Higher Education |Vote:|13 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| |Veterans Affairs | |9 - 0 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill exempts from California Community College (CCC)
non-resident student fees those veterans covered under the
federal Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014
AB 13
Page 2
("Choice Act"), and authorizes community colleges to claim state
apportionment funding for these students.
FISCAL EFFECT:
It is estimated that several hundred nonresident veterans attend
the community colleges. For every 100 full-time equivalent
students in this cohort, the districts would be able to claim
about $470,000 in state apportionment funding (GF-Prop 98).
COMMENTS:
1)Background. The VA administers the GI Bill to provide
education and training benefits to eligible veterans and their
eligible dependents. The GI Bill provides for in-state tuition
and fees at public institutions. The federal Choice Act
(2014), in part requires public institutions to provide
in-state tuition regardless of the residency status of
specified veterans and their eligible dependents in order for
the institution to remain eligible to receive GI Bill
education payments.
AB 13
Page 3
In response to the enactment of the Choice Act, AB 13
(Conway)/Chapter 639 of 2014, required the state's segments of
higher education to update and adopt policies no later than
July 1, 2015, regarding tuition rates for eligible veterans
and their eligible dependents to ensure conformity to, and
compliance with, the Choice Act. The Choice Act in essence
requires that public institutions either comply with the
nonresident tuition/fee waiver or discontinue participation in
the GI Bill educational benefits programs. Since last year's
AB 13 did not explicitly require policies to ensure continued
participation in GI Bill educational benefit programs, a
segment could arguably conform to AB 13 through discontinuing
participation in the federal program. Though such an outcome
is extremely unlikely, AB 27 (Chavez), an urgency measure also
on today's committee agenda, provides clarification that the
segments' policies are to ensure continued participation of
both resident and non-resident veterans who are eligible for
GI Bill benefits.
2)Purpose. This bill makes a conforming amendment, adding those
covered under the Choice Act to an existing statute providing
for in-state CCC student fees to other specified categories of
students. Since these Choice Act students would no longer pay
the higher non-resident fees that cover their cost of
education, AB 13 also authorizes community college districts
to claim these students for state apportionment funding.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 13
Page 4