BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 421


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          Date of Hearing:  May 13, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          421 (Calderon) - As Amended April 13, 2015


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          |Policy       |Higher Education               |Vote:|12 - 0       |
          |Committee:   |                               |     |             |
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          |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
          |             |Veterans Affairs               |     |8 - 0        |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  YesReimbursable:   
          Yes


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires every community college district governing  
          board to provide each of its colleges having 200 or more  
          enrolled student veterans with a veterans' counselor.








                                                                     AB 421


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          The bill also requires the California Community College (CCC)  
          Board of Governors (BOG) to adopt regulations establishing  
          minimum qualifications for a veterans' counselor, and in doing  
          so to consider specified requirements.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Ongoing reimbursable state-mandated costs (GF-Prop 98) of around  
          $6 million annually to fund a counselor at the 60 to 70 campuses  
          with more than 200 enrolled student veterans. Costs would  
          increase to the extent veteran enrollment increases beyond this  
          threshold at additional campuses.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose. According to the CCC Chancellor's Office, in 2013-14,  
            veterans and active duty military personnel comprised over  
            60,000 of the over 2.1 million students attending CCCs.  
            According to the author, "While the State of California and  
            the CCC have made strides recently in the area of  
            reintegrating veterans to civilian life and addressing their  
            educational needs, the State of California can do more to  
            ensure student veterans are adequately prepared to meet their  
            educational goals.  Currently 54 CCC campuses have Veterans  
            Resource Centers [VRC] which provide an environment for  
            student veterans to relax and unwind with other students that  
            have shared their experiences.  Still, nearly half of CCC  
            campuses do not have a VRC; with student-to-counselor ratios  
            hovering around 719:1, it is easy for student veterans to get  
            lost in the fray of overcrowded campuses and the difficulty of  
            navigating the transfer process."










                                                                     AB 421


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            The author contends that, "By requiring each CCC campus to  
            employ at least one academic counselor specified for student  
            veterans, AB 421 will ensure a minimum level of services for  
            student veterans at each community college campus [with  
            enrollment of at least 200 veterans]."


          2)Related Legislation. AB 393 (Roger Hernández), also on today's  
            committee agenda, requires the Chancellor of the CCC to  
            develop and administer a grant program to provide funding to  
            support existing or planned veterans resource centers.


          Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081