BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1000|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1000
Author: Weber (D), et al.
Amended: 8/24/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/15/15
AYES: Liu, Runner, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning,
Pan, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: California State University: student success fees
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill deletes existing provisions and establishes
new requirements regarding the implementation, rescission and
reporting, of student success fees at the California State
University (CSU).
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/24/15 add a coauthor.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines "student success fee" as a type of category II
campus-based mandatory fee that must be paid by a student to
enroll or attend a campus of the CSU, as determined by that
campus or the Chancellor of the CSU.
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2)Prohibits a CSU campus, or the Chancellor of the CSU, or both,
from approving a student success fee, before January 1, 2016,
and requires the Chancellor to review the CSU Student Fee
Policy relating to student success fees and to recommend any
changes to the trustees during the 2014-15 fiscal year.
Existing law requires a report to the Department of Finance
(DOF) and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the
Legislature, on or before February 1, 2015, regarding the
Chancellor's proposed revisions to these policies.
3)Requires the Chancellor's review and recommendations to
consider:
a) The approval process and the benefit of utilizing a
student election or the consultative process in the
approval process.
b) The need for statewide policies governing a student
election, the consultative process, or both, for approving
a proposed student success fee.
c) The means to improve transparency and accountability
regarding a campus' use of student success fee funds.
d) The development of an annual report describing the use
of student success fee funds by each campus.
e) The approval of a statewide policy to prohibit a campus
from implementing a student success fee for a period
exceeding five years unless a continuance of that fee is
approved by an affirmative vote of the majority of the
student body voting, or through the consultative process.
f) The impact of student success fees on campuses' academic
programs and services available for students.
g) The provision for financial assistance to offset the
cost of the fee for low-income students. (Education Code §
89712)
This bill deletes existing provisions and establishes the
following new requirements regarding student success fees:
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1)Prohibits a campus of the CSU, or the Chancellor of the CSU or
both from approving, or increasing an existing, student
success fee before doing all of the following:
a) Undertaking a rigorous consultation process that informs
and educates students on the uses, impact and cost of the
proposed fee or fee increase.
b) Informing students that a student fee may be rescinded
by a majority vote of the students, but may not be
rescinded earlier than six years following the vote to
implement the fee, except that any portion of a fee
committed to a long-term obligation may not be rescinded
until the obligation has been satisfied.
c) Holding a binding student election in which a majority
of the student body votes to implement or increase a
student success fee, contingent upon final approval by the
Chancellor of the CSU.
d) Limiting the bringing of such a proposal to the student
body to once per academic year.
1)Authorizes student success fees to be rescinded with a binding
student vote of a simple majority of the students voting. It
requires that:
a)A student success fee in place on January 1, 2016 be rescinded
by a binding student vote only after six years have elapsed
following the implementation of the fee.
b)For rescission of all other student success fees it:
i) Provides that the fee may be rescinded by a simple
majority of the voting students.
ii) Requires that a student vote be formally approved by
the recognized student government, that rescission vote
proposals be brought to students only once per academic
year, and that prior to reconsidering a fee and before a
vote that students be informed of specified information
regarding the use of the fee for long-term obligations.
2)Requires the Chancellor of the CSU to:
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a) Ensure that any campus fee allocation oversight group
have majority student representation, that each campus
prepare an annual report, that there is uniform,
transparent, online accountability in the decision making
process for, detailed accounting of, the allocation of
student success fees.
b) Establish appropriate reporting procedures to ensure
compliance with requirements.
c) Report by December 1 or each year, a summary of the fees
adopted or rescinded in the prior academic year and the
uses of proposed and implemented fees.
1)Defines a "student success fee" as a category II campus based
mandatory fee that must be paid by a student to enroll or
attend a CSU campus, as specified.
Comments
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, this bill is the
next step in the process of addressing student success fees at
the CSU. Its provisions are generally based upon a recently
adopted resolution by the CSU Trustees regarding student
success fees. The author states that by putting into statute
many of these recommendations, the Legislature can ensure that
students will continue to have a voice in fees that directly
affect them.
2)History. In an attempt to make-up for budget cuts experienced
during the recession, a number of CSU campuses adopted student
success fees, which, in some cases, substantially increased
the cost of attendance at a CSU. Since 2011, 12 of the 23 CSU
campuses had adopted such fees. The process for determining
these fees differed at each campus. According to the author,
at some campuses this fee results in an additional cost of
$2000 annually.
As part of the 2014-15 Budget Act, SB 860 (Committee on Budget
and Fiscal Review, Chapter 34, Statutes of 2014) was enacted
to prohibit a CSU campus, or the Chancellor, from approving a
student success fee before January 1, 2016, and to require the
Chancellor to conduct a review of, and recommend changes to,
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the CSU student fee policy during the 2014-15 fiscal year.
The Chancellor was required to report to the DOF and the
appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature,
on February 1, 2015, regarding proposed revisions to the CSU
student fee policy related to student success fees.
3)Related report. In compliance with the requirements of SB
860, the CSU issued its report January 30, 2015 summarizing
the process and findings of the Student Success Fee Working
Group (Working Group) and the recommendations of the Trustees.
In addition, at its January 27-28 meeting the Trustees adopted
a resolution memorializing the final recommendations of the
Working Group which required all the following:
a) A binding student vote, prior to the implementation of
any proposed new student success fee, and a rigorous
consultation process prior to the vote, to educate students
on uses, impact, and cost and to inform students that a fee
that supports ongoing and or long-term obligations will
remain in place until the obligation is satisfied
regardless of a subsequent vote to rescind the fee.
b) All student success fees currently in place remain
unchanged, however a new addition to an existing fee must
be approved by a binding student vote, the campus must
receive approval on the process for approval from the CSU
Chancellor's Office, and a fee proposal may only be brought
to the student body once per academic year.
c) Student success fees accepted by a majority of students
voting may not be implemented without the approval of the
CSU Chancellor and the campus president, and if for a
proposed use historically covered by tuition and state
funding, the Chancellor is required to consult with the
Board of Trustees before granting final approval.
d) Student success fees may be rescinded at any time after
six years with another binding majority student vote,
except that student success fees supporting ongoing and
long-term obligations may not be rescinded until the
obligation is satisfied. Current student success fees may
not be rescinded until after January 1, 2021.
e) Student success fee implementation and fee rescinding
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proposals may only be brought before the student body once
per academic year.
f) Each campus is required to have transparent, online
accountability protocols that clarify the decision process
and allocation of the student success fees, with annual
reporting to the Chancellor by October 15th, and any campus
advisory group on student success fees is required to
include a majority student representation.
This bill is generally consistent with the provisions of the
resolution adopted by the Trustees.
1)Existing student success fees. Existing law prohibits the
adoption of any new student success fees until January 1,
2016. As part of the report required by SB 860, the CSU was
required to examine the uses and processes related to existing
fees, and was specifically tasked with reviewing financial aid
considerations for low-income students. The Trustees formed a
working group to study the role, process, and enactment of
these fees, as well as make recommendations regarding their
future use.
According to the CSU, the Working Group determined that these
fees had been used for new technology, campus-wide Wi-Fi,
library hours, veteran services, career services, athletics,
and additional benefits for students. While one campus
rejected the use of these fees for purposes historically
covered by tuition and state funding, other campuses used fees
for purposes of funding educational needs traditionally
supported by these sources, including to hire additional
faculty, advisors, counselors, tutors, and to provide more
courses. The Working Group recommended no policy changes
relative to financial aid to offset costs for low-income
students as they found that there is sufficient coverage
through a variety of private, institutional, state, and
federal financial aid programs.
In addition, of the 12 campuses with success fees, two had
referendums, although one of these allowed students to vote
only if they attended alternative consultation meetings about
the fee proposal. A third campus imposed a fee without a
campus-wide referendum and despite a vote by the Student Fee
Advisory Committee rejecting the proposed fee.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15)
California Federation of Teachers
California State Student Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/15)
California State University
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/2/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez
Prepared by:Kathleen Chavira / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/25/15 15:46:10
**** END ****
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