BILL NUMBER: AB 1449 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lopez
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act relating to pupil nutrition. An act
to amend Section 69436 of the Education Code, relating to student
financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1449, as amended, Lopez. Pupil nutrition: prepackaged
meals for pupils eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
Student financial aid: California Community College Transfer Cal
Grant Entitlement Program.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant
Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement awards, the
California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement awards,
the Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards, the Cal Grant C awards, and
the Cal Grant T awards under the administration of the Student Aid
Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under
these programs for participating students attending qualifying
institutions.
Under the California Community College Transfer Cal Grant
Entitlement Program, a student who transfers from a California
community college to a qualifying institution that offers a
baccalaureate degree receives a Cal Grant A or B award if the student
meets specified requirements, among which are that the student not
be 28 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year and that
the student graduate from a California high school or its equivalent
during or after the 2000-01 academic year.
This bill would instead require that the student receiving a
California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement award not
be 30 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year. The
bill would eliminate the requirement that the student graduate from a
California high school or its equivalent during or after the 2000-01
academic year.
Existing law requires each school district or county
superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1
to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally
adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day, as
specified, and authorizes a school district or county office of
education to use funds available through any federal or state program
for those purposes, as specified.
This bill would express the Legislature's intent to enact
legislation that would enable schools that are not eligible for
federal Title I funds to provide prepackaged meals to pupils
attending the school who are eligible for free or reduced-price
meals.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 69436 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
69436. (a) A student who was not awarded a Cal Grant A or B award
pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 69434) or Article 3
(commencing with Section 69435) at the time of his or her high school
graduation but, at the time of transfer from a California community
college to a qualifying baccalaureate program, meets all of the
criteria set forth in subdivision (b), shall be entitled to a Cal
Grant A or B award.
(b) Any California resident transferring from a California
community college to a qualifying institution that offers a
baccalaureate degree is entitled to receive, and the commission, or a
qualifying institution pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with
Section 69450), shall award, a Cal Grant A or B award depending on
the eligibility determined pursuant to subdivision (c), if all of the
following criteria are met:
(1) A complete official financial aid application has been
submitted or postmarked pursuant to Section 69432.9, no later than
the March 2 of the year immediately preceding the award year.
(2) The student demonstrates financial need pursuant to Section
69433.
(3) The student has earned a community college grade point average
of at least 2.4 on a 4.0 scale and is eligible to transfer to a
qualifying institution that offers a baccalaureate degree.
(4) The student's household has an income and asset level not
exceeding the limits set forth in Section 69432.7.
(5) The student is pursuing a baccalaureate degree that is offered
by a qualifying institution.
(6) He or she is enrolled at least part time.
(7) The student meets the general Cal Grant eligibility
requirements set forth in Article 1 (commencing with Section 69430).
(8) The student will not be 28 30
years of age or older by December 31 of the award year.
(9) The student graduated from a California high school or its
equivalent during or after the 2000-01 academic year.
(10)
(9) (A) Except as provided for in subparagraph (B), the
student attended a California community college in the academic year
immediately preceding the academic year for which the award will be
used.
(B) A student otherwise eligible to receive an award pursuant to
this section, who attended a California community college in the
2011-12 academic year, may use the award for the 2012-13 and 2013-14
academic years.
(c) The amount and type of the award pursuant to this article
shall be determined as follows:
(1) For applicants with income and assets at or under the Cal
Grant A limits, the award amount shall be the amount established
pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 69434).
(2) For applicants with income and assets at or under the Cal
Grant B limits, the award amount shall be the amount established
pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 69435).
(d) (1) A student meeting the requirements of paragraph (9) of
subdivision (b) by means of high school graduation, rather than its
equivalent, shall be required to have graduated from a California
high school, unless that California resident graduated from a high
school outside of California due solely to orders received from a
branch of the United States Armed Forces by that student or by that
student's parent or guardian that required that student to be outside
of California at the time of high school graduation.
(2)
(d) (1) For the purposes of this
article, both of the following are exempt from the requirements of
subdivision (e) of Section 69433.9 and paragraph (9) of
subdivision (b) of this section: 69433.9:
(A) A student for whom a claim under this article was paid prior
to December 1, 2005.
(B) A student for whom a claim under this article for the 2004-05
award year or the 2005-06 award year was or is paid on or after
December 1, 2005, but no later than October 15, 2006.
(3)
(2) (A) The commission, or a qualifying institution
pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 69450), shall make
preliminary awards to all applicants currently eligible for an award
under this article. At the time an applicant receives a preliminary
award, the commission, or a qualifying institution pursuant to
Article 8 (commencing with Section 69450), shall require that
applicant to affirm, in writing, under penalty of perjury, that he or
she meets the requirements set forth in subdivision (e) of Section
69433.9, paragraph (9) of subdivision (b) of this section,
69433.9 and paragraph (1) of this subdivision.
The commission, or a qualifying institution pursuant to Article 8
(commencing with Section 69450), shall notify each person who
receives a preliminary award under this paragraph that his or her
award is subject to an audit pursuant to subparagraph (B).
(B) The commission shall select, at random, a minimum of 10
percent of the new and renewal awards made under subparagraph (A),
and shall require, prior to the disbursement of Cal Grant funds to
the affected postsecondary institution, that the institution verify
that the recipient meets the requirements of subdivision (e) of
Section 69433.9, paragraph (9) of subdivision (b) of this
section, 69433.9 and paragraph (1) of this
subdivision. An award that is audited under this paragraph and found
to be valid shall not be subject to a subsequent audit.
(C) Pursuant to Section 69517.5, the commission shall seek
repayment of any and all funds found to be improperly disbursed under
this article.
(D) On or before November 1 of each year, the commission shall
submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor including, but
not necessarily limited to, both of the following:
(i) The number of awards made under this article in the preceding
12 months.
(ii) The number of new and renewal awards selected, in the
preceding 12 months, for verification under subparagraph (B), and the
results of that verification with respect to students at the
University of California, at the California State University, at
independent nonprofit institutions, and at independent for-profit
institutions.
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and
declares all of the following:
(1) A needy child who transfers from a school supported with funds
authorized under Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of
2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) to a better performing school that
is not supported by Title I funds may lose access to free or
reduced-price school breakfast.
(2) Often these children are caught between a rock and a hard
place and end up trying to learn on an empty stomach. Although these
children may continue to be eligible to receive a free or
reduced-price breakfast at the school from which the child
transferred, the reality is an overwhelming number of these children
do not have the luxury of squeezing in the extra travel time each
morning.
(3) Extra kitchen staff or extra staff time is expensive. However,
having prepackaged foods that do not require onsite preparation
reduces demands upon school staff.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
would enable schools that are not eligible for funds authorized under
Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to provide
prepackaged meals to pupils who are eligible for free or
reduced-price meals.