BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1936 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 1936 (Chávez) - As Introduced February 12, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Higher Education |Vote:|13 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | |Veterans Affairs | |9 - 0 | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill provides that if a member of the U.S. Armed Forces stationed in California, whose dependent or spouse has been admitted to a public postsecondary institution, and the service member is thereafter transferred on military orders out of state, the student dependent shall not lose resident classification, and thus pay in-state tuition, as long as he or she is continuously enrolled. AB 1936 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT: Likely minor fiscal impact. To the extent that, absent this bill, some students would otherwise have to pay higher, nonresident tuition, this bill could result in a revenue loss to the University of California (UC) or the California State University. However, given the rather unique circumstance to which this bill applies, the amount of any revenue loss would be very minor. COMMENTS: 1)Background. Under current law, to qualify for an exemption from nonresident tuition as a dependent child of a member of the military, the service member must be stationed in California on active duty as of the Residence Determination Date. Last year, the dependent of a service member was granted a nonresident tuition exemption by UC in April, based on the service member being stationed in California at that time and having orders to deploy out of state in January 2016. The deployment occurred earlier, however, and because the service member was not stationed in California on the Residence Determination Date of September 24, 2105, the dependent was determined ineligible for in-state tuition. UC subsequently determined that an exception was appropriate in this case and reversed its decision. 2)Purpose. According to the author, this bill specifies the point at which in-state tuition is granted to a nonresident dependent to be at the time of admission or attendance rather than just attendance. According to the author, applying a dependent's in-state residence classification at the time of admittance rather than just attendance will eliminate the AB 1936 Page 3 issues that often arise when a member of the Armed Forces is deployed before their dependent attends an institution. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081