BILL NUMBER: AB 2009 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lopez
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to add and repeal Section 68130.6 to,
and to add Chapter 3.67 (commencing with Section 44778) to Part 25 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of, 66021.8 of the
Education Code, relating to student support services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2009, as amended, Lopez. Student support services: Dream
Resource Liaisons.
(1) Existing law establishes the segments of the public
postsecondary education system in the state, including the University
of California administered by the Regents of the University of
California, the California State University administered by the
Trustees of the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges administered by the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges.
Existing law provides that a student, other than a nonimmigrant
alien, as defined, who has attended high school in California for 3
or more years, who has graduated from a California high school or
attained the equivalent thereof, who has registered at or attends an
accredited institution of higher education in California not earlier
than the fall semester or quarter of the 2001-02 academic year, and
who, if he or she is an alien without lawful immigration status, has
filed an affidavit, as specified, is exempt from paying nonresident
tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State
University.
This bill would, commencing with the 2017-18 academic year,
require the California Community Colleges and the California State
University, and would request the University of California to
designate a Dream Resource Liaison on each of their respective
campuses, as specified, to assist students meeting specified
requirements, including undocumented students, by streamlining access
to all available financial aid and academic opportunities for those
students. By requiring community colleges to designate a Dream
Resource Liaison, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program. The bill would encourage those institutions to establish
Dream Resource Centers, and would authorize those centers to provide
specified support services.
This bill would authorize the trustees, the board of governors,
and the regents to seek and accept on behalf of the state any gift,
bequest, devise, or donation whenever the gift and the terms and
conditions thereof will aid in the creation and operation of Dream
Resource Centers for their respective systems.
(2) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and
secondary schools in this state, and authorizes local educational
agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide
instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
This bill would encourage the governing board of a school district
or county office of education that maintains any of grades 9 to 12,
inclusive, to have a Dream Resource Liaison at each of their
respective campuses that includes any of those grades.
This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2022,
and would repeal them as of January 1, 2023.
(3)
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs
mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for
making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to increase enrollment and
graduation rates among students meeting the requirements of Assembly
Bill 540 of the 2001-02 Regular Session (Firebaugh, Ch. 814) by
requiring the designation of Dream Resource Liaisons and
encouraging the creation of Dream Resource Centers at public
institutions of higher education.
(b) It is estimated that each year approximately 65,000
undocumented students graduate from high schools, and while
California has been a leader in enacting innovative and bold laws to
provide opportunities for undocumented youth to attain higher
education, only 20 percent of these students attend college. Many
undocumented youth and their families are unaware of recent policy
changes, such as the enactment of Assembly Bill 540 of the 2001-02
Regular Session, the California Dream Act of 2011, and the federal
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), that make college
graduation more attainable. Currently, the majority of college
campuses do not have a centralized location that provides specialized
support services and resources for students meeting the requirements
of Assembly Bill 540 of the 2001-02 Regular Session.
(c) The creation of Dream Resource Centers would save staff time
and resources by streamlining all available financial aid and
academic opportunities for students meeting the requirements of
Assembly Bill 540 of the 2001-02 Regular Session. These Dream
Resource Centers would seek to empower and create a safe and
welcoming environment for those students. These centers would
increase enrollment, transfer, and graduation rates among this
population.
(d) A number of college campuses have acknowledged the needs and
challenges of these students and have created Dream Resource Centers.
These include: the University of California, Los Angeles; the
University of California, Davis; the California State University, Los
Angeles; the California State University, Fullerton; and the
California State University, Northridge. These centers provide, among
other things, informational workshops, legal clinics, information on
programs available to undocumented immigrants, and peer mentoring
and support services to increase awareness of existing programs and
available resources, enhance professional development, and increase
employment opportunities.
SEC. 2. Chapter 3.67 (commencing with Section
44778) is added to Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education
Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3.67. DREAM RESOURCE LIAISON
44778. The governing board of a school district or county office
of education that maintains any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, is
encouraged to have a Dream Resource Liaison, as described in Section
68130.6, at each of their respective campuses that includes any of
those grades.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. Section
68130.6 66021.8 is added to the Education Code,
to read:
68130.6. 66021.8. (a) Commencing
with the 2017-18 academic year, the California Community Colleges and
the California State University shall, and the University of
California is requested to, designate a Dream Resource Liaison on
each of their respective campuses, as specified in subdivision (b),
to assist students meeting the requirements set forth in Section
68130.5 by streamlining access to all available financial aid and
academic opportunities for those students.
(b) (1) Each campus of the California Community Colleges shall
ensure that it has a staff person designated as a Dream Resource
Liaison who is knowledgeable in available financial aid, services,
and academic opportunities for all students meeting the requirements
set forth in Section 68130.5, including undocumented students. The
Legislature encourages each of these campuses to place this
designated staff person in the campus' extended opportunity programs
and services office or financial aid office.
(2) Each campus of the California State University shall ensure
that it has a staff person designated as a Dream Resource Liaison who
is knowledgeable in available financial aid, services, and academic
opportunities for all students meeting the requirements set forth in
Section 68130.5, including undocumented students. The Legislature
encourages each of these campuses to place this designated staff
person in the campus' educational opportunity programs office or
financial aid office.
(3) The University of California is encouraged to designate a
Dream Resource Liaison on each of its campuses. That staff person
should be knowledgeable in available financial aid, services, and
academic opportunities for all students meeting the requirements set
forth in Section 68130.5, including undocumented students. The
Legislature encourages each of these campuses to place this
designated staff person in the campus' educational opportunity
programs office or financial aid office.
(c) (1) The California Community Colleges, the California State
University, and the University of California are encouraged to
establish Dream Resource Centers on each of their respective
campuses.
(2) Dream Resource Centers may offer support services, including,
but not necessarily limited to, state and institutional financial aid
assistance, academic counseling, peer support services,
psychological counseling, referral services, and legal services.
(d) (1) This section shall not be construed as requiring
encouraging the construction of a new or
separate space for Dream Resource Centers.
(2) Dream Resource Centers may be housed within existing student
service or academic centers.
(3) The space in which the Dream Resource Liaison is located may
be deemed a Dream Resource Center.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code and any
other law requiring approval by a state officer of gifts, bequests,
devises, or donations, the Trustees of the California State
University, the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges, and the Regents of the University of California may seek
and accept on behalf of the state any gift, bequest, devise, or
donation whenever the gift and the terms and conditions thereof will
aid in the creation and operation of Dream Resource Centers for their
respective systems.
(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2022, and, as
of January 1, 2023, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2023, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3. If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.