BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2009 (Lopez) - Student support services: Dream Resource
Liaisons
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|Version: May 31, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill requires the California Community Colleges
(CCC) and the California State University (CSU), and requests
the University of California (UC) to designate a Dream Resource
Liaison at each of their respective campuses and authorizes the
governing boards of the segments to accept private funds to
establish and operate a Dream Resource center.
Fiscal
Impact:
State reimbursable mandate costs of $100,000 per campus ($11.3
million statewide) for each CCC campus to designate a Dream
Resource Liaison. To the extent a campus already has a Dream
Resource Center or liaison, the state would still be required
to reimburse the college for the new state mandated activity.
(Proposition 98)
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The CCC Chancellor's Office indicates the need for one
part-time position and $60,000 to support oversight of Dream
Resource Centers. (General Fund)
CSU indicates that costs would range among campuses depending
upon how they choose meet the requirements of the bill which
would be based upon things such as staff workload and the
number of AB 540 students on the campus. It is unknown how
many campuses would designate a liaison from within existing
staff or need to hire a new position. To the extent the 19
CSU campuses that currently do not have a Dream Resource
Center hire new part-time or full-time staff, costs could
range between $665,000 and $1.3 million, respectively,
systemwide to designate a liaison. (General Fund)
No costs to the UC as each campus has a dedicated space and
individual responsible for assisting students as described in
this bill.
Background: AB 540 (Firebaugh, Chapter 814, Statutes of 2001) exempts
certain nonresident students, including undocumented students,
from paying nonresident tuition at CCC and CSU if certain
criteria are met. The UC has adopted this policy as well.
Students must have: (1) attended a California high school for
three years or more or obtained an equivalent number of units
and attended at least three years in California elementary or
secondary schools; (2) graduated from a high school in
California; (3) registered at an accredited institution of
higher education in California; and (4) for a person without
lawful immigration status, filed an affidavit with the
institution stating that the student has filed an application to
legalize his or her immigration status. These students are
often referred to as AB 540 students. (Education Code §
68130.5)
The California Dream Act allows undocumented and nonresident
documented students who meet certain provisions to apply for and
receive private scholarships funded through public universities,
state-administered financial aid, university grants, and
community college fee waivers. Existing law also provides that
AB 540 students are eligible to apply for, and participate in,
any student financial aid program administered by the state to
the full extent permitted by federal law. Current law prohibits
AB 540 students from being eligible for Competitive Cal Grant A
AB 2009 (Lopez) Page 2 of
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and B Awards unless specified conditions are met. (EC § 69508.5)
The California DREAM Loan Program is intended to provide low
interest loans to Dream Act students who are accessing the state
student financial aid program and attending UC and CSU. The
California Dream Act Application is used by undocumented
students who meet the eligibility requirements of AB 540. These
students are not eligible for federal student loans, making it
difficult for some to cover the total costs of college. (EC §
70030-70039)
This bill seeks to ensure that AB 540 students attending
California public postsecondary institutions are not
unintentionally misguided and have adequate support to achieve
educational goals.
Proposed Law:
This bill requires the CCC and the CSU, and requests the UC
to, designate a Dream Resource Liaison on each of their
respective campuses who is knowledgeable in available financial
aid, services, and academic opportunities for all students
meeting the AB 540 requirements, including undocumented
students.
This bill also encourages the CCC, the CSU, and the UC to
establish Dream Resource Centers on each of their respective
campuses. The centers may offer support services, such as state
and institutional financial aid assistance, academic counseling,
peer support services, psychological counseling, referral
services, and legal services. The centers may be housed within
existing student service or academic centers and the space in
which the Dream Resource Liaison is located may be deemed a
Dream Resource Center. The governing boards of each segment are
authorized to accept private funds to establish and operate
centers. The requirements of this bill are scheduled to sunset
July 1, 2022.
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Related
Legislation: AB 1366 (Lopez, 2015) similar to this bill,
encourages schools that maintain grades 9 through 12, the CCC,
and the CSU, and requests the UC to designate a Dream Resource
Liaison on each of their campuses. AB 1366 is in the inactive
file on the Senate Floor.
Staff
Comments: Support for AB 540 students on each campus varies and
services can range from having a designated center that is
independent or shares a space, to having a point of contact.
Each UC campus has a designated physical space where respective
designated contacts for undocumented students are housed. Among
the 23 CSU campuses, some have a designated space on campus but
most provide information through existing student support
programs. For the most part, community colleges do not have
space or staff specifically dedicated to offering services to AB
540 students.
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