BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2009|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2009
Author: Lopez (D)
Amended: 5/31/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-1, 6/22/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Vidak
NOES: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 57-18, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Student support services: Dream Resource Liaisons
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: 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.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
AB 2009
Page 2
1)Provides that a student who attended high school in California
for three (or equivalency) or more years, graduated (or
equivalency) from a California high school, enrolled at an
accredited institution of higher education in California not
earlier than the fall semester or quarter of 2001-02, and
files an affidavit with the institution of higher education
stating that the student has filed an application to legalize
his or her immigration status or will file an application,
eligible for lower resident fee/tuition payments at the CCC,
CSU, and UC. These students are often referred to as "AB 540
students". (Education Code § 68130.5)
2)Provides that, beginning January 1, 2013, AB 540 students are
eligible to apply for, and participate in, any student
financial aid program administered by the State of California
to the full extent permitted by federal law. The California
Student Aid Commission is required to establish procedures and
forms that enable AB 540 students to apply for, and
participate in, all student financial aid programs
administered by the State of California to the full extent
permitted by federal law. Existing law prohibits AB 540
students from being eligible for Competitive Cal Grant A and B
Awards unless specified conditions are met. (EC § 69508.5)
3)Provides that a student attending the CSU, the CCC, or the UC
who is exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the
provisions of AB 540 is eligible to receive a scholarship
derived from non-state funds received, for the purpose of
scholarships by the segment at which he or she is a student.
(EC § 66021.7)
4)Requires the Trustees of the CSU and the Board of Governors of
the CCC, and requests the UC Regents, to establish procedures
and forms that enable AB 540 students to apply for, and
participate in, all student aid programs administered by these
segments to the full extent permitted by federal law. (EC §
66021.6)
5)Establishes the California Dream Loan Program intended to
AB 2009
Page 3
provide low interest loans to Dream Act students who are
accessing the Cal Grant program and attending UC and CSU.
These students are not eligible for federal student loans,
making it difficult for some to cover the total costs of
college. The law requires the state and UC and CSU to split
the costs of launching the Program. The state would need to
provide about $4.7 million General Fund to begin the Program.
In 2014, the Governor signed SB 1210 (Lara, Chapter 754), but
does not provide funding in the 2015-16 Budget for the
Program. (EC § 70030-70039)
This bill:
1)Requires the CCC and the CSU and request the UC to designate a
Dream Resource Liaison on of their respective campuses to
assist students meeting the requirements of AB 540 (Firebaugh,
Chapter 814, Statutes of 2001) who is knowledgeable in
available financial aid, services, and academic opportunities
for all students including undocumented students.
2)Encourages the CCC to place the Dream Resource Liaison in the
campus' extended opportunity programs and services office or
financial aid office and the CSU and UC to place the Liaison
in the campus' educational opportunity programs office or
financial aid office.
3)Encourages the CCC, CSU and UC to establish Dream Resource
Centers that:
a) May offer support services, including, financial aid
assistance, academic counseling, peer support services,
psychological counseling, referral services and legal
services.
b) May be housed within existing student services or
academic centers and, the space in which a Dream Resource
Liaison is located may be deemed a Dream Resource Center.
AB 2009
Page 4
4)Prohibits anything in the bill's provisions from being
construed to encourage the construction of new or separate
space for Dream Resource Centers.
5)Authorizes the governing boards of each segment to accept
private funds to establish and operate Centers.
6)Makes various findings and declarations relative to
California's leadership in enacting bold laws to provide
opportunities for undocumented youth, the need to make
families and youth more aware of recent policy changes and the
number of campuses that have acknowledged challenges of these
students by creating Dream Resource Centers.
7)Establishes if the Commission on State Mandates determines
that this act contains costs mandated by the state, the state
will reimburse applicable entities.
8)Sunsets the bill's provisions on July 1, 2022.
Comments
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, "since the
passage of AB 540, California Dream Act, Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and other pieces of meaningful
legislation, college affordability has become more attainable
for undocumented students in California. However, undocumented
still face many obstacles and adverse barriers due to their
unique situation." In 2009, the UC Los Angeles created the
first resource center to serve undocumented students in the
state followed by the UC Berkeley opening the Robert D. Haas
Dream Resource Center in Fall of 2012. Both Centers were
established after research was conducted from their respective
campuses that supported improving campus climates for
undocumented students.
AB 2009
Page 5
A study conducted by the Undocuscholar Project at the
University of California, Los Angeles found that the lack of
knowledge at campuses regarding policies and services
available for undocumented students and there is a need with
in the higher education community for informed admissions and
outreach, financial aid, transition programs, student support
services, retention programs, and efforts to assist students
with pursuing graduate school or careers. 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.
2)Existing services offered at UC, CSU and CCC campuses. Support
for AB 540 students on each campus varies and services can
range from having a designated center that is independent or
share a space and/or having a point of contact. As part of
the President's Initiative on Undocumented Students, each UC
campus has a designated physical space where knowledgeable
staff is housed. Among the 23 CSUs, a handful of campuses
have independent spaces that are specifically designated for
AB 540 students but most CSU campuses provide information to
these students through a number existing support programs.
For the most part community colleges do not have space or
staff specifically dedicated to offering services to AB 540
students. However, some campuses may focus on this student
population through the campus Student Equity Plan. The Equity
plans are developed by each CCC campus in effort to close
achievement gaps in access and success for underrepresented
student groups.
This bill provides a standard for serving this student
population by requiring that each public postsecondary
institution designate a single point of contact (Dream
Resource Liaison) to assist students meeting the requirements
of AB 540. Under the provisions of this bill, the Liaison is
required to be knowledgeable in financial aid, services, and
academic opportunities for all students including undocumented
students.
AB 2009
Page 6
Related Legislation
AB 1366 (Lopez, 2015), nearly identical to this bill, encourages
schools that maintain grades 9 through 12, the CCCs and the CSU
and the UC to designate a Dream Resource Liaison on each of
their campuses. AB 1366 is in the inactive file on the Senate
Floor and was approved by the Senate Education Committee 8-1.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
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)
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 this 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
AB 2009
Page 7
individual responsible for assisting students as described in
this bill.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/16)
California Dream Network
California Faculty Association
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Labor Federation
California State Student Association
Channel Islands Dreamers
Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Espírtu de Nuestro Futuro
L.E.A.D Sacramento State
MALDEF
Student Advocates for Higher Education at San Jose State
University
University of California
V.O.I.C.E.S
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/11/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 57-18, 6/2/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,
Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, McCarty,
Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Brough, Chang, Dahle, Gallagher, Grove,
Harper, Jones, Kim, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte,
Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
AB 2009
Page 8
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Beth Gaines, Hadley, Maienschein,
Olsen
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/15/16 20:27:02
**** END ****