BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 605|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 605
Author: Gaines (R)
Amended: 7/16/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 4/22/15
AYES: Liu, Runner, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning,
Pan, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0, 6/4/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Huff, Jackson, Lara,
Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner,
Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hueso
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-4, 9/9/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Community colleges: exemption from nonresident
tuition fee: Lake Tahoe Community College District
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill, until July 1, 2022; (1)exempts up to 200
students in any academic year from paying non-resident tuition
fees if they attend the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) and
reside in specified communities in the State of Nevada, and; (2)
permits the LTCC to count these persons as resident full-time
equivalent students (FTES) for purposes of determining
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Page 2
California apportionment funding. This bill makes these
provisions contingent upon the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges (CCC) entering into an interstate
attendance agreement with the Nevada System of Higher Education
providing reciprocal rights to California residents attending
Western Nevada College that reasonably conform to the benefits
extended to Nevada residents by this bill's provisions.
Assembly Amendments declare that no reimbursement for mandated
costs is required by this bill's provisions as the legislative
authority established by this bill is being requested by the
local district.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes a community college district (CCD) to admit
non-resident students and requires that these students be
charged a tuition fee that is twice the amount of the fee
established for in-state resident students, with certain
specified exemptions. State statute prescribes a formula for
the calculation of the non-resident fee. Beginning July 1,
2013, state law requires the non-resident tuition fee be
increased to a level that is three times the amount of the fee
established for in-state resident students.
2)Prohibits non-resident students from being reported as FTES
for state apportionment purposes, except where (a) the CCD has
less than 1500 FTES and is within 10 miles of another state
and has a reciprocity agreement with that state, or (b) if a
CCD has between 1501 and 3000 FTES and is within 10 miles of
another state and has a reciprocity agreement with that state,
they can claim up to 100 FTES for state apportionment
purposes. (Education Code § 76140)
3)Authorizes the Board of Governors of the CCC to enter into an
interstate attendance agreement with any statewide pubic
agency of another state that is responsible for public
institutions of postsecondary education providing the first
two years of college instruction, and that is an agency of a
state that is a member of Western Interstate Commission for
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Higher Education (WICHE). (Education Code § 66801)
This bill exempts persons residing in specified communities in
the State of Nevada from paying non-resident tuition fees if
they attend the LTCC. More specifically, it:
1)Exempts up to 200 students in any academic year who attend
LTCC from being charged non-resident student tuition fees if
they reside in one of the following communities in Nevada:
a) Incline Village.
b) Kingsbury.
c) Round Hill.
d) Skyland.
e) Stateline.
f) Zephyr Cove.
2)Deems a student to have residence in one of the communities
listed above if they lived in that community for more than one
year immediately prior to seeking the fee exemption.
3)Requires the LTCC to adopt rules and regulations for
determining a student's residence classification and for
establishing procedures to appeal and review this
determination.
4)Authorizes the LTCC to report the non-resident students who
are exempt from paying non-resident fees pursuant to this
bill's provisions as resident FTES for state apportionment
purposes.
5)Requires any non-resident students reported as resident FTES
for apportionment purposes under these provisions to pay a per
unit fee that is three times the amount of the fee established
for residents, consistent with existing law.
6)Sunsets these provisions on July 1, 2022.
7)Declares that no reimbursement for mandated costs is required
because the only costs that may be incurred by the district
are the result of a program for which legislative authority
was requested by the district.
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8)Makes these provisions operative only if, by July 1, 2021:
a) The Board of Governors enters into an interstate
attendance agreement with the Nevada System of Higher
Education.
b) The agreement provides reciprocal rights to California
residents attending Western Nevada College that reasonably
conform to the benefits conferred upon Nevada resident by
this bill's provisions.
9)Requires the Chancellor of the CCC to promptly post notice of
the interstate attendance agreement on the CCC Internet
website.
Comments
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, this bill is
intended to respond to the concerns raised regarding similar
legislation (introduced in prior sessions) to ensure that
Nevada students residing in close proximity to California can
attend CCCs without being compelled to pay non-resident
tuition. This bill, unlike the prior bill, establishes a
six-year pilot program, limits its provisions to Lake Tahoe
Community College and specified Nevada communities, caps the
total number of students that may be exempted from
non-resident tuition, and makes the pilot program contingent
upon California residents being provided reciprocal rights by
the State of Nevada.
2)Reciprocity, a mutual exchange of interests, no longer exists
with Nevada. According to the Legislative Analyst Office, in
August 2011, the State of Nevada terminated the "Good
Neighbor" tuition agreement that allowed California students
from designated counties to attend Nevada colleges at
significantly reduced non-resident tuition rates. Under this
agreement, Nevada students were also able to enroll in the CCC
(specifically, Lassen, Feather River, Lake Tahoe, Palo Verde,
Siskiyou and Barstow) without having to pay full non-resident
tuition.
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Effective, November 2011, California students enrolling for
the first time in Nevada colleges were charged the full
non-resident tuition and all the CCC were required to charge
non-resident tuition for Nevada residents enrolling for the
first time in California, effectively ending the ability of
the CCC to provide exemptions for Nevada students. From 1992
through 2011, California and Nevada had a "Good Neighbor"
agreement (reciprocity) in place.
3)Related Nevada activity. In March 2015, the Nevada
legislature introduced
SB 414 (Setelmayer) which encourages the Regents of the
University of Nevada to authorize waivers of non-resident
tuition to certain residents of the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Notwithstanding the proposed legislation, the setting of fees
and tuition, including general policies, is under the
jurisdiction of the Nevada Higher Education System (NHES)
Board of Regents in Nevada. According to the Chancellor of the
NHES Board of Regents, in March 2014 the Board adopted a
policy that authorizes an individual campus to bring forth a
tuition discount program if it chooses. Title 4, Chapter 17,
Section 13 establishes the following policy regarding tuition
or registration fee discounts:
NHES institutions may bring forward for Board approval tuition
and/or registration fee discounts. Proposals for such discounts
must be accompanied by documentation justifying the discount
based on the goals of the institution and any related market
considerations, including the ability to compete with other
non-NSHE institutions. Institutions may be required to report
periodically on approved tuition or registration fee discounts
upon request of the Chancellor or the Board.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, if 200
Nevada residents enroll, this bill will result in additional net
costs of about $113,000 from the General Fund (Proposition 98)
annually.
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SUPPORT: (Verified9/9/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/9/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-4, 9/9/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Gonzalez, Gordon, McCarty, Weber
Prepared by:Kathleen Chavira / ED. / (916) 651-4105
9/9/15 19:34:33
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