BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1980
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
AB 1980 (Swanson) - As Amended: March 24, 2008
SUBJECT : Peralta Community College District: transportation
fees.
SUMMARY : Allows the Peralta Community College District
(Peralta) to charge a fee to students or students and employees
in order to fund transportation services, if specific
requirements are met. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows a campus of Peralta to establish a fee for
transportation services, paid by students and employees using
the service or by any of the following groups:
a) All students and employees, regardless of whether they
use the service, upon the favorable vote to do so by a
majority of the students and a majority of the employees of
the campus; or
b) All students, regardless of whether they use the
service, upon the favorable vote to do so by a majority of
the students of the campus; or
c) All students taking at least a specified minimum number
of course credits determined by the governing board upon
the favorable vote to do so by a majority of those
students.
2)Allows Los Rios Community College District (Los Rios) and Rio
Hondo Community College District (Rio Hondo) to establish a
fee for transportation services for students taking at least a
specified minimum number of course credits determined by the
governing board upon the favorable vote to do so by a majority
of those students.
3)Requires that any fee charged be pro-rated to a lesser amount
AB 1980
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for part-time students. Allows Peralta to adopt rules to
exempt low-income students from all or part of this fee.
4)Prohibits Peralta from entering into or extending a contract
for transportation services until a majority of students have
voted to support the fee and provides that Peralta may enter
into a transportation contract for up to 10 years from the
date of that favorable vote. Requires Peralta to provide a
contracted transportation carrier at least 12 months notice of
intent to terminate or alter a contract.
5)Prohibits Peralta from charging a fee in excess of the costs
for transportation services and prohibits the fee from
exceeding $60 per semester, $30 for intersession, or the
proportional equivalent for a part-time student. Authorizes
Peralta to require persons other than students and employees
to pay a fee for use of the transportation services.
6)Prohibits a fee from being charged for on-campus shuttles or
other transportation services operated on or between campuses
and parking facilities owned by Peralta.
EXISTING LAW generally applies the aforementioned provisions to
Los Rios and Rio Hondo. However, existing law does not allow
Los Rios and Rio Hondo to establish transportation services for
students enrolled in at least a minimum number of course
credits. For all other CCC districts low income students are
exempt from paying any transportation service fees.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background on Los Rios and Rio Honda Provisions:
Existing law authorizes CCC districts, upon a majority vote of
students or students and employees, to charge a fee to students
or students and employees in order to cover the costs of
contracted transportation services. Low-income students are
statutorily exempt from paying the fee. As a result of the
increase in student utilization of transportation services and
an increase in CCC Board of Governors (BOG) Fee Waiver,
recipients who were exempt from paying the transportation
services fee, Los Rios faced rising numbers of users and falling
fee revenues. Without the ability to divide the fee among all
students, including low income students, Los Rios was concerned
that the transportation service fee would increase to the point
that students would likely not have voted to continue
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transportation services. In 2006, in response to concerns that
Los Rios transportation services would be jeopardized by the
requirement that low-income students be exempted from paying the
fee, AB 1968 (Leslie), Chapter 560, Statutes of 2006, authorized
Los Rios and Rio Honda to include low-income students in the
fee.
Purpose of this Bill : This bill expands the provisions
applicable to Los Rios and Rio Honda to include Peralta. In
January of 2008, an internal "Evaluation of the Conditions at
Peralta Community College District" was completed. The report
identified transportation as one of the critical problems facing
Peralta. The author notes that monthly bus transportation
passes range from $70-$116. Students attending fall, spring,
and summer semesters at Peralta pay upwards of $1,392 annually
for public transportation. Peralta governing board members and
student leaders, who are concerned about rising student
transportation costs, have begun a dialogue with the local
public transit authority in order to establish transportation
services similar to those at Los Rios.
Minimum Course Credit Requirement for Participation in the
Program: This bill would allow Los Rios, Rio Hondo, and Peralta
to propose for student approval a transportation program that
would be applicable only to students taking a specified number
of course credits, as determined by the governing board.
According to representatives of Los Rios, Peralta, and Rio
Hondo, this change in law will not affect any existing programs
at Los Rios or Rio Hondo. According to representatives of Los
Rios, their 10-year transportation services contract has already
been negotiated and approved by students, therefore, the Los
Rios program would be unaffected until the transportation
contract requires renewal. Rio Hondo is still in the process of
negotiating with their local transit authority and, according to
representatives of Rio Hondo, this bill will not affect Rio
Hondo's plans.
Previous Legislation: AB 1968 (Leslie) Chapter 560, Statutes of
2006, authorized Los Rios and Rio Honda to levy a fee on
students, including low-income students, within certain
guidelines and restrictions, for the use of specified
transportation services.
AB 982 (Laird) Chapter 320, Statutes of 2005, deleted the
requirement that low-income CCC students be exempt from paying
AB 1980
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health supervision and services fees.
AB 2812 (Committee on Higher Education) Chapter 954, Statutes of
1998, extended to all CCC districts the authority to levy a fee,
within certain guidelines and restrictions, for the use of
specified transportation services.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Peralta Community College District
Opposition
None on File.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960