BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1980
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1980 (Swanson)
As Amended March 24, 2008
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 7-0
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|Ayes:|Portantino, Horton, |
| |Arambula, Beall, Cook, |
| |Galgiani, Ruskin |
| | |
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SUMMARY : Allows the Peralta Community College District (Peralta
CCD) 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 CCD 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 CCD) and
Rio Hondo Community College District (Rio Hondo CCD) 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 CCD to adopt rules to
exempt low-income students from all or part of this fee.
4)Prohibits Peralta CCD 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 CCD may enter into a transportation contract for up to
10 years from the date of that favorable vote. Requires
Peralta CCD to provide a contracted transportation carrier at
least 12 months notice of intent to terminate or alter a
contract.
5)Prohibits Peralta CCD 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 CCD 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 CCD.
EXISTING LAW generally applies the aforementioned provisions to
Los Rios CCD and Rio Hondo CCD. However, existing law does not
allow Los Rios CCD and Rio Hondo CCD to establish transportation
services for students enrolled in at least a minimum number of
course credits. For all other California Community College
(CCC) districts low-income students are exempt from paying any
transportation service fees.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background on Los Rios CCD and Rio Honda CCD
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 Fee Waiver,
recipients who were exempt from paying the transportation
services fee, Los Rios CCD faced rising numbers of users and
falling fee revenues. Without the ability to divide the fee
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among all students, including low-income students, Los Rios CCD
was concerned that the transportation service fee would increase
to the point that students would likely not have voted to
continue transportation services. In 2006, in response to
concerns that Los Rios CCD 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 CCD and Rio Honda CCD to
include low-income students in the fee.
Purpose of this Bill: This bill expands the provisions
applicable to Los Rios CCD and Rio Honda CCD to include Peralta
CCD. 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 CCD. The author notes that monthly bus
transportation passes range from $70-$116. Students attending
fall, spring, and summer semesters at Peralta CCD pay upwards of
$1,392 annually for public transportation. Peralta CCD
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 CCD.
Minimum Course Credit Requirement for Participation in the
Program: This bill would allow Los Rios CCD, Rio Hondo CCD, and
Peralta CCD 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 CCD,
Rio Hondo CCD, and Peralta CCD, this change in law will not
affect any existing programs at Los Rios CCD or Rio Hondo CCD.
According to representatives of Los Rios CCD, their 10-year
transportation services contract has already been negotiated and
approved by students, therefore, the Los Rios CCD program would
be unaffected until the transportation contract requires
renewal. Rio Hondo CCD is still in the process of negotiating
with their local transit authority and, according to
representatives of Rio Hondo CCD, this bill will not affect Rio
Hondo CCD plans.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
AB 1980
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FN: 0004309