BILL ANALYSIS
ACR 184
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Date of Hearing: August 12, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
ACR 184 (Ruskin) - As Introduced: August 4, 2010
-- AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED --
SUBJECT : Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher
Education.
SUMMARY : Makes various findings and declarations regarding the
importance of an educated society and workforce, the design of
the Master Plan for Higher Education (Master Plan) as a living
document open for revision, the recent 50th anniversary review
of the Master Plan by the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for
Higher Education (Joint Committee), the need for California to
recommit to higher education and for the Legislature to address
the various areas of policy improvements identified by the Joint
Committee, and recommends that the Joint Committee be extended
into the 2011-12 Regular Session in order to continue its work.
EXISTING LAW declares Legislative intent that the continuous
planning process for the Master Plan includes a legislative
study of California postsecondary education at 10-year intervals
and continuous planning by a state commission including a
five-year plan updated annually.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This resolution is keyed non-fiscal by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Background : The Joint Committee, established
pursuant to ACR 65 (Ruskin), Res. Chapter 106, Statutes of 2009,
was created to review the Master Plan and create a framework to
ensure that higher education continues to thrive. The Joint
Committee has held eight informational hearings conducting a
needs-based assessment of higher education in California.
Purpose of this resolution : According to the author, "the
Master Plan for Higher Education was, and is, a comprehensive
policy framework assuring that the people and State of
California have available to them a higher education system that
meets their needs. The creation of the Master Plan in 1960
signaled an unparalleled commitment to California Higher
ACR 184
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Education, in both its size and scale. It engineered universal
opportunity through planned and coordinated growth. Fifty years
later, the 2010 Joint Committee on the Master Plan held eight
hearings over the course of 2010 to determine the needs of the
state. This resolution contains the results of the needs-based
assessment conducted by the Joint Committee on the Master Plan
in 2010, also reflected in the Committee Report entitled
'Appreciating our Past, Ensuring our Future: A Public Agenda for
Public Higher Education in California.' ACR 184 recommends that
the Joint Committee be reauthorized to complete the work started
in 2010."
Related Legislation : AB 1901 (Ruskin), pending on the
Governor's desk, codifies several findings and declarations
contained in the report "Appreciating Our Past, Ensuring Our
Future: A Public Agenda for Public Higher Education in
California" by the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher
Education (Joint Committee), and establishes Legislative intent
that the work of the Master Plan for Higher Education (Master
Plan) review committees be used as a guide to higher education
policy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on File
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960