BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 774
AUTHOR: Cook
INTRODUCED: February 26, 2009
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 17, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Nancy Anton
SUBJECT : Riverside Community College District:
transportation fees.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Riverside Community College
District (CCD) to charge a fee to students or to students
and employees in order to fund transportation services if
specified requirements are met. This authority is
currently provided only to the Los Rios, Peralta and Rio
Hondo CCDs.
BACKGROUND
Although CCDs are generally prohibited from charging
transportation fees, current law authorizes the Los Rios,
Peralta and the Rio Hondo CCDs to require a fee for
transportation services of students and employees who use
the service.
Current law also authorizes the Los Rios, Peralta and Rio
Hondo CCDs upon a majority vote of (a) students and
employees or (b) only students, to require students and/or
employees at a campus to pay a fee for a period not to
exceed 10 years to partially or fully recover
transportation costs incurred by the district for reducing
student and/or employee fares for services provided by
common carriers or municipally owned transit systems. Such
fees for part-time students are required to be of a pro
rata lesser amount. Low-income students may be exempt from
this fee or be required to pay all or part of the fee.
ANALYSIS
This bill authorizes the Riverside Community College
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District (CCD) to charge a fee to students or to students
and employees in order to fund transportation services if
specified requirements are met. These requirements, among
others, include a favorable vote of students, a pro-rata
fee for part-time students, optional exemption for
low-income students and a contract limitation of no more
than 10 years.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) What's the problem ? Current law authorizes only the
Los Rios, Peralta and the Rio Hondo community college
districts to charge their students/employees specified
transportation fees. Through the use of local air
quality mitigation funds, in 2008-09 Riverside CCD
instituted a one-year subsidized public transit
program with the Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) for
students at all three of its campuses; the program was
a success. The University of California, Riverside
has had a similar subsidized program for its students
with RTA since September 2006. Riverside CCD would
like to establish its subsidized transit program
(provided discounted mass transit passes) on a
permanent basis for its students/employees (as is
currently done in the Los Rios, Peralta and Rio Hondo
districts) but is unable to so do without specific
statutory authorization which this bill provides.
2) Why limit expansion only to Riverside CCD? At its
April 29, 2009 hearing, the Senate Education Committee
heard SB 518 (Lowenthal) which, in part, related to
Community College parking fees. The Committee amended
SB 518 so that, in part, it would expand to all
community college districts the provision of law which
currently is provided to only 3 specified CCDs to levy
subsidized transit fees. The bill was passed 5-3;
however, it has failed passage on the Senate floor.
Given the committee's prior action, staff recommends
that this bill be amended to be consistent with the
action taken on SB 518 to provide the authority to
levy subsidized mass transit fees to all community
college districts.
3) About the Riverside CCD. The Riverside CCD enrolls a
total of about 35,000 students at the following three
sites: Riverside Community College; Moreno Valley
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Campus and the Norco Campus.
SUPPORT
City of Moreno Valley
Riverside Community College District
OPPOSITION
None received