BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 774|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 774
          Author:   Cook (R), et al
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 6/17/09
          AYES:  Romero, Huff, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado,  
            Padilla, Simitian, Wyland

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  73-0, 5/14/09 (Consent) - See last page  
            for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Riverside Community College District:   
          transportation fees

           SOURCE :     Riverside Transit Agency


           DIGEST  :    This bill authorizes the Riverside Community  
          College District 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 Community College District.

           ANALYSIS  :    Although the Community College Districts  
          (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. 
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          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.
           
           This bill authorizes the Riverside 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.  

           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.

           Comments
           
          The Riverside CCD enrolls a total of about 35,000 students  
          at the following three sites:  Riverside Community College;  
          Moreno Valley Campus and the Norco Campus.








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           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/18/09)

          Riverside Transit Agency (source)
          City of Moreno Valley
          Community Action Partnership of Riverside County
          Councilmember Debbie Franklin, City of Banning
          Riverside Community College District


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,  
            Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,  
            Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,  
            Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,  
            Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,  
            Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall,  
            Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,  
            Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie  
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,  
            Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,  
            Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,  
            Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,  
            Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Ammiano, Fuentes, Gaines, Garrick,  
            Saldana, Smyth, Bass


          DLW:do  6/18/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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