BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 794|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 794
Author: Hagman (R), et al
Amended: 4/14/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/10/09
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado,
Padilla, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/4/09 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Teacher credentialing: fees
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires that initial teaching
credential application fees be waived for an out-of-state
prepared applicant who relocates to California due to the
fact that the applicants spouse has been relocated to
California by military orders.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the Commission on
Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to levy fees for the issuance
and renewal of teaching and service credentials. Existing
law also allows fees to be waived for specified first-time
teaching credential applicants, provided that funds for the
CONTINUED
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purpose are explicitly appropriated in the annual budget
act. Currently, the fee for an initial issuance or renewal
of a teaching or services credential is $55. An applicant
is required to pay an additional $51 for fingerprint
processing, which covers the fees of the Department of
Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Therefore,
the total fee charged to a first time teacher or services
credential candidate is $106.
This bill requires the CTC to waive application and
processing fees for the initial issuance of a teaching
credential to an out-of-state prepared applicant who
relocates to California due to orders received from a
branch of the United States Armed Forces that required the
applicant's spouse to relocate to California.
Comments
According to the CTC, an average of 3,678 out-of-state
teachers (over a five year period) have annually applied
for a teaching or services credential, however, there is no
record of how many of these applicants might be spouses of
military personnel. In order to develop an estimate, the
CTC contacted the federal Spouses to Teachers program,
which was piloted for four years from 2004 through 2008.
During the pilot test, the program served 114 spouses who
were credentialed in other states and did not already hold
a California credential. The program also provided
counseling and assistance to 2, 065 military spouses who
expressed an interest in teaching in California in that
time frame. This pilot will suggest that between 29 and
500 applicants per year might qualify for $55 fee waivers,
costing $1,600 to $27,500 per year.
Previous legislation
SB 1219 (Cedillo) from 2008 would have expanded the
students eligible to receive a Cal Grant A or B award under
the cal Grant High School entitlement Program to include
California residents who are current or former members of
the United States Armed Forces beginning with the 2010-11
academic year. SB 1219 was held in the Senate
Appropriations committee.
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AB 1115 (Strom-Martin, etc.) Chapter 78, Statutes of 1999 ,
authorized the CTC to waive all fees fro first time
teaching credential applicants, subject to an appropriation
in the annual Budget Act. This fee waiver was in effect
from 1999-2002.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/26/09)
American Legion, Department of California
Armed Forces Retirees Association of California
Commission on Teacher Credentialing
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Currently, when an out-of-state teacher has to relocate to
California due to his/her spouse receiving relocation
orders from the military, that teacher is required to pay
in Initial processing fee of $55 in order to teach in this
state. Along with this fee, the teacher also has to pay a
$51 fingerprinting fee, bringing the total to $106. It is
hard enough for California to find enough responsible and
effective educators. We should not make it unfairly more
difficult for out-of-state military spouses to come educate
our California children."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, 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, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, 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,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Huffman
DLW:do 6/26/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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