BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           160 (Cedillo)
          
          Hearing Date:  04/20/09         Amended: As Introduced
          Consultant:  Dan Troy           Policy Vote: ED 5-3
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   SB 160 would expand eligibility for state  
          postsecondary institutional financial aid programs to include  
          students who are exempted from paying nonresident tuition due to  
          specified provisions in law.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
           UC aid                 $800       $1,600      $1,600    General*

          CSU aid                $1,200     $2,400      $2,400    General*

          *Combination of General Fund support and fee revenue    
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.
          
          AB 540 (Firebaugh) of 2001 exempted individuals from paying  
          nonresident tuition at public California postsecondary  
          institutions if they attended a California high school for at  
          least 3 years, graduated from a California high school or  
          obtained an equivalent degree, registered or attended an  
          accredited California postsecondary institution not before the  
          2001-02 year, and, for an alien without unlawful immigration  
          status, filed an affidavit stating that the student has applied  
          to legalize their immigration status or will do so as soon as  
          eligible.  Effectively, the bill provided in-state tuition on  
          the basis of secondary school attendance rather than on legal  
          residency.   This bill would extend eligibility for  
          postsecondary institutional financial aid programs to these  
          pupils.  Eligibility would not extend to fee waivers at the  
          California Community Colleges.  

          Using 2007-08 data, the University of California (UC) estimates  










          that 572 AB 540 students would have been eligible for  
          approximately $1.6 million in institutional aid in that year.   
          Assuming 65 percent more AB 540 FTEs attend the California State  
          University (CSU) than UC (CSU has approximately 65 percent more  
          FTEs than UC), the cost would be approximately $2.4 million,  
          assuming an average award of $2,536.  

          While it is unclear what response the institutions would take  
          toward allocating institutional awards - they may choose to  
          shift more institutional resources toward aid to meet the  
          greater eligibility counts or they may allocate lower average  
          grant awards to keep system-wide costs neutral - it is clear  
          that increasing the pool of eligibility creates pressure to  
          increase the amount of institutional resources that go toward  
          financial aid.  

          A similar measure, SB 1301 (Cedillo), was vetoed by the Governor  
          in 2008.  The Governor's veto message indicated concern about  
          placing additional demands on 

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          SB 160 (Cedillo)

          financial aid resources given the state's fiscal condition.   
          Related measures were also vetoed in 2007 and 2005.