BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
815 (Cogdill)
Hearing Date: 05/28/2009 Amended: 05/06/2009
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 8-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 815 would create the National Guard Education
Assistance Award Program to provide financial support for
qualifying active members of the California National Guard, the
State Military Reserve, or the Naval Militia attending a
qualifying postsecondary institution. Participants would apply
to the Adjutant General, who would certify eligibility to the
California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), who would issue the
awards. Qualifying applicants would receive funding equal to the
amount of a Cal Grant A or, if attending a community college, a
Cal Grant B award. Grantees would agree to use the award to
obtain a certificate, degree, or diploma that he or she does not
hold at the time of application.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Awards $1,800 $3,500 $3,500 General
CSAC $400 $90 $90 General
Adjutant General $100 $100
General
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
This bill is sponsored by the Governor's Office. The Governor
included $1.8 million for the program in his 2009-10 budget
proposal, but funding was deleted without prejudice as part of
the February agreement.
The award may be renewed annually for four years or for the
duration for which the recipient would otherwise be eligible for
Cal Grants. Qualifying members that are also eligible for a Cal
Grant award would need to choose between that award and an award
pursuant to this bill, and the bill would also exclude from
eligibility individuals with remaining eligibility for the GI
bill or other specified federal assistance programs. The bill
requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to evaluate the
program on or before January 1, 2016.
Assuming the maximum of number of warrants (1,000) are issued in
a given fiscal year, CSAC estimates total annualized costs of
$3.3 million to fully fund the program. The bill, however, does
provide that grants would be limited to funding provided in the
annual Budget Act, so actual costs could be less than that in a
given year. Additionally, CSAC reports startup costs of
$390,000 and ongoing costs of approximately $90,000 to
administer the grants. The Adjutant General's would also incur
administration costs likely in the range of $100,000, annually.
Page 2
SB 815 (Cogdill)
Similar legislation, SB 1752 (Wyland, 2008), was held under
submission by this committee last year.
Author's amendments would cap the amount of the award for
private school recipients to the amount received by UC students.