BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 63
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Date of Hearing: March 29, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
AB 63 (Donnelly) - As Introduced: December 9, 2010
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: tuition and fees.
SUMMARY : Prohibits a person without lawful immigration status
from qualifying for resident tuition at the California State
University (CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC),
under the provisions of AB 540 (Firebaugh), Chapter 814,
Statutes of 2001, and conforms to federal law nonresident
tuition exemptions for members of the United States Armed
Services or their dependents who are enrolled at a California
public postsecondary education institution. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Prohibits a person without lawful immigration status from
qualifying for resident tuition at CSU and CCC under the
provisions of AB 540, and requests the University of
California (UC) adopt a comparable policy for students
enrolled at UC.
2)Allows a member of the Armed Forces who is a student at a
California public postsecondary education institution and is
transferred on military orders to a place outside the state to
maintain his or her residency status for tuition purposes so
long as the student remains continuously enrolled at that
institution.
3)Allows a student at a California public postsecondary
education institution who is the dependent (natural or adopted
child, stepchild, or spouse) of a member of the Armed Forces
who is transferred on military orders to a place outside the
state to maintain his or her residency status for tuition
purposes so long as the student remains continuously enrolled
at that institution.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Exempts specified nonresidents of California from paying
nonresident tuition at CSU and CCC (UC complies with existing
law by resolution) if they meet all of the following:
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a) Attended a California high school for three or more
years;
b) Graduated from a California high school or attained an
equivalent degree;
c) Registered at or attended an accredited California
higher education institution beginning after fall of the
2001-02 academic year; and,
d) If an alien without lawful immigration status, has filed
an affidavit stating that the student has filed an
application to legalize his or her immigration status or
will file such an application as soon as he or she is
eligible to so do.
2)Establishes uniform residency requirements for purposes of
ascertaining the amount of fees to be paid by students at UC,
CSU, and CCC and establishes various exceptions to these
residency requirements, including the following:
a) A member of the Armed Forces who is stationed in the
state on active duty, except a member assigned for
educational purposes.
b) A member of the Armed Forces seeking a graduate degree,
for no more than two academic years.
c) An undergraduate student who is a dependent of a member
of the Armed Forces stationed in this state on active duty.
d) A graduate student who is a dependent of a member of the
Armed Forces stationed in this state on active duty, for no
more than one academic year.
e) A student dependent of a member of the Armed Forces may
keep his or her resident classification until he or she has
resided in the state for the minimum time necessary to
become a resident in the event the member of the Armed
Forces upon whom they are dependent is transferred outside
of the state or retires as an active member of the Armed
Forces.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS : This bill is double-referred to the Assembly
Veterans Affairs Committee.
AB 540 Provisions
Background . Students who are eligible for resident tuition
under the provisions of AB 540 are typically persons without
lawful immigration status or United States citizens or Permanent
Residents who are residents of another state and would be
ineligible for state-administered or campus-based financial aid
programs without the provisions of AB 540. According to the
segments, in 2009-10, AB 540 students were a small fraction of
enrollment at all three systems, as follows: 1,941 at UC (of
these 32% were undocumented immigrants); 3,633 at CSU; and
38,203 at CCC. CSU and CCC do not identify the immigration
status of AB 540 students but believe that undocumented students
make up a larger proportion of these students than they do at
UC. In 2010-11, nonresident undergraduate student tuition
amounted to approximately $22,879 at UC, $10,000 at CSU, and
$4,800 at CCC per year.
AB 540 rationale . AB 540 was enacted in part to address
circumstances when a student, who was brought to the United
States as a child by his or her parents, was deemed a
nonresident for tuition purposes when attending UC, CSU, or CCC.
Often, these students were unaware that they were not legal
residents, having spent most of their life in this country. AB
540 was drafted to provide access to resident tuition based on
high school attendance and other factors rather than legal
status in order to comport with federal law while recognizing
that these students' educational success will benefit the state
and its economy. Nine other states provide tuition benefits for
undocumented students.
Martinez v. UC Regents . In 2005, the Immigration Reform Law
Institute filed suit against UC, on behalf of UC students who
are residents of other states and pay non-resident tuition,
contending that AB 540 violates federal law that requires that
an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall
not be eligible on the basis of residence within a state. On
November 15, 2010, the California Supreme Court upheld AB 540,
finding that it does not violate federal law because, "It grants
the same exemption to all who qualify, whether they are
nonresident citizens or resident unlawful aliens."
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Related legislation . AB 130 and AB 131, both authored by
Assemblymember Cedillo, would expand benefits to AB 540 students
by allowing them to participate in publicly funded financial aid
programs. Both measures were approved by the Assembly Higher
Education Committee on March 15, 2011.
Prior legislation . Numerous measures have been introduced to
repeal AB 540 or deny its benefits to undocumented students,
including AB 454 (Knight, 2009), which failed passage in this
Committee, AB 1207 (Logue, 2009), which was never set for
hearing by this Committee, and AB 2159 (Anderson, 2010), which
passed this Committee after the author removed the language
affecting AB 540.
Military Nonresident Tuition Waivers
Background . The federal government enacted the Higher Education
Opportunity Act of 2008 (H.R. 4137), which stipulates that a
state receiving assistance under H.R. 4137 shall not charge
members of the Armed Forces, or their spouses or dependents,
tuition at a public postsecondary education institution in that
state at a rate that is greater than the rate charged residents
of that state, so long as the student is continuously enrolled
at the institution, notwithstanding a subsequent change in the
permanent duty station of the member to a location outside of
the state. The Armed Services member must be on active duty
for more than 30 days, and his or her domicile or permanent duty
must be in the state.
Federal compliance . As noted above, California provides several
exceptions to its uniform residency requirements for members of
the Armed Forces and their dependents in order to allow them to
pay in-state tuition, instead of the more expensive nonresident
tuition. However, California does not require the student to be
continuously enrolled or extend the benefit when the Armed
Services member is transferred out of the state on permanent
duty, and California limits the benefit for graduate students to
two years for members of the Armed Services and one year for
their dependents. UC, CSU and CCC have changed their practices
to reflect federal law.
Related legislation . AB 853 (Blumenfield, 2011) includes the
continuous enrollment provision contained in this bill and will
be heard by this Committee on March 29, 2011.
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Prior legislation . AB 1569 (Veterans Affairs Committee, 2011),
which was held in the Senate, included the continuous enrollment
provision contained in this bill. AB 950 (Salas), Chapter 362,
Statutes of 2007, extended from one year to two years the period
of time that graduate students who are non-California members of
the United States Armed Forces stationed in California are
entitled to pay resident fees.
Oppose unless amended . Several organizations have expressed
support for the military provisions of the bill but oppose the
AB 540 provisions. These organizations include the California
Community College League, California Postsecondary Education
Commission, California State University, Faculty Association of
California Community Colleges, Hispanic Association of Colleges
and Universities, and University of California Student
Association.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Catholic Conference
California Federation of Teachers
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Policy Immigrant Center
Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960