BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 844 (Lara)
Hearing Date: 08/15/2011 Amended: 06/29/2011
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 7-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 844 authorizes any student, including a person
without lawful immigration status or AB 540 students, to serve
in any capacity in student government and to receive any grant,
scholarship, fee waiver, or reimbursement for expenses at the
California State University (CSU) and the California Community
Colleges (CCC), consistent with federal law, and requests the
University of California (UC) to comply with these same
provisions.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
CCC compensation ----Likely minor ongoing
costs---- Local/General
CSU compensation ----Likely minor ongoing
costs---- Local/General
UC compensation ----Likely minor ongoing
costs---- Local/General
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STAFF COMMENTS:
This bill authorizes AB 540 students, or any undocumented
students who may be attending a UC, CSU or CCC to serve in any
capacity in student government and to receive any grant,
scholarship, fee waiver, or reimbursement for expenses related
to holding that position. Explicitly making all students
eligible to hold any student government position is unlikely to
generate any new costs to the CCC, CSU, or UC (should the UC
comply with the bill's request). Any potential cost to the bill
would likely come from allowing students to receive compensation
(in various forms) for participation who might not otherwise
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have received that compensation.
The state does not require any of the higher education segments
to compensate student government participants for their
positions, but it is common practice to provide some level of
compensation for certain student government leadership
positions. Compensation for student leadership positions is
typically funded by student fees. Some CSU campus leadership
positions are considered jobs, and students holding them are
compensated hourly as employees; other campuses offer stipends,
instead. The CSU estimates that there are 70-80 students
system-wide who are compensated in some way for their student
leadership activities.
Undocumented students are not currently eligible to be employed
by the CSU. To the extent that this bill allows undocumented
students who hold paid positions to be paid when they were not
previously eligible for funding (as the author states is the
intent of the bill), this bill would result in additional costs
to the CSU. The number of undocumented students in these
positions is likely small, within an already small pool of paid
student leaders. Staff also notes that these costs are budgeted
within CSU campuses' existing resources, because this bill does
not change the number of eligible paid positions. Additionally,
CSU campuses are not required by the state to pay any student
for his or her participation in student government.
The CCCs vary in whether and how they compensate students in
leadership positions, as well. The CCC Chancellor's Office
surveyed 42 CCCs, and found that only 10 offer any compensation
for one or more student leadership positions; all 10 offered
stipends. To the extent that this bill allows undocumented
students who hold stipend positions to be paid when they were
not previously eligible for funding, this bill would result in
additional costs to the CCCs that pay student leaders. As
previously noted, the costs identified are budgeted within
campuses' existing resources, because this bill does not change
the number of eligible paid positions, and CCCs are not required
by the state to pay any student for his or her participation in
student government. CCC, CSU, and UC campuses also reimburse
travel and related expenses for various conferences and meetings
in which student leaders are asked to participate; these
reimbursements come from a variety of funds, depending on the
purpose of the travel or other expense. It is unclear whether
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undocumented students are ever denied reimbursement for those
expenses.
This bill contains immunity provisions for the higher education
segments with regard to parties seeking monetary damages. It
allows a court that finds the provisions of this bill unlawful
to invalidate them, but not to provide additional monetary
damages. The provisions of this bill are very likely to be
litigated, because it appears to allow individuals who cannot be
lawfully employed in the United States to be employed (in
certain circumstances) by the CCC, CSU, and UC. The bill
specifies that it applies "to the full extent consistent with
federal law," but even attempted implementation of its
provisions within that context is likely to invite litigation,
as other contentious benefits for undocumented students have in
the past.