BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 813
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 17, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

             SB 813 (Committee on Veterans Affairs) - As Amended:  August 
                                      15, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Higher 
          EducationVote:9-0
                        Veterans Affairs                      9-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill expands the term of eligibility for priority 
          registration for classes-required at the California State 
          University (CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC), 
          and requested at the University of California (UC)-to members or 
          former members of the Armed Forces from two years to four years 
          after leaving active state duty. 
                  
          The bill limits military registration priority to California 
          residents, whereas current law does not.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable costs to UC and CSU to expand eligibility for 
          priority registration. Costs to the CCC would be state 
          reimbursable, but also likely be minor. 

          (While SB 272 (Runner), Statutes of 2007, which originally 
          established priority registration for veterans at CSU and CCCs, 
          was a new mandate on the CCCs, no mandate claim was filed to 
          implement its provisions.)

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . According to the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, 
          the two-year timeframe currently permitted an honorably 
          discharged veteran to exercise priority enrollment often does 
          not coincide with the various enrollment and admission processes 
          at public postsecondary institutions. For example, a veteran 








                                                                  SB 813
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          separates from service in February, comes home, looks for 
          employment but subsequently wishes to attend college, and then 
          applies to a university or college. Given the condition of 
          public higher education funding, many campuses have closed 
          enrollment earlier and are offering fewer courses. Thus veterans 
          could lose almost the entire two years of eligibility for 
          priority enrollment.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081