BILL NUMBER: SB 1466 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 2, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator De León
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add and repeal Section 69432.75 of the Education Code,
relating to student financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1466, as amended, De León. Student financial aid: Cal Grant
Program eligibility.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant
Program (Cal Grant Program), establishes the Cal Grant A and B
Entitlement awards, the California Community College Transfer
Entitlement awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards, the Cal
Grant C awards, and the Cal Grant T awards under the administration
of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility
requirements for awards under these programs for participating
students attending qualifying institutions. The Cal Grant Program
establishes different maximum household income levels for recipients
of each of those Cal Grant awards.
This bill would, commencing with the 2014-15 academic year, and
notwithstanding any other law, require a student to be eligible for
the receipt of a Cal Grant award funded from the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund pursuant to specified
priorities if he or she meets the requirements established for a Cal
Grant award for the 2011-12 academic year, except that a student
granted the lowest priority may have a maximum household income that
is no greater than $100,000 an amount adopted
by the commission pursuant to specified procedures . The bill
would state that any moneys that may be appropriated for purposes of
this bill would be required to be in addition to, and intended to
supplement, other moneys appropriated for the Cal Grant Program. The
bill also would provide that those moneys are intended to provide
initial and renewal Entitlement and Competitive Cal Grant
A , B, and and B awards and Cal Grant
Transfer Entitlement awards, pursuant to specified priorities, to
students who would otherwise be ineligible if not for the expanded
eligibility provided by this bill. The bill would provide that
awards provided by this bill are payable only to the extent that
funds are available for distribution, and would require the
commission to inform each recipient of an award under this bill that
the award is for one academic year only and is not an entitlement and
that future awards are subject to the availability of funds for
distribution. The bill would repeal this provision on a
specified date, and would make specified findings and declarations
relating to the need to fund postsecondary education.
This bill would become operative only if SB 1356 is
enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2013
not become operative until the Franchise Tax Board sends a letter to
the Student Aid Commission verifying that legislation has been
enacted that provides for an investment tax credit for the purpose of
funding this bill .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) In addressing California's fiscal crisis, state budget
solutions over the last several fiscal years have included deep cuts
and payment deferrals that have decimated billions of dollars in
funding for all segments of postsecondary education.
(b) In 2000, the state contributed 18.6 billion dollars to public
postsecondary education, and this funding has declined every year
since then. In the 2010-11 fiscal year, the state contributed 12.4
billion dollars to postsecondary education.
(c) The share of expenditures borne by students in the form of
fees has tripled, from 13 percent in 2000, to 40 percent in 2011,
making a public postsecondary education unaffordable for the middle
class. Most middle income students are leaving school thousands of
dollars in debt, and they end up sending monthly payments to
out-of-state banks rather than contributing to the local economy.
(d) With less access to postsecondary education due to courses
being cut, each year students are taking longer and longer to
graduate. It now takes the average student 7 years to graduate from a
California Community College, 6.5 years to graduate from a
California State University, and 4.5 years to graduate from a
University of California.
(e) Educational attainment levels predict the overall economic
performance of states and nations. California was always among the
top states in degree-completion rates, but it now ranks among the
bottom 10 states.
(f) By 2018, 63 percent of all of jobs in the United States will
require some form of postsecondary education or training, according
to estimates by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the
Workforce. The United States is on track to deliver only a fraction
of this education. Currently, only 38 percent of America's young
adults have a college degree, compared to 58 percent in South Korea.
(g) California's postsecondary education system has helped build
and sustain an entrepreneurial spirit that has shaped new sectors of
the state's economy. During tough times like these, we need novel
approaches to steer the state back on track.
(h) Estimates show that the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit
Program Special Fund will be fully subscribed for each of the five
years of the program, allowing the California Student Aid Commission
to expand eligibility for Cal Grant awards for middle class families.
(i) All Californians deserve access to an affordable postsecondary
education.
SEC. 2. Section 69432.75 is added to the Education Code, to read:
69432.75. (a) Commencing with the 2014-15 academic year, and
notwithstanding any other law, a student shall be eligible for the
receipt of a Cal Grant award funded from the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund pursuant to the priorities
established in subdivision (b) if he or she meets the requirements
established for a Cal Grant award for the 2011-12 academic year,
except that for students granted priority pursuant to paragraph (3)
of subdivision (b) the maximum household income shall be no greater
than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), which shall be
calculated in a manner that is consistent with the requirements
applicable to this chapter and Section 69506 the
maximum household income level adopted pursuant to subdivision (d)
.
(b) The commission shall grant the following priorities when using
funds from the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program
Special Fund to award Cal Grants to students eligible pursuant to
subdivision (a):
(1) First priority shall be given to students who meet the
eligibility requirements established for a an
Entitlement Cal Grant A , B, or
or B award or a Cal Grant Transfer Entitlement award for
the 2011-12 academic year.
(2) Second priority shall be given to students who meet the
eligibility requirements established for a Competitive Cal Grant A or
B award for the 2011-12 academic year, up to the maximum number of
awards authorized for Competitive Cal Grant A or B awards in the
annual Budget Act.
(3) Third priority shall be given to all other students who meet
the eligibility requirements established for a
an Entitlement Cal Grant A or B award or a Cal Grant
Transfer Entitlement award for the 2011-12 academic year,
except that, notwithstanding subdivision (k) of Section 69432.7,
these students may have a maximum household income no greater than
one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), as calculated
pursuant to subdivision (a) the maximum household
income level adopted pursuant to subdivision (d) .
(c) (1) Any moneys that may be appropriated from the Higher
Education Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund for purposes of
this section shall be in addition to, and are intended to supplement,
other moneys appropriated for the Cal Grant Program.
(2) Any moneys that may be appropriated from the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund for purposes of this
section are intended to provide initial and renewal Entitlement
and Competitive Cal Grant A , B, and
and B awards and Cal Grant Transfer Entitlement awards,
pursuant to the priorities specified in (b), to students who would
otherwise be ineligible if not for the expanded eligibility provided
by this section.
(d) Commencing on April 1, 2014, and each April 1 thereafter, the
commission shall certify the funds available for distribution from
the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund for
the following award year commencing on July 1, adjusted by the
difference between the estimated awards and the actual awards for the
preceding award year. The amount available for distribution in any
award year shall not exceed 80 percent of the fund balance.
Notwithstanding any other law, the commission shall thereafter
determine the highest maximum household income level that is capable
of being supported by the funds available for distribution for the
following award year. The commission shall thereafter adopt that
amount as the maximum household income level for the following award
year.
(e) If, after making awards for an award year pursuant to this
section, funds remain in the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit
Program Special Fund, those funds shall remain in the Higher
Education Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund and be available
for allocation in future award years.
(f) Awards provided by this section are payable only to the extent
that funds are available for distribution from the Higher Education
Investment Tax Credit Program Special Fund. The commission shall
inform each recipient of an award under this section that the award
is for one academic year only and is not an entitlement and that
future awards are subject to the availability of funds for
distribution in the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program
Special Fund.
(d)
(g) This section shall remain in effect until December
1, 2018, or until all funds in the Higher Education Investment Tax
Credit Program Special Fund are expended, whichever date comes last,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before December 1, 2018, or before the date when all
funds in the Higher Education Investment Tax Credit Program Special
Fund are expended, whichever comes last, deletes or extends that
period.
SEC. 3. This act shall become operative only if Senate
Bill 1356 is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2013
not become operative until the Franchise
Tax Board sends a letter to the Student Aid Commission verifying that
legislation has been enacted that provides for an investment tax
credit for the purpose of funding this act .