BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: ACR 95
AUTHOR: Gomez
AMENDED: April 28, 2014
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 4, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo
SUBJECT : Community college part-time faculty.
SUMMARY
This resolution expresses the intent of the Legislature that the
California community college districts not reduce the hours of
part-time faculty or part-time classified employees for the
purpose of avoiding implementation of the federal Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires businesses with at least 50 full-time and
or full-time equivalent employees to provide affordable health
care coverage that meets a minimum level of coverage to their
employees, or otherwise pay a penalty. Existing law also
defines full-time employees as an employee who works an average
of 30 hours per week.
(42 U.S.C. 300gg-11)
Existing law defines "faculty" as those employees of a community
college district who are employed in academic positions that are
not designated as supervisory or management, as specified.
Faculty include, but are not limited to, instructors,
librarians, counselors, community college health services
professionals, handicapped student programs and services
professionals, and extended opportunity programs and services
professionals. (Education Code � 87003)
Existing law defines any person who is employed to teach adult
or community college classes for not more than 67% of the hours
per week considered a full-time assignment for regular employees
having comparable duties to be classified as a temporary
(part-time) employee. (Education Code � 87482.5 and � 87882)
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ANALYSIS
This resolution makes the following declarations and findings:
1) The provisions of the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (PPACA) relating to employer shared
responsibility require large employers, including
California community college districts, to provide minimum
essential health care coverage for anyone working an
average of at least 30 hours per week;
2) Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 138 (Chapter 142,
Statutes of 2010), expressed the intent of the Legislature
that part-time and temporary faculty receive pay and
benefits that are equal to those of specified tenured and
tenure-track faculty, to the extent funding is provided;
3) The Internal Revenue Service's final ruling in the
Shared Responsibility for Employers Regarding Health Care
Coverage defines service hours to include work paid outside
of the classroom, including office hours and preparation,
for purposes of calculating full-time employment status;
and
4) Individual college and university employers across the
United States have reduced the hours of part-time faculty
and part-time employees specifically to avoid compliance
with the provisions of the PPACA relating to employer
shared responsibility, the operation of which has been
delayed until January 1, 2015.
This resolution resolves the following:
1) That it is the intent of the Legislature that community
college districts not reduce the hours of part-time faculty
or part-time classified employees for the purpose of
avoiding implementation of the federal Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
2) That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges and to the author for appropriate
distribution.
STAFF COMMENTS
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1) Employer shared responsibility . Beginning in 2015,
employers with a minimum number of employees (generally 50
full-time employees or an equivalent combination of
full-time and part-time employees) will be subject to the
Employer Shared Responsibility provisions under section
4980H of the Internal Revenue Code, enacted by the
Affordable Care Act. A full-time employee is defined as an
individual employed on average at least 30 hours of service
per week. An employer that meets the 50 full-time employee
threshold is referred to as an applicable large employer.
Under the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions, if
these employers do not offer affordable health coverage
that provides a minimum level of coverage to their
full-time employees (and their dependents), the employer
may be subject to an Employer Shared Responsibility payment
if at least one of its full-time employees receives a
premium tax credit for purchasing individual coverage on
one of the new Affordable Insurance Exchanges, also called
a Health Insurance Marketplace.
2) Need for the bill . According to the author's office, the
United States Internal Revenue Service in its final ruling
in the Employers Shared Responsibility provisions regarding
health coverage defines service hours to include work paid
outside of the classroom, including office hours and
preparation, for purposes of calculating full-time status.
This ruling may cause some districts to open up the
discussion to move employees from employer based health
care or to simply reduce the number of hours faculty and
classified employees teach in order to avoid having to
provide them with health care. The author's office
indicates, "Part-time faculty and classified employees who
are represented by a union have significantly more
protection through local collective bargaining agreements,
but districts may still avoid providing benefits through
the hiring of additional part-time faculty and
instructional aids as new courses become available, rather
than offering them to current employees so they can be
eligible for the maximum amount of benefits and any
coverage that would include them in PPACA requirements."
This resolution expresses that it is the intent of the
Legislature that it does not support any practice by a
community college district that reduces the employment and
benefits of part-time faculty and classified employees in
an attempt to avoid compliance with the Affordable Care
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Act.
3) Community college faculty . The Board of Governors (BOG) of
the California Community Colleges has had a longstanding
policy that at least 75 percent of the hours of credit
instruction in the community colleges, as a system, should
be taught by full-time instructors (commonly referred to as
"75/25"). Existing law requires the BOG to adopt
regulations regarding the percent of credit instruction
taught by full-time faculty and authorizes community
college districts with less than 75% full-time instructors
to apply a portion of their "program improvement" funds
toward reaching a 75% goal. However, the state has stopped
providing program improvement funds and the BOG has since
required community college districts to provide a portion
of their growth funds to hiring more full-time faculty.
The Legislature has considered various ways to address the
reliance on part-time faculty by the community colleges.
Much of the reason to hire temporary faculty is the lower
costs associated with such faculty. Many believe that
students are under-served by not having access to more
full-time faculty who are more accessible and may have more
teaching expertise. Arguably, the practice of using
temporary faculty raises equity concerns due to the fact
they are generally paid lower wages and don't receive
benefits.
The Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
indicates that as of fall 2012, the California Community
Colleges had a faculty headcount of 55,383 of which 38,135
were part-time faculty.
4) Related legislation . ACR 138 (Nava), Chapter 142, Statutes
of 2010, states legislative intent that part-time and
temporary faculty receive pay and benefits that are equal
to those of specified tenured and tenure-track faculty, to
the extent funding is provided, and that the California
Community Colleges increase the percentage of full-time
tenured and tenure-track faculty.
SUPPORT
California Labor Federation
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
California School Employees Association
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California Teachers Association
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (sponsor)
OPPOSITION
None on file.