BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 1348 (J. Perez) - California Higher Education Authority
Amended: July 2, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No. See staff comments.
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1348 establishes the California Higher
Education Authority (CHEA), its governing board and its
responsibilities, as specified, phased-in over a three-year
period.
Fiscal Impact:
Annual costs of approximately $2 million - $ 4 million
(General Fund), once fully operational.
Segments: Potentially significant costs to the University
of California, California State University, and California
Community colleges (CCC), to provide extensive data to CHEA
upon its request. See staff comments.
Background: Existing law establishes the California
Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) to be responsible for
coordinating public, independent, and private postsecondary
education in California and providing independent policy
analysis and recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor
on postsecondary education issues.
Existing law also requires the CPEC to (1) act as a
clearinghouse for postsecondary education information and to
serve as a primary source of information for the Legislature,
Governor, and other agencies and, (2) develop and maintain a
comprehensive database that supports longitudinal studies of
individual students as they progressed through the state's
postsecondary educational institutions through the use of a
unique student identifier. Additionally, the CPEC was to
provide each of the educational segments access to the data made
available to the CPEC for purposes of the database in order to
support statewide, segmental and individual campus educational
research needs. (Education Code § 66900 et. seq.)
AB 1348 (Perez)
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In 2011, Governor Brown vetoed CPEC funding, resulting in its
closure in November 2011. Although the Governor eliminated all
General Fund support for CPEC, its statutory authority remains
intact.
Proposed Law: This repeals CPEC's statutory authority, and
establishes the CHEA, phased-in over a three-year period.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Establishes the CHEA to be governed by a voting
11-member board of directors, including nine
representatives of the general public, as specified, and
two student representatives.
2) Establishes procedures and timelines for board
appointments, and specifies legislative intent that
appointment of the first members of the board of directors
be completed before July 1, 2015.
3) Establishes a nine-member student advisory committee to
advise the board of directors on matters related to student
fees and policies, financial aid, student services, student
life, and educational policy.
4) Authorizes the board of directors to elect a chairperson
from its membership and to enter into agreements with any
public or private agency, officer, person, institution,
corporation, association, or foundation for the performance
of acts or for the furnishing of services, facilities,
materials, goods, supplies, or equipment.
5) Requires the board of directors to appoint an executive
officer of the CHEA, who shall serve at the pleasure of the
board of directors and is authorized to appoint additional
staff of the CHEA as necessary.
6) Requires the CHEA to carry out all of the following
responsibilities:
a) Developing, presenting, and monitoring
postsecondary education goals for the state, as
specified;
b) Measuring and reporting on the efficiency and
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effectiveness of the postsecondary education segments
in serving the state's needs;
c) Making recommendations about how to improve the
performance of the postsecondary education segments;
d) Developing information in order to assist state
and local policymakers and consumers in making
cost-effective investments in postsecondary education
and training to meet the long-term goals of a strong
state economy and vibrant communities;
e) Developing and recommending strategic finance
policy to the Governor and the Legislature on topics
including, but not limited to, the allocation of state
appropriations among the postsecondary education
segments, public postsecondary student fee policy, and
student financial aid;
f) Developing and presenting basic policy parameters
for capacity development or realignment, including,
but not limited to, expansion or realignment of
enrollment capacity among or within the postsecondary
education segments, to meet the state's higher
education goals;
g) Acting as a clearinghouse for postsecondary
education information, as specified.
7) Requires the CHEA to provide a freshman eligibility
report, as specified, within 18 months.
8) Requires the board to convene a 10-member technical
working group, as specified, to advise on data and policy
matters.
9) Authorizes the CHEA to require the governing boards and
the institutions of public postsecondary education to
submit data on plans and programs, costs, selection and
retention of students, enrollments, plant capacities, and
other matters pertinent to effective planning, policy
development, and articulation and coordination, and to
furnish information concerning these matters to the
Governor and to the Legislature as requested by them.
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Staff Comments: This bill creates a successor agency to the
CPEC. It specifies the composition of a governing board, a
student advisory board, and the duties of the CHEA. Based on the
former CPEC budget, costs are likely to be $2 million - $4
million (General Fund) annually.
This bill does, however, give significant latitude to the CHEA
board to make decisions that would affect the size of the agency
and its budget. Specifically, this bill authorizes the board of
directors to enter into agreements with any public or private
agency, officer, person, institution, corporation, association,
or foundation for the performance of acts or for the furnishing
of services, facilities, materials, goods, supplies, or
equipment. The bill also requires the board to appoint an
executive officer who "is authorized to appoint additional staff
of the CHEA as necessary." Depending on how the board envisions
the scope of CHEA's work, staffing resources could be
significant and vary over time.
Additionally, this bill gives CHEA the authority to compel the
institutions of public postsecondary education to "submit data
on plans and programs, costs, selection and retention of
students, enrollments, plant capacities, and other matters
pertinent to effective planning, policy development, and
articulation and coordination, and to furnish information
concerning these matters to the Governor and to the Legislature
as requested by them." Depending upon what information is
requested, these requests could drive significant workload at
each of the segments and campuses. Any data reporting
requirements CHEA imposes, with statutory authority to do so, on
CCCs will likely be deemed by the Commission on State Mandates
to be a reimbursable mandate.