BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1862
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1862 (Melendez)
As Amended April 3, 2014
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 13-0
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|Ayes:|Williams, Ch�vez, Bloom, | | |
| |Fong, Fox, Jones-Sawyer, | | |
| |Levine, Linder, Medina, | | |
| |Olsen, Quirk-Silva, | | |
| |Weber, Wilk | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Moves the due date of the report on the California
National Guard (CNG) Education Assistance Award Program (EAAP)
to the Legislature by the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO)
from January 1, 2016, to January 31, 2015.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the CNG EAAP to enhance retention within the CNG
and sets specific conditions of eligibility for participation
in the program, including, but not limited to the following:
a) the person is a resident of California, as specified in
current law; b) the person is an active member of, and has
served two years in, the CNG, the State Military Reserve
(SMR), or the Naval Militia; c) the person has been accepted
or registered at, enrolled in, a qualifying institution, as
specified in current law; d) the person has submitted the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to the U.S.
Department of Education; and, e) each person applying for the
CNG EAAP shall submit an application for an award to the
Adjutant General;
2)Specifies that the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) is
responsible for issuing the awards upon receipt of a
certificate from the Adjutant General verifying that the
applicant meets the eligibility requirements and requires CSAC
to report annually to the Legislature regarding the EAAP
participants, as specified;
AB 1862
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3)Specifies that qualifying members shall not receive both a CNG
EAAP and any Cal Grant award in the same academic year and
specifies the amount of an award issued shall be as follows:
a) for a recipient attending the University of California (UC)
or the California State University (CSU), the maximum amount
of the Cal Grant A award, pursuant to current law, as adjusted
in the annual Budget Act; b) for a recipient attending a
community college, the maximum amount of the Cal Grant B
award, pursuant to current law, as adjusted in the annual
Budget Act; and, c) for a recipient attending a nonpublic
institution, the maximum amount of a Cal Grant A award for a
student attending the UC pursuant to current law, as adjusted
in the annual Budget Act;
4)Specifies the following: a) an award used for graduate
studies shall not exceed the maximum amount of a Cal Grant A
award, as specified, plus $500 for books and supplies; b) the
award amount shall not exceed the difference between the
recipient's cost of attendance and any other student financial
aid and educational benefits pursuant to the federal
Montgomery GI Bill (38 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section
3001, et seq.) or any other federal educational benefits
program for veterans; and, c) CNG Education Assistance awards
may be renewed for each new academic year, for a maximum of
the greater of either i) four years of full-time equivalent
enrollment or ii) the duration for which the qualifying member
would otherwise be eligible pursuant to the Cal Grant Program,
if the Adjutant General certifies the qualifying member's
eligibility and the qualifying member maintains at least a 2.0
cumulative grade point average; and,
5)Tasks the LAO, on or before January 1, 2016, to prepare and
submit to the Legislature a report on the CNG EAAP, including
recommendations for modifying or extending the CNG EAAP; and,
specifies that the CNG EAAP, as of July 1, 2019, shall become
inoperative, and on January 1, 2020, is repealed unless a
later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before
January 1, 2020, deletes or extends the dates on which it
becomes inoperative and is repealed (Education Code Section
69999.16, et seq.).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
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COMMENTS : The CNG EAAP, which went into effect on January 1,
2010, is a state-funded grant for up to 1,000 service members in
the CNG, SMR, or the Naval Militia, or as many participants as
the annual budget will allow. CNG EAAP authorizes the CSAC to
make payments to eligible program participants. Participants
can receive up to the amount of the Cal Grant A award for
attending the UC or the CSU, up to the Cal Grant B award for
attending a community college, or up to the UC Cal Grant A
amount for attending a non-public institution. CNG EAAP
graduate school students may receive an additional $500 for
books and supplies.
Initial applicants must submit an EAAP Initial Application, the
Statement of Understanding, and FAFSA prior to the application
deadline dates indicated below. For initial applicants, the
priority application period starts on January 15 (or the next
business day) and ends on the priority deadline date of April
30. The application process will continue to remain open after
April 30 on a first-come, first-serve basis until January 14, or
until all awards have been exhausted. Renewal participants must
complete the EAAP Renewal Application and the Renewal Statement
of Understanding. Renewal paperwork is available from January 15
(or the next business day) through the deadline date of June 1.
Failure to renew will result in withdrawal from the CNG EAAP.
Award dollars: The award amounts for recipients of the CNG EAAP
for the 2012-13 and the 2013-14 Academic Year (AY) are:
1)Up to $1,473 at the community college (per Cal Grant B)
2)Up to $12,192 at the UC or a non-public institution (per Cal
Grant A)
3)Up to $5,472 at the CSU (per Cal Grant A)
Need for the bill: According to the author, CNG EAAP is crucial
to helping service members of the CNG further their education.
The author states, "The discontinuation of the program in July
of 2019, will no longer allow our service members to strive for
a secondary education."
How many: According to the California Military Department,
since the enactment of the CNG EAAP, to date, the program has
not exceeded 1,000 awards in one academic year. To note, thus
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far in the 2013-14 AY, there are 345 participants. The chart
below shows the number of participants in the CNG EAAP over the
course of four years:
----------------------------------
| | Number of CNG EAAP |
| AY | Participants |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2009-10 | 243 |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2010-11 | 450 |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2011-12 | 322 |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2012-13 |292* |
| | |
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*For the 2012-13 AY, 156 previously qualifying institutions
became ineligible because of a change to the definition of a
qualifying institution for the Cal Grant program. Due to this
change, 59 new applicants who had submitted completed
applications had to be turned away.
Award dollars: According to the California Military Department,
in the 2013-14 AY, $2,445,535 has been budgeted for CNG EAAP
awards. To date, the CNG EAAP has paid out $1,532,485 in awards
for the 2013-14 AY. To note, the California Military Department
is projected to use all the funds for this AY. The chart below
shows the dollar amount that has been awarded to eligible
participants over the course of four years:
----------------------------------
| AY | Distributed Award |
| | Dollars |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2009-10 | $795,759 |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2010-11 | $2,472,246 |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2011-12 | $2,418,392 |
|----------+-----------------------|
| 2012-13 | $1,988,534* |
| | |
AB 1862
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*For the 2012-13 AY, 156 previously qualifying institutions
became ineligible because of a change to the definition of a
qualifying institution for the Cal Grant program. Due to this
change, 59 new applicants who had submitted completed
applications had to be turned away.
Related legislation: AB 1781 (Linder) of the current
legislative session, revises the eligibility condition of the
CNG EAAP to specify that it is satisfied by a person enrolling
in at least three academic units per semester, or the equivalent
thereof, including summer sessions and intersession terms.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0003167