Senate Bill No. 1028

Introduced by Senator Jackson

February 14, 2014

An act to amend Section 69439 of the Education Code, relating to student financial aid.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1028, as introduced, Jackson. Student financial aid: Cal Grant C awards.

Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Act, establishes the Cal Grant C Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under this program. The act requires that a Cal Grant C award be used only for occupational or technical training, as defined, in a course of not less than 4 months. The act requires the commission, after consultation with state and federal agencies, to determine the areas of occupational or technical training for which Cal Grant C awards shall be awarded. Existing law also requires the Student Aid Commission to develop, and regularly review and update at least every 5 years, the areas of occupational or technical training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards and to give priority in granting the awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in areas that meet specified criteria. The act requires the maximum award amount and total amount of funding for the Cal Grant C Program to be determined each year in the annual Budget Act. The act requires the number of the awards made each year to be the same as the number of awards made for the 2000-01 fiscal year. The act requires the Legislative Analyst’s Office to report every odd-numbered year to the Legislature on the outcomes of the Cal Grant C program, as specified.

This bill would revise and recast the act to, among other things, require the number of awards made each year to be at least the same number of awards made for the 2000-01 fiscal year and would require the amount awarded to be not less than $3,009, and not more than $5,000, per award. The bill would reserve 2,500 awards for the California’s long-term unemployed. The bill would additionally authorize the award be expended for the student’s living expenses. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with specified entities, for purposes of the Cal Grant C program, to prioritize occupational training programs and industry clusters. The bill would require the commission to consult with specified public entities to develop a plan to publicize the grant award program to the California’s long-term unemployed and a plan to make students receiving awards aware of job search and placement services available through specified public entities. The bill would require the commission, instead of the Legislative Analyst’s Office, to submit to the Legislature the above-described reports and would require the reports to provide information separately on the awards reserved for the long-term unemployed.

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.  

Section 69439 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

69439.  

(a)  begin insert For the purposes of this section, the following terms
have the following meanings: end insert

begin insert

(1) “Career pathway” means an identified series of positions,
work experiences, or educational benchmarks or credentials with
multiple access points that offer occupational and financial
advancement within a specific career field or related fields over
time.

end insert begin insert

(2) “Economic security” means, with respect to a worker,
earning a wage sufficient to support a family adequately, and, over
time, to save for emergency expenses and adequate retirement
income, based on factors, such as household size, the cost of living
in the worker’s community, and other factors that may vary by
region.

end insert begin insert

(3) “Industry cluster” means any of the following:

end insert begin insert

(A) A geographic concentration or emerging concentration of
interdependent industries with direct service, supplier, and
research relationships.

end insert begin insert

(B) Independent industries that share common resources in a
given regional economy or labor market.

end insert begin insert

(C) A group of employers closely linked by common products
or services, workforce needs, similar technologies, and supply
chains in a given regional economic or labor market.

end insert begin insert

(4) “Long-term unemployed” means, with respect to an award
applicant, a person who has been unemployed for more than 26
weeks at the time of submission to the commission of his or her
application.

end insert begin insert

(5) “Occupational or technical training” means that phase of
education coming after the completion of a secondary school
program and leading toward recognized occupational goals
approved by the commission.

end insert

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert A Cal Grant C award shall be utilized only for
occupational or technical training in a course of not less than four
months. begin delete There end delete begin insert Except as provided in paragraph (4), there end insert shall
be begin insert , at least, end insert the same number of Cal Grant C awards each year as
were made in the 2000-01 fiscal year. begin delete The end delete

begin insert

(2) A minimum of 2,500 Cal Grant C awards shall be reserved
for California’s long-term unemployed.

end insert

begin insert (3) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert maximum award amount and the total amount of funding
shall be determined each year in the annual Budget begin delete Act. end delete begin insert Act, but
the annual award amount of Cal Grant C awards shall be no less
than three thousand nine dollars ($3,009) and no more than five
thousand dollars ($5,000) per award. end insert

begin insert

(4) If the total amount of funding provided in the annual Budget
Act for a fiscal year is insufficient to provide the same number of
Cal Grant C awards made in the 2000-01 fiscal year at the
minimum award level of three thousand nine dollars ($3,009) for
each award, the commission shall ensure the amount awarded for
each award is not less than three thousand nine dollars ($3,009).

end insert begin delete

(b) “Occupational or technical training” means that phase of
education coming after the completion of a secondary school
program and leading toward recognized occupational goals
approved by the commission.

end delete

(c) The commission may use criteria it deems appropriate in
selecting students begin delete with occupational talents end delete to receive grants for
occupational or technical training begin insert and may use different criteria
for awards reserved for the long-term unemployed end insert .

(d) The Cal Grant C award recipients shall be eligible for
renewal of their grants until they have completed their occupational
or technical training in conformance with terms prescribed by the
commission. A determination by the commission for a subsequent
award year that the program under which a Cal Grant C was
initially awarded is no longer deemed to receive priority shall not
affect an award recipient’s renewal. In no case shall the grants
exceed two calendar years.

(e) Cal Grant C awards begin delete shall be end delete begin insert may be used end insert for institutional
fees, charges, and other costs, including tuition, plus
training-related costs, such as special clothing, local transportation,
required tools, equipment, supplies, begin delete and books. end delete begin insert books, and living
expenses. end insert In determining the begin delete amount of grants and training-related
costs, end delete begin insert individual award amounts, end insert the commission shall take into
account other state and federal programs available to the applicant.

(f) (1) To ensure alignment with the state’s dynamic economic
needs, the commission, in consultation with appropriate state and
federal agencies, begin insert including the Economic and Workforce
Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges and the California Workforce
Investment Board, end insert shall begin delete develop end delete begin insert identify end insert areas of occupational and
technical training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C
awards. The commission, begin delete if necessary, may end delete begin insert to the extent feasible,
shall end insert also consult with begin delete nongovernmental stakeholders that develop
or provide workforce training or employ graduates of occupational
and technical training programs for this purpose. end delete begin insert representatives
of the state’s leading competitive and emerging industry clusters,
workforce professionals, and career technical educators, to
determine which occupational training programs and industry
clusters should be prioritized. end insert

(2)  begin delete The end delete begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the end insert areas
of occupational and technical training developed pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall be regularly reviewed and updated at least
every five years, beginning in 2012.

begin insert

(B) By January 1, 2016, the commission shall update the priority
areas of occupational and technical training.

end insert

(3) The commission shall give priority in granting Cal Grant C
awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in
areas that meet begin delete at least two of end delete the following criteria:

begin delete

(A) High employment need.

end delete begin insert

(A) High employer need or demand and likelihood of the student
being placed in a job for which the student is being trained.

end insert

(B) High employment salary or wage begin delete projections. end delete begin insert projections
for workers employed in the occupations for which they are being
trained. end insert

begin delete

(C) High employment growth.

end delete begin insert

(C) The likelihood of job placement in a position with a well
articulated career pathway to a job providing economic security.

end insert begin insert

(D) High employment growth in the occupational field or
industry cluster for which the student is being trained.

end insert

(g) The commission shall determine areas of occupational or
technical training that meet the criteria described in paragraph (3)
of subdivision (f) in consultation with the Employment
Development begin delete Department end delete begin insert Department, the Economic and
Workforce Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges, and the California
Workforce Investment Board end insert using projections available through
the Labor Market Information Data Library. begin insert The commission may
supplement the analyses of the Employment Development
Department’s Labor Market Information Data Library with the
labor market analyses developed by the Economic and Workforce
Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges and the California Workforce
Investment Board, as well as the projections of occupational
shortages and skills gap developed by industry leaders. end insert The
commission shall publish, and retain, on its Internet Web site a
current list of the areas of occupational or technical training that
meet the criteria described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f), and
update this list as necessary.

(h) The commission shall examine the graduation rates and job
placement data of eligible programs. Commencing with the
2014-15 academic year, the commission shall give priority to Cal
Grant C applicants seeking to enroll in programs that rate high in
graduation rates and job placement data.

begin insert

(i) (1) The commission shall consult with the Workforce Services
Branch of the Employment Development Department, the Office
of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the
California Workforce Investment Board, and the local workforce
investment boards to develop a plan to publicize the existence of
the grant award program to the California’s long-term
unemployed.

end insert begin insert

(2) The commission shall consult with the Workforce Services
Branch of the Employment Development Department, the Office
of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the
California Workforce Investment Board, and the local workforce
investment boards to develop a plan to make students receiving
awards aware of job search and placement services available
through the Employment Development Department and the local
workforce investment boards.

end insert begin delete

(i)

end delete

begin insert (j) end insert  (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government
Code, the begin delete Legislative Analyst’s Office end delete begin insert commission end insert shall submit a
report to the Legislature on the outcomes of the Cal Grant C
Program on or before April 1, 2015, and on or before April 1 of
each odd-numbered year thereafter. This report shall include, but
not necessarily be limited to, information on all of the begin delete following: end delete
begin insert following, with information on awards that are reserved for the
long-term unemployed provided separately: end insert

(A) The age, gender, and segment of attendance for recipients
in two prior award years.

(B) The occupational and technical training program categories
prioritized.

(C) The number and percentage of students who received
selection priority as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f).

(D) The extent to which recipients in these award years were
successfully placed in jobs that meet local, regional, or state
workforce needs.

(2) For the report due on or before April 1, 2015, the begin delete Legislative
Analyst’s Office end delete begin insert commission end insert shall include data for two additional
prior award years and shall compare the mix of occupational and
technical training programs and institutions in which Cal Grant C
recipients enrolled before and after implementation of subdivision
(f).

(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.