BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1391|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1391
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 4/10/14
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/24/14
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Galgiani, Hancock, Hueso, Huff,
Monning
NO VOTE RECORDED: Correa
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/29/14
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Knight, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: De Le�n
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SUBJECT : Community colleges: inmate education programs:
computation of
apportionments
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill waives the open course requirement for the
California Community College (CCC) courses offered in state
correctional facilities and allows attendance hours generated by
credit courses to be funded at the credit rate, instead of the
noncredit funding rate. In addition, this bill requires the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in
collaboration with the Chancellor of the CCC to establish the
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Innovative Career Technical Education Grant Program (ICTEGP), as
specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes a CCC district to claim
state apportionment (funding) for classes it provides to inmates
of any city, county, or city and county jail, road camp, farm
for adults, or federal correctional facility (not for inmates in
state correctional facilities). Under existing law the
attendance hours generated by these classes, whether credit or
noncredit, are counted as noncredit attendance hours for
apportionment purposes.
Classes provided to inmates of state correctional facilities are
not currently authorized for funding. In addition, no funds
provided for inmate education programs can be considered as part
of the base revenues for CCC districts in computing
apportionments.
Courses offered to state correctional inmates must be "distance
education" courses open to the public, as well. Under existing
law, CCC courses offered in local and federal correctional
facilities that are not open to the public are funded at a
"noncredit rate" (which is less than a "for credit rate"), even
if the courses are actually for credit.
This bill waives the open course requirement (where courses
must be offered to the general public) for CCC courses offered
in state correctional facilities and allow attendance hours
generated by credit courses to be funded at the credit rate,
instead of the noncredit funding rate. In addition, this bill
requires the CDCR in collaboration with the Chancellor of the
CCC to establish the ICTEGP, as specified. Specifically this
bill:
1. Waives open course provisions for any local CCC district that
provides classes for inmates in state correctional
facilities.
2. Expands the existing authority of local CCC governing boards
to claim full-time equivalent student (FTES) for inmate
education programs to include FTES generated in state
correctional facilities.
3. Prohibits the use of the waiver of open course provisions
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granted in this bill in any other context or situation.
4. Authorizes attendance hours generated in CCC courses offered
in state, city, county or federal correctional facilities to
be funded at either: (a) the marginal credit rate for credit
courses, or (b) the noncredit rate for noncredit courses.
5. Deletes the prohibition on the inclusion of funds received
for inmate education programs in the base revenue
computations for the CCC district apportionments.
6. Prohibits CCC from claiming state funding for attendance
hours generated in any inmate education class for which the
college receives full compensation for its direct education
costs or through contract or instructional agreement with
another public or private agency, individual or group of
individuals, and requires the offset of state aid for partial
compensation received from any such source.
7. Declares that this bill does not provide a source of funds to
shift, supplant or reduce costs incurred by the CDCR in
providing inmate education.
8. Requires the CDCR, in collaboration with the CCC Chancellor's
Office to establish the ICTEGP, as specified.
9. Specifies the general education and workforce development
goals and details regarding the administration of the grant
program be included in an interagency agreement between CDCR
and the CCC Chancellor's office. Requires the CDCR and CCC
Chancellor's Office to develop metrics for evaluations of the
efficacy and success of the grant program. Requires the
evaluation reports be submitted to the Legislature every
three years beginning July 2017.
10.Requires programs developed to provide, among other things,
the following:
A. Sequences of courses leading to industry, business, or
state certification.
B. CCC courses that offer units transferrable to the
University of California and the California State
University.
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C. Information on reentry programs with job search
assistance, as specified.
D. If applicable, information about preapprentice and
state-certified apprenticeship programs with a record of
hiring participants of the program with similar education
upon their release from incarceration.
11.Requires an unspecified amount of funding, beginning in
2014-15 and annually thereafter, be transferred from the CDCR
to the CCC Chancellor's Office for the purposes of the
program. In addition, this bill requires CDCR to provide for
up to an unspecified number of grants, with an unspecified
number of these grants being awarded for programs offered at
a women's correctional facility.
12.Requires the CDCR, in consultation with the CCC Chancellor's
Office, to determine the amount of grant awards, as
specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Conversion to "for credit" rate . Potentially substantial new
General Fund costs, likely in the high hundreds of thousands
of dollars, which will be determined by the number of
for-credit courses that will otherwise be funded at the
noncredit rate or which will not be offered at all without the
funding augmentation.
Inclusion of state correctional facilities . Potentially
significant costs, which will be determined by the extent to
which CCC courses expand in state prisons because of the
waiver. The expansion is likely to be mitigated by new course
offerings through the ICTEG Program.
ICTEG Program . Approximately $20 million (General Fund)
statewide (or about $500,000 - $600,000 per correctional
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institution) to establish the program. Ongoing annual costs
of $5 million - $6.5 million (General Fund) statewide (or
about $150,000 - $190,000 per correctional institution)
depending on the award amounts determined by CDCR and the CCC
Chancellor and the availability of funding for this program.
The CCC Chancellor's office will incur approximately $110,000
- $170,000 in personnel and travel expenses ongoing.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/14)
Community College League of California
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Kern County Community College District
Legal Services For Prisoners With Children
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
Men and Boys of Color
Peralta Community College District
Policylink
Rio Hondo Community College Districts
South Orange County Community College District
West Kern Community College District
Yosemite Community College District
Yuba Community College District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
inmate education, both academic and career technical education
are key to giving inmates the skills and social support in
finding employment upon release from prison. While some higher
education and community organizations provide career skills
development opportunities to inmates, fewer collaborations to
date have resulted on hands-on sequences of courses leading to
industry or state certifications known to be important in
seeking subsequent employment. This bill allows the CCC to
collect funds for inmate programs within prisons and work in
collaboration with the CDCR. CCC expertise and faculty
connections to workforce networks of employers with a track
record of hiring formerly incarcerated men and women are key
components to the inmate education proposals within this
measure.
PQ:d 5/25/14 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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