Blog >
CCCCO Legislative Weekly State and Federal Update: June 12, 2020
Blog
CCCCO Legislative Weekly State and Federal Update: June 12, 2020
CCCCO Legislative Weekly State and Federal Update
Priority State Legislation
AB 1930 (Medina) would require the Trustees of the California State University (CSU), and requests the Regents of the University of California (UC), before adding any changes in student eligibility policy that affects students systemwide of that segment to engage in a multi-step process prior to make said change. This bill passed the Assembly on a 66-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
AB 2019 (Holden) would authorize a county office of education to enter into a College and Career Access Pathway partnership with a community college district. This bill passed the Assembly on a 77-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
Chancellor’s Office position: Support
AB 2190 (Medina) would remove the non-voting status of one of the two student members serving on the Board of Governors, thereby giving both students voting rights. This bill passed the Assembly on a 77-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
AB 2282 (McCarty) would require the Trustees of the California State University and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and encourages the Regents of the University of California, no later than January 1, 2021, in consultation with the California Department of Social Services and county human services agencies, to establish a CalFresh student outreach text messaging program. This bill passed the Assembly on a 77-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
AB 2288 (Low) would waive, during a state of emergency, a number of provisions in existing law related to training for nurses, mirroring waivers granted this year through executive order under the Governor’s emergency authority in light of the COVID-19 crisis. This bill passed the Assembly on a 76-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
AB 2388 (Berman) Would require each California Community College campus by February 1, 2021, to develop various methods to increase students' awareness of on- and off- campus basic needs resources. Encourages each CCC campus by July 1, 2021, to establish a Basic Needs Center and the role of a Basic Needs Coordinator, in order to consolidate and centralize the basic needs resources available on campus. This bill passed the Assembly 77-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
AB 2416 (Gabriel) would requires institutions of higher education to allow students to appeal their loss of student financial aid if they fail to meet "satisfactory academic progress" (SAP) due to homelessness. This bill passed the Assembly 78-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
AB 2884 (Berman) would permit community college districts to utilize restricted lottery funds to provide food and housing assistance to students. This bill passed the Assembly 71-1 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
Chancellor’s Office position: Support
AB 2972 (Limon) would require the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and encourages the University of California, to create an systemwide training program for administrators to be completed annually regarding undocumented students, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policies, federal and state laws related to immigration generally, and state law relating to exemption from nonresident tuition. This bill passed the Assembly 59-12 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
AB 3137 (Voepel) would authorize community colleges who participate in the California College Promise Program to permit students who are members of the United States Armed Forces, who are called to serve, to withdraw and re-enroll in the program without losing eligibility of any benefits. This bill passed the Assembly on a 76-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
Chancellor’s Office position: Support
AB 3374 (Assembly Higher Education Committee) would delete the requirement in that the Legislative Analyst’s office submit a final report on the community college Basic Skills and Student Outcomes Transformation (BSSOT) grant program, and clarify that full-time or part-time clinical nursing faculty may be employed by a single community college district (CCC) for up to 4 semesters or 6 quarters within any period of 3 consecutive academic years. This bill passed the Assembly on a 76-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
ACA 5 (Weber) would ask voters to repeal Proposition 209, an amendment passed as a voter initiative in 1996 which prohibited California state and local governments from utilizing race-conscious policies and other forms of affirmative action to remedy the effects of past discrimination in the areas of public employment, public education, or public contracting. This bill passed the Assembly on a 60-14 vote and has been referred to the Senate.
Chancellor’s Office position: Support
SB 794 (Senators Jackson and Stern) would authorize the governing bodies of the California State University, the University of California, and each community college district to use their own enrollment, registration, and personnel records to access the contact information of students and employees for the sole purpose of enrolling students and employees in a university- or college-operated public emergency warning system. This bill passed the Senate and has been referred to the Assembly.
SB 860 (Beall) would clarify the role of Foster Youth Services Coordinating Programs to include coordination of efforts to support Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion among foster youth who are high school seniors. This bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 6-0 vote and has been referred to the Senate Floor.
Chancellor’s Office position: Support
SB 956 (Jackson) would create the California Tax Expenditure Review Board as an independent advisory body to comprehensively assess major tax expenditures and make recommendations to the Legislature. This bill was heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 9th, and has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Suspense file for a hearing on June 18th.
Chancellor’s Office position: Support
SB 1110 (Hurtado) would create the California Medicine Scholars Program, a 5-year pilot program that would provide a pre-medical workforce pathway for California Community College students to address the shortage of primary care physicians in California. This bill was heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 9th, and has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Suspense file for a hearing on June 18th.
Chancellor’s Office position: Support
Federal Update
On Thursday, June 11, the U.S. Department of Education issued an interim final rule that carries out Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ policy, first announced in April, of barring undocumented students and others who don’t qualify for federal student aid from receiving CARES Act emergency grants. In a statement, the department said the rule will “help to ensure taxpayer-funded coronavirus relief money is distributed properly and does not go to foreign nationals, non-citizens, and students who may be enrolled in ineligible education programs.” The rule will take effect when it is published in the Federal Register, which is expected sometime next week.
On Tuesday, June 9, during a virtual hearing, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers repeatedly questioned the Trump administration’s legal arguments in favor of the restrictions of CARES Act emergency grants to undocumented students and suggested she may issue a ruling on the matter within the next week. The judge, an Obama appointee in the Northern District of California, sharply criticized the Education Department for “putting roadblocks” in the way of the swift distribution of emergency coronavirus assistance.
The Senate is expected to begin its 2021 Appropriations markups by June 22. The Senate Appropriations chair has given the subcommittees the option to skip their markups and go straight to full committee. The House plans to begin markups the week of July 6, with the goal of completing all twelve spending bills before the August recess.
