Bill Text: CA AB2434 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Postsecondary education: higher education policy.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB2434 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2434-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2434 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Bonta and Ting
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to repeal Section 66010.6 add and
repeal Chapter 11.1 (commencing with Section 66910) of Part 40 of
Division 5 of Tit le 3 of the Education Code,
relating to postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2434, as amended, Bonta. Postsecondary education: higher
education policy.
Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the
missions and functions of the 4 segments comprising the state's
postsecondary education system. These segments are the University of
California, administered by the Regents of the University of
California, the California State University, administered by the
Trustees of the California State University, the California Community
Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education.
A provision of the act sets forth the missions of specified
agencies charged with coordination, administration, or
implementation of higher education policies and programs.
This bill would delete this provision, and would express
the intent of the Legislature to explore alternative ways to improve
affordability, accessibility, coordination, and development of higher
education policy that are consistent with the interest of the people
and State of California. establish the 9-member Blue
Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education, and specify its
membership and duties. The bill would require the commission to
publish a report on designated subjects and submit this report to
designated governmental entities by March 31, 2018. The bill would
require the Office of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public
Postsecondary Education to close on June 30, 2018, and would repeal
the provisions of the bill on January 1, 2019. The bill would
require, upon that repeal, all of the documents and working papers o
f the commission to become the property of the State
Archives.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) More universal participation in postsecondary education in
California is of vital public interest to ensure an informed
citizenry, a functional democracy, a vibrant workforce, and a leading
21st century economy.
(b) Communities of color now comprise the new majority of
California high school pupils. As cited by the University of
California in an amicus brief filed in Fisher v. University of Texas,
in 2012 high school graduates were 46.2 percent Latino, 30.5 percent
white, 13.6 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.7 percent African
American, and 0.7 percent Native American.
(c) Despite outreach programs and other efforts, historically
disadvantaged groups remain underrepresented. These groups include
communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ students, individuals from
low-income and working class communities, and others with unique
needs.
(d) Long-term trends with tuition increases across California's
public four-year universities have made college less affordable.
Resident tuition and fees at the University of California (UC) and
California State University (CSU) have risen by 139 percent and 157
percent, respectively, from the 2003-04 academic year to the 2013-14
academic year, inclusive. These increases are significantly higher
than 91 percent, which is the national average for public four-year
universities over the same time period, according to the California
State University, Sacramento, Institute for Higher Education
Leadership and Policy.
(e) The full price of college beyond tuition, including the costs
of books, room and board, and other expenses, is a significant
barrier and burden for students from low- and middle-income families.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, in
2011-2012, the average nontuition cost of attending UC was $17,264,
or 57 percent of the total cost, and the average nontuition cost of
attending CSU was $12,781, or 66 percent of the total cost.
(f) California's Master Plan for Higher Education was submitted to
the Legislature in 1960. The Master Plan was developed to provide a
thoughtful statewide framework for higher education and sought to
ensure universal access to higher education. This latter goal made
California unique among the states and led to the creation of the
most prominent higher education system in the nation and the world, a
model that was replicated and revered. Undergirding this system and
essential to its success was the commitment of California's
investment. Today, that commitment has changed as state resources
that could have been made available for higher education have
increasingly been dedicated to incarceration. According to the Public
Policy Institute of California, from 2003 to 2010, inclusive,
California's prison population grew only 1 percent, while general
fund expenditures on corrections increased by 26 percent.
(g) The Public Policy Institute of California projects that the
state will fall short about 1,100,000 college graduates who will be
in economic demand by 2030 if enrollment and graduation rates do not
increase, and that highly educated workers from outside California
are unlikely to fill this gap.
(h) Since 2012, when the California Postsecondary Education
Commission was defunded, California has lacked a coordinating body
for postsecondary education. The absence of such a body has reduced
the ability of the state to effectively develop long-term plans for
public postsecondary education and to fully engage with the public in
the development of such plans.
(i) The Governor has acknowledged the well-established need for
coordinating and guiding state higher education policy and has
encouraged higher education stakeholders to explore alternative ways
to more effectively improve coordination and development of higher
education policy.
(j) Given this, and to ensure full and equitable accessibility to
higher and postsecondary education, California must create and fund a
Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education to develop
a written plan to ensure that public universities and colleges in
California are tuition-free and affordable to all students, including
low-income and underrepresented students, and have the capacity to
provide universal participation for all high school graduates by the
year 2030.
SEC. 2. Chapter 11.1 (commencing with Section
66910) is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the
Education Code , to read:
CHAPTER 11.1. BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION ON PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY
EDUCATION
66910. (a) There is hereby created the Blue Ribbon Commission on
Public Postsecondary Education. The purpose of the commission is to
make recommendations on improving access to and affordability in
postsecondary education for Californians.
(b) (1) There shall be nine public members of the commission, who
shall be California residents who are community leaders, business
leaders, and others knowledgeable in the area of postsecondary
education. The nine public members shall be representative of the
cultural, ethnic, racial, and geographic diversity of the state. The
members are as follows:
(A) Three members from the public appointed by the Governor.
(B) Three members from the public appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules.
(C) Three members from the public appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly.
(2) The Governor may designate any one of the nine members
appointed to the commission to serve as temporary chairperson of the
commission for its first meeting. The first order of business of the
commission shall be to elect a permanent chairperson.
(c) Commission meetings are subject to the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1
of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(d) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation,
but shall receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses
incurred in connection with the performance of their duties as
members.
(e) No person who is employed or retained by any public or private
postsecondary educational institution shall be appointed to or serve
on the commission. No person who is a spouse or domestic partner of
an employee, an officer, or retained by a public or private
postsecondary educational institution shall be appointed to serve on
the commission.
(f) (1) There shall be an office titled the Office of the Blue
Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education. The office shall
do all of the following:
(A) Implement the duties and directives of the commission.
(B) Consult with the higher education segments and stakeholders,
as appropriate, in the conduct of its duties and responsibilities.
(2) The office may request and receive information necessary to
conduct its business, from the higher education segments, the
Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the
Student Aid Commission.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, "higher education segments"
means the segments described in Section 66010.95. Higher education
stakeholders include, but are not necessarily limited to,
postsecondary faculty, staff, and students, K-12 representatives,
representatives of the business community, representatives of labor,
representatives of community-based organizations, and nonprofit
organizations.
(g) (1) The office shall be established in state government, and
shall be under the direct control of an executive director.
(2) The commission shall appoint the executive director at a
salary that shall be fixed pursuant to Section 12001 of the
Government Code.
(3) The commission shall select and designate a state
administrative agency to carry out the personnel, contractual, and
all other fiscal services required by the commission.
(h) The duties of the commission shall include, but need not be
limited to, the review of relevant reports by the University of
California, the California State University, the Board of Governors
of the California Community Colleges, the Student Aid Commission, the
Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst's Office, foundations
or nonprofit organizations, the California Postsecondary Education
Commission, or any other reports the commission deems appropriate.
(i) The commission shall conduct a series of at least 10 public
hearings specifically focused on the needs of and seeking input from
African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans,
Pacific Islanders, boys and men of color, undocumented immigrants,
LGBTQ students, and other underserved or underrepresented groups in
public postsecondary education. The hearings shall be held in
geographically diverse regions of the state to solicit testimony of
individuals, public interest groups, alumni organizations, or any
other interested private groups and organizations as well as
professors, administrators, students, representatives from
historically underrepresented groups in public higher education, and
others who are directly affected for the purpose of soliciting the
input of these groups in the formulations of the commission's
recommendations.
(j) In addition, the commission shall, at a minimum, study,
analyze, issue written recommendations, and report to the Legislature
and to the Governor on all of the following:
(1) Establishing the need to create a public postsecondary
education system that ensures universal access with the capacity to
support universal participation of all high school graduates in
California.
(2) Identifying the current enrollment capacity in public
postsecondary education as compared to the enrollment capacity needed
in public postsecondary education to ensure universal access and
universal participation for all high school graduates in California.
(3) Identifying the enrollment slots needed to ensure the state's
public postsecondary education system can graduate an additional
1,100,000 California residents by 2030 to meet the economic demands
of the state.
(4) Determining the number of additional campuses needed, if any,
in each of the public postsecondary education segments to accommodate
the additional enrollment demands described in paragraphs (1) to
(3), inclusive. The commission shall consider geographic areas of the
state where a significant demand for public postsecondary
educational services is not being met by current campuses and
programs.
(5) Ensuring that enrollments in public postsecondary institutions
reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of California high school
pupils and high school graduates. The commission shall identify
admission criteria, student outreach, student preparation, student
retention, and other mechanisms that can promote this diversity.
(6) Ensuring equity for historically disadvantaged and
underrepresented groups that include, but are not limited to,
communities of color, documented and undocumented immigrants,
individuals from low-income and working-class backgrounds, LGBTQ
people, and others with unique needs.
(7) Determining the amount of increased investments in public
postsecondary education necessary to support a mission of universal
access and participation of all Californians. The increased
investments shall take into account the additional resources needed
to support the recommendations pursuant to paragraphs (2) to (6),
inclusive. These recommendations shall identify expenditure
requirements to support this objective and recommend additional
revenue sources to finance this mission.
(8) The resources required to create an affordable and
tuition-free education system in the California public postsecondary
environment, with a first priority on supporting those students with
the lowest incomes and least financial resources. This task shall
include an analysis of not only tuition and fees, but a focus on
additional college costs, such as books and supplies, food, housing,
transportation, loan fees, child and dependent care, and other costs.
The analysis shall incorporate the availability of federal, state,
and campus-based financial aid efforts to offset these additional
college costs to determine the extra resources needed to support all
low-income and underrepresented California resident students.
(k) The commission shall publish its report by March 31, 2018. The
report shall be transmitted to the fiscal and education policy
committees of the Legislature, the Regents of the University of
California, the Trustees of the California State University, the
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Director
of Finance, and the Governor. Copies of the report shall be posted
on the Governor's Internet Web site.
(l) The office shall close no later than June 30, 2018.
66911. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. Upon the repeal of Section 66910 of the
Education Code, all of the documents and working papers of the Blue
Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education shall become the
property of the State Archives.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to explore alternative ways to improve affordability, accessibility,
coordination, and development of higher education policy that are
consistent with the interest of the people and State of California.
SEC. 2. Section 66010.6 of the Education Code
is repealed.
