Amended  IN  Assembly  March 20, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 2990

Introduced by Assembly Member Low

February 16, 2018

An act to add Section 68120.7 to the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2990, as amended, Low. Public postsecondary education: exemption from tuition and fees for qualifying survivors of deceased public safety and fire suppression personnel. personnel: notice.

Existing

(1) Existing law prohibits the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Trustees of the California State University, and, if they adopt an appropriate resolution, the Regents of the University of California, from collecting mandatory systemwide tuition and fees from any surviving spouse or surviving child of a deceased person who was a resident of the state and employed by or contracting with a public agency, whose principal duties consisted of active law enforcement service or active fire suppression and prevention, and who died as a result of his or her duties, as specified.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure that there is proper notice given to qualifying individuals of the exemption from mandatory systemwide tuition and fees described above. require each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University that has an Internet Web site, and, in the event that the regents adopt an appropriate resolution, each campus of the University of California that has an Internet Web site, to provide an online posting or notice of systemwide fee or tuition waivers available to students pursuant to the provision described above. The bill would require that the online posting or notice be accessible through a prominent direct link to an application for a waiver of the systemwide fee or tuition, that the direct link appear on the primary Web page of the financial aid section of the campus Web site, and that the direct link be accompanied by a description of eligibility requirements for the waiver of the systemwide fee or tuition, as specified.
To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 68120.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:

68120.7.
 Each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University that has an Internet Web site shall, and each campus of the University of California that has an Internet Web site shall, in the event that an appropriate resolution is enacted pursuant to Section 68134, provide an online posting or notice of systemwide fee or tuition waivers available to students pursuant to Section 68120. The online posting or notice shall be done in accordance with all of the following:
(a) It shall be accessible through a prominent direct link to an application for a waiver of the systemwide fee or tuition.
(b) The direct link shall appear on the primary Web page of the financial aid section of the campus Web site.
(c) The direct link shall be accompanied by a description of the systemwide fee or tuition waiver to clearly indicate the type of student who would potentially be eligible to apply.

SEC. 2.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)For California’s public safety personnel, cataclysmic events are now becoming the norm.

(b)The public safety profession is entering into a new era with new duties, new threats, and a greater responsibility to those they serve.

(c)In just the second half of 2017 alone, a string of deadly, devastating incidents, both far-flung and at home, tested the resources, capabilities, training, stamina, and courage of our state’s public safety personnel.

(d)These incidents are poignant reminders that, when a public safety officer heads out to a call, there is always the chance that he or she will not return home.

(e)Each year, California mourns the loss of men and women who put their lives on the line every day protecting the public’s safety.

(f)When a public safety officer falls in the line of duty and makes the ultimate sacrifice in service to this state, his or her surviving family also makes an immeasurable sacrifice of lost years of love and support.

(g)Recognizing the danger that these professionals face and the significant sacrifices made by families who are left behind, existing law grants a public higher education tuition exemption and a related fee waiver to a qualified survivor of a fallen public safety officer.

(h)Access to public higher education can be instrumental in a surviving spouse’s ability to achieve future economic stability or for a surviving child to realize his or her full potential in the aftermath of a loved one’s job-caused tragedy.

SEC. 2.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure that there is proper notice given to qualifying individuals of the state-conferred exemptions from mandatory systemwide fees and tuition at the University of California, the Hastings College of the Law, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges for survivors of fallen firefighters and peace officers whose family member has made the ultimate sacrifice in service to this state.