Bill Text: CA SB646 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Student financial aid: veterans and dependents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB646 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB646-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 646 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Denham
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 66025.6 of, to add Sections 66025.4 and
66025.5 to, and to add the heading of Article 3.7 (commencing with
Section 66025.3) to Chapter 2 of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of,
the Education Code, relating to student financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 646, as amended, Denham. Student financial aid: veterans and
dependents.
(1) Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth,
among other things, the missions and functions of California's public
and independent segments of higher education, and their respective
institutions of higher education. Under existing law, the segments of
the public higher education system in the state include the
University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the
University of California, the California State University, which is
administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and
the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board
of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Provisions of the
Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California
only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California,
by appropriate resolution, act to make a provision applicable.
An existing provision of the act prohibits any campus of the
University of California, the California State University, or the
California Community Colleges from charging any mandatory systemwide
tuition or fees, including enrollment fees, registration fees,
differential fees, or incidental fees, to prescribed categories of
children and other dependents of veterans of the United States
military or members of the California National Guard who have been
killed in service, or who have died of a service-connected
disability. Other provisions waive these fees for undergraduate
students who are recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor or
the children of recipients of that medal who meet prescribed
requirements. Additional provisions waive the community college
enrollment fees of specified dependents of members of the California
National Guard who are killed in the line of duty or died of a
disability resulting from an event that occurred while in the active
service of the state, or are permanently disabled as a result of such
an event.
This bill would enact the Golden State GI Bill of Rights for
Higher Education, also known as the Cal GI Bill of Rights. The bill
would prohibit any campus of the University of California, the
California State University, or the California Community Colleges
from charging any mandatory systemwide tuition or fees, including
enrollment fees, registration fees, differential fees, or incidental
fees, to a California resident, as defined, who is an undergraduate
student or a graduate student seeking a postbaccalaureate degree, and
who, irrespective of income level or need, was a member of the Armed
Forces of the United States who enlisted therein while he or she was
a California resident and who was honorably discharged from the
Armed Forces, or is, or has been, on active duty, as defined, as a
member of the California National Guard, the State Military Reserve,
or the Naval Militia, and has demonstrated, in a prescribed manner,
that he or she has no remaining months of educational benefits for
which he or she is eligible under the federal GI Bill. The bill would
specify that no person may obtain a waiver of fees for a number of
academic semester or equivalent quarters that is longer than the
number of semesters or quarters for which he or she previously
received educational benefits under the federal GI Bill.
The bill would provide that a graduate student who qualifies for a
fee waiver under these provisions may use that waiver for studies
leading to no more than one postbaccalaureate degree.
The bill would provide that these fee waivers would be operative
only in those fiscal years in which funds are specifically
appropriated for those purposes.
The bill would provide that a person who qualifies for a waiver of
mandatory systemwide tuition and fees under one or more specified
provisions, including this bill and the provisions of existing law
discussed above, may choose to apply for a waiver under the provision
that provides him or her with the greatest benefit, but may not
concurrently receive a waiver under more than one of these
provisions.
In accordance with existing law, the bill would apply to the
University of California only if the regents act, by resolution, to
make it applicable.
To the extent that the bill would require community college
districts to revise their procedures for calculating enrollment fees
for students, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local
program.
The bill would also make various technical and conforming changes.
(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 these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The heading of Article 3.7 (commencing with Section
66025.3) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of
the Education Code, to read:
Article 3.7. Veterans of the Armed Forces and Their Dependents
SEC. 2. Section 66025.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66025.4. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as
the Golden State GI Bill of Rights for Higher Education or as the Cal
GI Bill of Rights.
(b) A campus of the University of California, the California State
University, or the California Community Colleges shall not charge
any mandatory systemwide tuition or fees, including enrollment fees,
registration fees, differential fees, or incidental fees, to a
California resident, as defined in Section 68017, who is an
undergraduate student or a graduate student seeking a
postbaccalaureate degree in accordance with subdivision (c), and who,
irrespective of income level or need, meets both of the following
requirements:
(1) The person either: (A) served as a member of the Armed Forces
of the United States who enlisted therein while he or she was a
California resident and who was honorably discharged from the Armed
Forces; or (B) is, or has been, on active duty, under Title 10 or
Title 32 of the United States Code, as a member of the California
National Guard, the State Military Reserve, or the Naval Militia.
(2) The person provides documentation, in accordance with
subdivision (d), that he or she has no remaining months of
educational benefits for which he or she is eligible under the
federal Montgomery GI Bill (38 U.S.C. Sec. 3001 et seq.).
(c) A graduate student who meets the qualifications of subdivision
(b) may utilize the waiver of fees provided under this section for
studies leading to no more than one postbaccalaureate degree.
(d) In order to demonstrate that he or she has no remaining months
of federal educational benefits for which he or she is eligible, a
person shall present written notice of that fact from the United
States Department of Veterans Affairs to the appropriate official at
the campus where he or she enrolls.
(e) No person may obtain a waiver of fees provided under this
section for a number of academic semesters or equivalent quarters
that is longer than the number of academic semesters or equivalent
quarters for which he or she previously received educational benefits
under the federal Montgomery GI Bill (38 U.S.C. Sec. 3001 et seq.).
(f) In each fiscal year, this section shall be operative only if
funds are specifically appropriated in the annual Budget Act or
another statute for that fiscal year for purposes of fully
reimbursing the University of California, the California State
University, and the California Community Colleges for the respective
institution's costs and revenue losses associated with implementing
this section.
SEC. 3. Section 66025.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66025.5. (a) A person who qualifies for a waiver of mandatory
systemwide tuition or fees under more than one of the provisions
listed in subdivision (b) may choose to apply for a waiver under the
section that provides him or her with the greatest benefit, but he or
she may not concurrently receive a waiver under more than one of
these provisions.
(b) (1) Section 66025.3.
(2) Section 66025.4.
(3) Subdivision (h), (i), or (j) of Section 76300.
SEC. 4. Section 66025.6 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66025.6. (a) As used in this article, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Active duty" means either of the following:
(A) Active federal service or full-time national guard duty on
behalf of the United States of America either voluntarily, or when
involuntarily ordered to duty by appropriate authorities under Title
10 or Title 32 of the United States Code during a period of armed
conflict, mobilization, contingency operations, or other crisis.
(B) (i) Active military duty in the service of the state when the
Governor has issued a proclamation of a state of insurrection
pursuant to Section 143 of the Military and Veterans Code or a
proclamation of a state of emergency; or
(ii) When the National Guard is on active duty pursuant to Section
146 of the Military and Veterans Code, or is called to active
service or duty under Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 400) of
Part 1 of Division 2 of the Military and Veterans Code, and a
certificate of satisfactory service, or an equivalent thereof, is
issued by the Military Department.
(2) "Qualifying member" means a person who:
(A) Is a resident, as defined in Section 68017.
(B) Is currently an active member of, and has satisfactorily
served for at least one year in, the California National Guard, the
State Military Reserve, or the Naval Militia, and maintains
satisfactory service throughout the period that he or she receives
consideration pursuant to this section, or throughout the period that
his or her student loan payments are assumed under former Article
12.5 (commencing with Section 69750) of Chapter 2 of Part 42, as it
reads read on December 31, 2007,
whichever is longer.
(C) Has completed a baccalaureate degree, or is currently
enrolled, and in good standing, in an undergraduate program of
instruction, or has been admitted to a program in which he or she
will be enrolled, on at least a half-time basis, at an institution of
higher education in this state, or is enrolled in or has completed a
program of instruction in a vocational diploma program as defined in
former Section 94746, as it reads read
on June 30, 2007, where enrollment qualifies a student for
participation in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1071 et seq.) or any loan program approved by the Student Aid
Commission.
(b) (1) (A) Any qualifying member, and any member of the
California National Guard, the State Military Reserve, or the Naval
Militia who meets the qualifications of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) and who is enrolled, and in good
standing in a graduate program of instruction, who undertakes active
duty is entitled to an academic leave of absence for any academic
session that the person is unable to attend or complete because he or
she is on active duty.
(B) It is the intent of the Legislature that a graduate or
undergraduate student who is called to active military duty as a
member of the California National Guard, the State Military Reserve,
or the Naval Militia not be academically penalized as a result of any
academic leave of absence that he or she takes in accordance with
this paragraph.
(2) To the extent that it is feasible, graduation requirements for
a qualifying member who, within one year of returning from active
duty, resumes his or her studies at the same postsecondary
educational institution shall be the same as the graduation
requirements at the time the qualifying member initially enrolled.
(c) The Military Department shall determine whether an individual
meets the requirements of "active duty" and "qualifying member," as
they are set forth in subdivision (a). The department shall issue a
certificate to individuals who meet those requirements.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that
date.
SEC. 5. 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.
