Assembly Bill 1646–Community College Omnibus Legislation
Each year, legislation is introduced that is noncontroversial and is intended to make a number of technical, clarifying, and conforming changes to various Education Code provisions related to the California Community Colleges. This year the omnibus legislation, AB 1646, was introduced by the Assembly Higher Education Committee.During the final days of the 2005 legislative session, AB 1646 was amended to authorize California Community Colleges to provide assistance to students from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina.
An urgency clause was added to the bill, making it effective upon the signature of the Governor. The Governor signed AB 1646 (Chapter 654/2005) on October 7, 2005.
The following is a summary of the major provisions of AB 1646.
A brief history:
Proposition 187 (1994), among other things, made illegal aliens ineligible for public social services, public health care services (unless in an emergency under federal law), and public school education at elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels. More specifically, it denied postsecondary education to anyone �not a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident in the United States, or a person who is otherwise authorized under federal law. The courts, however, preempted these provisions (League of United Latin American Citizens v. Wilson C.D. Cal. (1997) 997 F. Supp. 1244) and concluded that �California is powerless to enact its own legislative scheme to regulate alien access to public benefits,� thereby invalidating provisions of law established by Proposition 187 to regulate alien eligibility for postsecondary education.
Proposition 209 (1996) prohibits the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
Federal law protects the privacy of student education records. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
This bill:
1. Repeals an invalid section of law, established pursuant to Proposition 187, which prohibits public institutions of higher education from admitting, enrolling, or permitting the attendance of persons who are not U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted to or present in the United States.
2. Deletes references to Public Contract Code provisions found to be unconstitutional under equal protection principles (Monterey Mechanical Co. v. Wilson, 9th Cir. 1997 125 F. 3d702), as well as provisions establishing specific California Community College statewide participation goals for contracting with minority and women business enterprises.
3. Requires the Board of Governors (BOG) of the California Community Colleges to adopt regulations to authorize districts to eliminate, to the extent allowed by law, under- representation of minority, women, and disabled veterans business enterprises in public works contracting.
4. Deletes provisions that authorize the BOG to restrict interdistrict transfer attendance or to favor a high school recruitment activity, if these actions are intended to address issues of ethnic or racial imbalance.
The bill also makes a number of technical and conforming changes throughout the Education Code including:
1. Conforming state law with federal law with regard to �directory information� in order to ensure compliance to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.
2. Updating references to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
3. Correcting various gender references.
4. Updating various statutory references to reflect accurate terminology including changing �average daily attendance� to �full-time equivalent students,� and �certificated� personnel to �academic� personnel.
The major amendment to the bill at the end of the 2005 Legislative Session authorizes community college districts, for the 2005-06 academic year, to exempt a nonresident student from the nonresident tuition fee if the student was enrolled, or admitted to enroll, for fall 2005 in an institution of higher education in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama. The measure also:
1. Requires the Chancellor�s Office to develop guidelines for implementation of these provisions.
2. Authorizes the reporting of these students as resident FTES for state apportionment purposes.
3. Requires community college districts to grant a Board of Governor�s fee waiver to these students if they demonstrate financial need.
4. Declares legislative intent not to augment or appropriate additional funds for this purpose.
Ask Arnold . . .
What Is the Status of the CTA Lawsuit?
Q. What is the status of the lawsuit filed against Governor Schwarzenegger by the California Teachers Association to enforce the Proposition 98 guarantee?
A. An initial hearing to determine whether a trial will be granted on the CTA v Governor case will take place on November 18, 2005, in Sacramento Superior Court. A demurrer was filed by defendant Governor Schwarzenegger, contending that the lawsuit is premature because the 2004-05 Proposition 98 funding calculations are not yet final and the judge has been asked to throw out the case. If the Governor�s motion fails, a briefing schedule will be established and then the case could potentially go to trial in February/March 2006. From that point, there are guesstimates that the earliest it would come before an appeals court is the fall of 2006.
By the Way . . .
PERB Rules that Political Flyers Cannot Be Put in Teachers� Mailboxes.
In its latest edition of Legal Alert, Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard advises clients that the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has ruled that it is a violation of the Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA) to put political flyers in teachers� mailboxes. The question arose out of a dispute between a district and its teachers� union regarding distribution of information in teachers� school site mailboxes by the union regarding school board campaigns. PERB ruled that the material was indeed political and therefore prohibited.
On appeal, PERB further ruled that the �plain meaning� of Education Code Section 7054 prohibited the use of mailboxes for distribution of political information. PERB therefore dismissed the union�s charge and, unless another appeal is filed within specified time limits, the decision will become final.
November 8 Election Will Include Local Bond Measures.
Even though the November 8th special election is primarily about the eight statewide propositions on the ballot, local school agencies are taking the opportunity to place billions in new school bond measures before their local voters. The proposed school facility bond measures continue what has become, for some districts, a regular plea for local support. Opponents to the measures generally say residents have provided their fair share of funding by approving a majority of school bond measures in recent elections. However, district officials respond by saying their aging facilities and limited funding from the state have left them with little recourse except to seek additional funding from local taxpayers.
So far we have heard about bond measures being considered by the San Francisco Community College District ($246 million bond) and San Mateo County Community College District ($468 million bond). There will likely be more, and we will provide a comprehensive report on all bond measures in the November 10th issue of the Update.
New Select Committee on Master Plan for Education.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) has named Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) as chair of the new Senate Select Committee on California�s Master Plan for Education, which is charged with implementing the Master Plan for Education that was written in 2002. The 2002 Master Plan committee was chaired by then state Senator Dede Alpert.
Perata says Simitian was chosen because he�s a former K-12 school board member and a �leading advocate� on the Senate Education Committee. Perata also named Senators Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara), Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), and George Runner (R-Antelope Valley) as committee members. The Assembly has not yet announced its members to the committee.
Another Initiative Cleared for Circulation for the 2006 Elections.
California has rapidly become a state that is governed by the initiative process. Another initiative has been cleared to begin collecting signatures to qualify for the June 2006 election. The proposed Wealth Tax Initiative imposes a one-time 45% tax on California residents, and certain former California residents owning property worth more than $40 million, on January 1, 2007. This initiative would:
� Amend the Constitution to exempt this tax from the 1% limit on ad valorem real property taxes
� Impose an additional 12% tax on income of high-income taxpayers
� Reduce the corporate income tax rate by approximately 54%
� Eliminate the alternative minimum tax and certain tax credits, including those for head of household and dependents
� Create and increase tax credits, including those for teacher pay, public college tuition; property taxes, and health insurance.
The Legislative Analyst�s Office and the Department of Finance estimate that the initiative�s fiscal impact on state and local government may affect state revenues in the following manner: a one-time increase in state revenues of potentially up to $200 million from the imposition of a wealth tax�a portion of which would be required to be allocated to K-14 schools, with the remainder used for other state spending or tax rebates�and annual increased state taxes, primarily from increased personal income taxes, in the low tens of billions of dollars annually, offset by a commensurate amount of state tax reductions from rate reductions and new tax credits.
Proponents must collect 598,105 valid signatures by March 13, 2006, in order for this measure to qualify for the ballot.
