Community colleges: student representation fee: statewide community college student organization: goals.

Existing law authorizes the governing body of a student body association to order an election be held to establish a student representation fee of $2 per semester, collected by officials of the community college at or before registration, and requires an affirmative vote of a majority of the students voting in the election to establish the fee. Existing law authorizes a student to refuse to pay the fee for certain reasons pursuant to a specified procedure and specifies another procedure for an election to terminate the student representation fee for a community college. For a student representation fee adopted on or after January 1, 2014, existing law requires $1 of the $2 fee to be expended to establish and support the operations of a statewide community college student organization. Existing law specifies underlying goals required of the statewide community college student organization. This bill would require the officials at a community college, if a student body association has been established at the college, to collect a student representation fee of $2 at the time of registration, and would eliminate the authorization for a student election to terminate the fee. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the student provide a reason for refusing to pay the fee. The bill would require a community college to provide the student a means to refuse to pay the fee on the same form that is used for the collection of fees. The bill would require that $1 of the $2 fee be expended to establish and support the operation of a statewide community college student organization for all student representation fees collected, rather than only for those fees adopted on or after January 1, 2014. By imposing additional duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would add supporting student participation and engagement in statewide higher education policy and advocacy activities to the required goals of the statewide community college student organization. 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.