Postsecondary education trailer bill.

(1) Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. Existing law specifies the amounts of the maximum Cal Grant A and B awards for students attending private nonprofit postsecondary institutions of higher education and private for-profit postsecondary educational institutions that are regionally accredited, as specified. For the 2020–21 award year, the maximum tuition award is either $9,084 or $8,056, as provided. This bill instead would set the maximum Cal Grant A and B awards for students attending an independent institution of higher education at $9,084 for the 2020–21 award year. (2) Existing law also requires that a person, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as defined, who has attended high school in California for 3 or more years, who has graduated from a California high school or attained the equivalent thereof, who has registered at or attends an accredited institution of higher education in California not earlier than the fall semester or quarter of the 2001–02 academic year, and who, if the person is an alien without lawful immigration status, has filed a prescribed affidavit, is exempt from paying nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State University. Existing law, known as the California Dream Act of 2011, provides that a student attending the California State University, the California Community Colleges, or the University of California who is exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the provision described above is eligible to receive a scholarship derived from nonstate funds received, for the purpose of scholarships, by the public postsecondary educational segment that the student attends. Existing law establishes the California Dreamer Service Incentive Grant Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission. Existing law establishes the eligibility requirements for students participating in the program, including submission of a California Dream Act application to the commission and meeting all of the requirements for an exemption from paying nonresident tuition as described above. This bill would suspend operation of the California Dreamer Service Incentive Grant Program for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 fiscal years, and would redirect local assistance funds available for the program for these fiscal years to provide disaster relief emergency student financial aid to students at the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges with identified financial need who meet all of the requirements for an exemption from paying nonresident tuition as described above, and apply for student financial aid, as provided. (3) Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education. Existing law establishes the Golden State Teacher Grant Program under the administration of the commission to provide one-time grants of $20,000 to each student enrolled in an approved teacher credentialing program who commits to working in a high-need field at a priority school for 4 years after the student receives a preliminary teaching credential, as provided, and subject to moneys appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of the program. Existing law requires a grant recipient to agree to repay the grant to the state in specified circumstances. The Budget Act of 2019 appropriates $89,750,000 to fund the program that is available for encumbrance or expenditure until June 30, 2020. The Budget Act of 2020 appropriates specified moneys to fund the program that is available for encumbrance until June 30, 2021. This bill would authorize grants for the Golden State Teacher Grant Program in an amount less than $20,000. The bill would extend the availability of funds appropriated for purposes of the program in the Budget Act of 2020 to June 30, 2023, and would specify program implementation criteria for which those funds may be expended, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would authorize the commission to adopt regulations necessary for the implementation of this program. (4) Under existing law, the Middle Class Scholarship Program provides that an undergraduate student enrolled at the University of California or the California State University, or enrolled in upper division coursework in a community college baccalaureate program, and meeting certain requirements, is eligible for a scholarship award that, combined with other federal, state, and institutionally administered grants and fee waivers, totals up to 40% of the systemwide tuition and fees. Existing law transfers $99,938,000 from the General Fund to the Middle Class Scholarship Fund for the 2017–18 fiscal year, $107,037,000 from the General Fund to the Middle Class Scholarship Fund for the 2018–19 fiscal year, $110,248,000 from the General Fund to the Middle Class Scholarship Fund for the 2019–20 fiscal year, and $117,000,000 from the General Fund to the Middle Class Scholarship Fund for the 2020–21 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, and appropriates those sums to the Student Aid Commission for purposes of the scholarship program. This bill would decrease the appropriation for the 2018–19 fiscal year from $107,037,000 to $104,345,000, and would increase the appropriation for the 2019–20 fiscal year from $110,248,000 to $117,000,000. (5) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes the Student Equity and Achievement Program for the purpose of advancing the systemwide goal of boosting achievement for all students with an emphasis on eliminating achievement gaps for traditionally underrepresented groups through specified actions. Existing law requires a community college district to comply with certain requirements as a condition of the receipt of funds for purposes of the program and authorizes the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to designate a percentage of funds allocated for the program for related administrative operations, as specified. Existing law requires, to receive a certain funding incentive, the governing board of participating community college districts to designate as a "hunger free campus" each of its respective campuses that meet specified criteria, including an on-campus food pantry or regular food distributions on campus. Existing law requires the California Community Colleges to designate a Dreamer Resource Liaison on each of their respective campuses to assist certain students, including undocumented students, by streamlining access to all available financial aid, social services, state-funded immigration legal services, internships, externships, and academic opportunities for those students. This bill would require a community college district, as a condition of the receipt of funds for purposes of the Student Equity and Achievement Program, to also support, or establish, on-campus food pantries or regular food distributions. (6) Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, authorizes the districts to provide instruction at the community college campuses they operate and maintain, and provides apportionments of state funds to the districts. Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to adopt regulations providing for the payment of apportionments to districts on a specified schedule. This bill, notwithstanding the provisions referenced above, would adjust the payment of apportionments to community college districts commencing with the 2020–21 fiscal year to defer $1,453,243,000 of those payments in accordance with a designated schedule. The bill would appropriate that amount to the board of governors, in accordance with a specified provision of the Budget Act of 2020, for apportionments to community college districts for expenditure in the fiscal year in which the payments are disbursed. The bill, pursuant to a specified provision of the Budget Act of 2020, would authorize the Director of Finance to reduce the amounts of these deferrals if the director determines that there are sufficient federal funds provided to the state for that purpose for the 2020–21 fiscal year, as specified. The bill would authorize up to $30,000,000 of the amounts deferred commencing with the 2020–21 fiscal year to instead be drawn in specified months of the prior fiscal year for community college districts that certify to the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and to the Director of Finance that they will be unable to meet their financial obligations for any of the months of February, March, April, May, or June, as provided. If the total amount requested by community college districts pursuant to this provision exceeds $30,000,000 for any of the applicable months, the bill would authorize additional payments not to exceed $60,000,000 for any of the deferral months, as specified. The bill would also require the Department of Finance, in collaboration with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to annually report specified information about these deferral payments to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. (7) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The California Community Colleges system comprises 73 community college districts and 115 campuses throughout the state. Existing law requires the expenditure, during each fiscal year, for the payment of salaries of classroom instructors by a community college district, of 50% of the district's current expense of education. Existing law defines "current expense of education" as the gross total expended for certain expenses that include academic salaries, classified salaries, employee benefits, and books, supplies, and equipment replacement, but that generally exclude expenses for student transportation, food services, and community services. This bill, for purposes of computing the expenditure requirements pursuant to the provision described above, would require a community college district to exclude from that computation any expenditures incurred by that district during a state or local declared emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are not otherwise normal expenditures that would have been incurred by that district. The bill would make its provisions inoperative on July 1, 2021, and would repeal them on January 1, 2022. To the extent that this bill would require community college districts to revise the process of computing their current expense of education, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (8) Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at the community college campuses they operate and maintain. Existing law provides for a formula for the calculation of general purpose apportionments of state funds to community colleges. Existing law provides for base allocations of state funds to be made to community college districts on a full-time equivalent student basis, in amounts differing according to fiscal year, and specified for certain community college districts. Existing law, for the 2019–20 fiscal year, would set the marginal funding rates for the base allocation, supplemental allocation, and student success allocation to align with the total computational revenue computed by the Department of Finance for community college apportionments, and would allocate the revenue in specified percentages to those components. Existing law establishes hold harmless provisions to ensure a minimum level of funding to community college districts for the fiscal years 2018–19 to 2021–22, inclusive, as provided, and includes provisions to allocate different apportionments to the San Francisco Community College District and the Compton Community College District through the 2023–24 fiscal year. This bill instead, for the 2019–20 fiscal year, would set the marginal funding rates for the base allocation, supplemental allocation, and student success allocation at specified amounts. The bill would provide a specified cost-of-living adjustment for purposes of these provisions, provide for certain adjustments in calculating the base allocation, supplemental allocation, and student success allocation for the 2020–21 fiscal year, and extend for 2 additional fiscal years the hold harmless provisions and the specified apportionments for the San Francisco Community College District and the Compton Community College District described above. (9) Existing law establishes the Strong Workforce Program, which, among other things, provides funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts and local educational agencies, as specified. Existing law requires the apportionments for community colleges under the Strong Workforce Program to fund regionally prioritized projects and programs that meet the needs of local and regional economies. This bill would encourage community college districts to expedite the development of targeted credit or noncredit short-term workforce training programs, as provided. The bill would specify that the regionally prioritized projects and programs funded with the Strong Workforce Program's community college apportionments include short-term workforce training programs. (10) Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as 2 of the segments of postsecondary education in this state. This bill would require that funding provided to either of these segments in the annual budget act to provide summer term financial aid to any student who is eligible for state financial aid and who is a California resident, as specified, would be suspended on December 31, 2021, unless a designated condition exists relating to estimated state General Fund revenues and expenditures for the 2021–22 and 2022–23 fiscal years. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature to consider alternative solutions to restore the summer term financial aid if this suspension takes effect. (11) Existing law provides for the establishment and maintenance by the Regents of the University of California, with the approval of the Concurrence Committee, of 9 specified subject matter projects, including the mathematics, science, writing, and reading and literature projects. Existing law requests the Regents of the University of California to establish and maintain cooperative endeavors designed to, among other things, provide teachers with instructional strategies for delivering career-oriented, integrated academic and technical content in a manner that is linked to high priority industry sectors, as provided. This bill would add, to the cooperative endeavors requested from the Regents of the University of California, cooperative endeavors designed to address learning loss in mathematics, science, and English, language arts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would require the Concurrence Committee to provide a report on addressing learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the mathematics, science, writing, and reading and literature projects to the Governor and to appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2024, including specified information, compiled for a 3-year period. (12) Existing law creates the Public Employees' Retirement System, the management and control of which is vested in the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Existing law, the State Employees' Dental Care Act, authorizes the state, through the Department of Human Resources, the Trustees of the California State University, or the Regents of the University of California, to contract with carriers for dental care plans for employees, annuitants, and eligible family members. Existing law requires the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System to assist the California State University upon request by providing annuitant names and addresses to the California State University solely for the purpose of notifying those annuitants of eligibility for enrollment in a dental care plan offered by the California State University. This bill would instead require the board to assist the California State University upon request by providing retiree names and addresses to the California State University solely for the purpose of notifying retirees of eligibility for enrollment in a dental care plan. (13) Existing law, the California State University Annuitant Vision Care Program, requires the California State University to administer a vision care program for all participating annuitants. Existing law requires the board to assist the California State University upon request by providing annuitant names and addresses to the California State University solely for the purpose of notifying those annuitants of eligibility for enrollment in a vision plan offered by the California State University. This bill would instead require the board to assist the California State University upon request by providing retiree names for the purpose of notifying retirees of eligibility for enrollment in a vision care plan. (14) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA. This bill would establish specified procedures for the administrative and judicial review of the environmental review and approvals granted for a project undertaken by the University of California at the University of California, San Francisco, to implement the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan – Final Report issued by the Regents of the University of California in October of 2019. The bill would apply certain rules of court establishing procedures requiring actions or proceedings seeking judicial review pursuant to CEQA or the granting of project approvals, including any appeals therefrom, to be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court to an action or proceeding seeking judicial review of the lead agency's action related to the project. The bill would, except as provided, prohibit the Regents of the University of California from prequalifying or shortlisting or awarding a contract to perform any portion of the project. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the University of California, San Francisco. (15) The Budget Act of 2019 made appropriations for the support of state government for the 2019–20 fiscal year. This bill would amend the Budget Act of 2019 by amending an item of appropriation to reduce an appropriation for support of the University of California, payable from the Breast Cancer Resources Account, Breast Cancer Fund, as specified. (16) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires the board of governors to appoint a chief executive officer, to be known as the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state and authorizes them to operate campuses and provide instruction. This bill would appropriate $66,255,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to allocate to community college districts for specified purposes. The bill would require the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to submit a report on the use of these funds on or before January 1, 2023. (17) 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. (18) This bill would state that its provisions are severable. (19) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.