STATE ADVOCACY CONT’D The Voice of Community Colleges in Sacramento The League’s Government Relations Team endeavors to make certain that decisions in Sacramento recognize the challenges confronting California Community Colleges resulting from the global public health crisis. While our colleges continue to respond to COVID-19, elected officials in Sacramento are contending with the many challenges the global pandemic has created. This includes a significantly abbreviated legislative calendar with lawmakers being forced to scale back their policy agenda and wrestle with a severely constrained and a highly uncertain economic environment. The following section offers an over view of significant legislation that was the focus of much of our advocacy and outreach connecting League members and policymakers. Irvine Valley College
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Legislative Successes In 2019, the League sponsored three bills: AB 30 (Holden), AB 612 ( Weber), and SB 291 (Leyva). Each of these bills aimed to expand student access, success, and equity. League staff is pleased to report that two of the bills – AB 30 and AB 612 – were signed into law, while SB 291 was held due to cost concerns. Although SB 291 did not move forward, it has furthered the discussion about how we can more equitably ser ve low-income students.
Expanding Access to College and Career Access Partnerships Several studies show that access to dual or concurrent enrollment programs helps increase student success and time to degree. However, there were still several programmatic obstacles that made it difficult to enter into these partnerships. Thus, the League sponsored AB 30 (Holden), which made it easier for our California Community Colleges to work with their K-12 partners. Governor Newsom approved and signed AB 30 into law on October 4, 2019.
Expanding Campus Access to CalFresh’s Restaurant Meals Program The League’s Affordability, Food, and Housing Access Taskforce found that a significant number of California Community Colleges were ineligible for CalFresh and that it required an inordinate amount of time and effort to initiate the program. AB 612 ( Weber) was introduced to implement one of the taskforce’s recommendations: to make it easier for colleges to accept EBT transactions in their on-campus cafeterias and restaurants. This bill simplified the process by establishing a statewide memorandum of understanding that all California Community Colleges can sign to become eligible for the program. Governor Newsom approved and signed AB 612 into law on October 12, 2019.
Financial Aid Reform for Community College Students While California Community Colleges ser ve nearly two-thirds of college students in the state, these students receive less than 10% of the total dollars allocated by the state’s Cal Grant system. This has reduced our students’ ability to attend classes full-time, be more academically successful, and achieve their goals in a timely manner. While SB 291 (Leyva) failed to move this year due to overall cost concerns and the COVID-19 induced recession, the bill has ser ved as a vehicle to advance deliberation on this important topic.
