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AB-1543 Community colleges: student representation fees.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 06/27/2023 09:00 PM
AB1543:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  June 27, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1543

Introduced by Assembly Member Mike Fong

February 17, 2023

An act to amend Section 76060.5 of the Education Code, relating to community colleges.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1543, as amended, Mike Fong. Community colleges: student representation fees.
Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to exercise general supervision over the California Community Colleges including the authority to adopt rules and regulations necessary and proper to execute the functions expressly authorized by statute.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a community college district to authorize the students of a college to organize a student body association. If a student body association has been established by at a community college, existing law requires the officials of the community college to collect a $2 student representation fee to be used to provide support for governmental affairs representatives of local or statewide student body organizations. Existing law requires $1 of every $2 fee to be expended to establish and support the operations of a statewide community college student organization, as specified. Existing law requires a community college to provide a student a means to refuse to pay the $2 student representation fee.
This bill bill, commencing with the 2024–25 academic year, would require the other $1 of the $2 student representation fee to be used to establish and support the operations of local student body organizations. The bill bill, commencing with the 2024–25 academic year, would also require a community college to provide a student a means to refuse to pay either $1 portion of the $2 student representation fee.
Existing regulations of the Board of Governors require the governing board of a community college district to give to each student at registration information pertaining to the student representation fee and specify requirements for the form used for the purpose of collecting the fee. Existing law requires the form used by a community college to provide the student a means to refuse to pay the fee to be as nearly as practical in the same form as a model form prescribed by the Board of Governors.
This bill would, instead, require the form to be as nearly as practical in the same form as a model form prescribed by the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 76060.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:

76060.5.
 (a) If a student body association has been established at a community college as authorized by Section 76060, a student representation fee of two dollars ($2) shall be collected by the officials of the community college, together with all other fees, at the time of registration or before registration and shall be deposited in a separate fiduciary fund established per the California Community Colleges Budget and Accounting Manual for student representation fees. The money collected pursuant to this section shall be expended to provide support for governmental affairs representatives of local or statewide student body organizations who may be stating their positions and viewpoints before city, county, and district governments, and before offices and agencies of state government.
(b) (1) One dollar ($1) of every two-dollar ($2) fee collected shall be expended to establish and support the operations of a statewide community college student organization, recognized by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, with effective student representation and participation in state-level community college shared governance and with governmental affairs representatives to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities.
(2) The underlying goals of the statewide community college student organization shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Establishing a sustainable foundation for statewide community college student representation and advocacy.
(B) Promoting institutional and organizational memory.
(C) Ensuring and maintaining responsible community college student organizational oversight and decisionmaking.
(D) Strengthening regional approaches for community college student representation and coordination.
(E) Promoting and enhancing student opportunities for engagement in community college student issues and affairs.
(F) Providing for open and public transparency and accountability.
(G) Supporting student participation and engagement in statewide higher education policy and advocacy activities.
(3) Fees collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be annually distributed to the Board of Governors before February 1. The Board of Governors shall have custody of the moneys and shall, each year by April 15, distribute the moneys to the recognized statewide community college student organization if the recognized statewide community college student organization satisfies all of the following:
(A) Is established as a legal entity registered with the Secretary of State.
(B) Demonstrates compliance with all applicable state and federal laws and reporting requirements.
(C) Exercises prudent fiscal management by establishing generally accepted accounting controls and procedures.
(D) (i) Commencing after the first year it receives funding pursuant to this paragraph, completes an annual independent financial audit, the results of which shall be annually provided to the Board of Governors for review.
(ii) (I) Except as provided in subclause (II) and after the first year funding is received, it shall be a condition for funding pursuant to this subdivision that the results of the annual audit identify no significant audit findings.
(II) Funds shall not be withheld from the statewide community college student organization unless the statewide community college student organization fails to address and correct any identified exceptions, concerns, errors, or deficiencies contained in the annual audit after being given a reasonable opportunity to do so.
(E) Meets the obligations and addresses the goals described in paragraph (2).
(4) Meetings of the recognized statewide community college student organization shall be open to the public and shall comply with the requirements of the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code) and the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(c) One dollar ($1) of every two-dollar ($2) fee collected shall be expended to establish and support the operations of local student body organizations that may be stating their positions and viewpoints before city, county, and district governments, and before offices and agencies of state government.
(d) (1) The chief fiscal officer of the community college shall have custody of the money collected pursuant to this section, except as provided in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), and the money shall be disbursed for the purposes described in subdivision (a) upon the order of the governing body of the student body association.
(2) The community college district shall annually prepare a summary of all revenue collected from the student representation fee and the expenditures of the proceeds of the student representation fee. The summary shall include the amount distributed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges each year. The summary shall be presented at a meeting of the governing board of the community college district each year and posted to the community college district internet website.
(3) The community college district may retain a portion of the fees collected and deposited pursuant to this section that is equal to the actual cost of administering these fees up to, but not more than, 7 percent.
(e) A student may refuse to pay the two-dollar ($2) student representation fee established under this section. A Commencing with the 2024–25 academic year, a student may refuse to pay either one-dollar ($1) portion of the two-dollar ($2) student representation fee established under this section. The community college shall provide the student a means to refuse to pay the student representation fee, or or, commencing with the 2024–25 academic year, a portion of that fee, on the same form that is used for the collection of fees, which, as determined by the community college, shall be as nearly as practical in the same form as a model form prescribed by regulations of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.
(f) Costs incurred by the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to implement paragraphs (1) and (3) of subdivision (b) shall be reimbursed by the statewide community college student organization.
(g) If no statewide community college student organization that qualifies for funding in accordance with this section is recognized by the Board of Governors, the funds collected pursuant to this section shall be held by the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges until a qualifying statewide community college student organization is recognized, or shall be returned to the source of funds.