GOVERNOR'S VETO

GV Bill Id:AB 1075

Author:(Holden)

As Enrolled Ver:September 12, 2019

2/3 vote

SUMMARY:

Provides to the Trustees of the California State University (CSU) from the General Fund for the 2019–20 fiscal year, contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation for this purpose, for the allocation of funds by the chancellor through competitive grants to speech-language pathologist programs at campuses of the CSU.

Major Provisions

1. States that the Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
   1. The CSU can likely increase enrollment in its speech-language pathologist programs by about 47 full-time equivalent students, which would be a five-percent increase, at a cost of about $750,000; and,
   2. If the state provides additional augmentations moving forward, these programs can continue expanding by roughly five percent annually for at least another 10 years.
2. Stipulates that, contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation from the General Fund to the Trustees of the CSU for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, those funds shall be allocated in accordance with all of the following:
   1. The Chancellor of the CSU shall allocate the funds appropriated through competitive grants to campus speech-language pathologist programs;
   2. As part of their applications, campus programs applying for grants under this subdivision shall specify how many enrollment slots they plan to add during the grant period and how they propose to address any potential impediments to expanding their enrollment capacity; and,
   3. The chancellor's office shall evaluate campus applications, award and oversee the grants made, and report periodically to the Legislature, in compliance with the Government Code, on the progress of the university toward increasing enrollments in speech-language pathologist programs.

Governor's Veto Message:

This bill requires the California State University (CSU) to allocate $3 million appropriated in the 2019 Budget Act for enrollment in speech-language pathologist programs through competitive grants to campuses operating these programs.

Although I am supportive of the underlying goal of the appropriation, increasing enrollment in California State University speech-language pathologist programs, the CSU Board of Trustees should have the flexibility to determine the most appropriate administrative approach to providing these funds to campuses. Moreover, by requiring the CSU to implement and administer a competitive grant program to award these funds, this bill may result in General Fund cost pressures that were not included in the 2019 Budget Act.

COMMENTS:

In correspondence with the Assembly Education Committee, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) wrote that they believe CSU likely could increase enrollment in SLP programs by about 5% (47 full-time-equivalent students) in 2019-20. Based on the LAO's analysis of these programs, they estimate the state cost of these additional enrollment slots would be approximately $16,000 per student or approximately $750,000 overall. If the state were to provide additional augmentations moving forward, it was estimated that these programs could continue expanding by roughly 5% annually for at least another ten years.

The LAO also noted that, because programs could have different capacities to grow in the coming years, it was recommend the Legislature appropriate these targeted enrollment funds on a competitive grant basis.

According to the Author:

According to the author, "California is experiencing one of the worst teacher shortages in history. We all know there is a severe shortage of Special Education teachers but what might be less well known is that there is a serious shortage of Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs). SLPs provide many services in a student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Speech and language is one of the largest disabilities in students and is growing each year. Due to the shortage in SLPs, school districts are forced to contract with speech service agencies and pay higher rates…By expanding the number of seats in these CSU SLP graduate programs, we will be able to meet the desperate need for SLPs in our schools. If we do not expand SLP graduate programs in California we will never meet the growing demand of SLPs."

Arguments in Support:

The California Hospital Association wrote in support of this legislation, noting that "…SLP's diagnose and treat communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults, working in hospitals, skilled-nursing facilities, private clinics, schools and other settings. To become licensed, they must earn a master's degree in speech-language pathology from an accredited program, pass a national exam, and complete a post-graduate clinical fellowship. CSU programs graduate a majority of the state's SLPs. There are long waiting lists to get into the CSU programs, and the acceptance rate ranges from 7 percent at CSU Long Beach to 28 percent at CSU Sacramento, which illustrates the high interest in these capacity-restricted programs… for these reasons, CHA and its more than 400 member hospitals and health systems respectfully ask for your support of AB 1075."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

The Assembly Committee on Appropriations noted one-time General Fund costs, subject to appropriation, for competitive grants to SPL programs at CSU campuses. The Committee also noted one-time General Fund costs, likely in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, for the CSU chancellor's office to hire a staff member to administer and oversee the grant program and report to the Legislature.

VOTES:

ASM HIGHER EDUCATION: 12-0-0

YES: Medina, Choi, Gloria, Bloom, Gabriel, Irwin, Kiley, Gonzalez, Low, Patterson, Santiago, Weber

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0-5

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager‑Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Obernolte, Patterson, Petrie‑Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

ABS, ABST OR NV: Cooley, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Gray, Ting

SENATE FLOOR: 40-0-0

YES: Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Borgeas, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Lena Gonzalez, Grove, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

UPDATED:

VERSION: September 12, 2019

CONSULTANT: Kevin Powers / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN: 0002519

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 1075

Author: Holden (D)

Amended: 5/16/19 in Assembly

Vote: 21

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/26/19

AYES: Leyva, Wilk, Chang, Durazo, Glazer, McGuire, Pan

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/30/19

AYES: Portantino, Bates, Bradford, Durazo, Hill, Jones, Wieckowski

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/28/19 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: California State University: speech-language pathologist programs

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires the Chancellor of the California State University (CSU) to allocate funds to campus speech-language pathologist programs to expand enrollment in those programs.

ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes the CSU, under the administration of the Trustees of the CSU, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The CSU comprises 23 institutions of higher education throughout the state, and the Chancellor of the CSU serves as the university’s chief executive officer. (Education Code § 89000, et seq.)

This uncodified bill requires, contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation for this purpose to the Trustees of the CSU for the 2019-20 fiscal year, those funds to be allocated in accordance with all of the following:

1. Requires the Chancellor of the CSU to allocate funds through competitive grants to each campus speech-language pathologist programs.
   
2. Requires campus programs, as part of their applications, to specify how many enrollment slots they plan to add during the grant period and how they propose to address any potential impediments to expanding their enrollment capacity.
   
3. Requires the Chancellor’s office to evaluate campus applications, award and oversee the grants, and report periodically to the Legislature on the progress of the CSU toward increasing enrollment in speech-language pathologist programs.

Comments

Need for additional speech-language pathologists. The CSU offers a number of -accredited Master’s Degree speech-language pathologist programs. Currently, 13 CSU campuses offer master’s degree programs that prepare speech-language pathologists. Of these programs, 11 are state funded and two are entirely supported by student fees. According to the CSU Chancellor’s Office, in 2017-18, CSU enrolled a total of 933 full-time equivalent students in these programs and graduated about 400 students.

According to the Assembly Higher Education Committee’s analysis of this bill, high speech-language pathologist education costs are due primarily to accreditation standards that require programs to maintain a 3:1 student-to-clinical faculty (supervisor) ratio in their on-campus clinics. (Programs do not have a required student-to-faculty ratio for classroom instruction.) Speech-language pathologist programs also often purchase expensive equipment, such as high-tech mannequins that can simulate speech impairments for students. On average, total program costs are well beyond costs for typical CSU programs. According to program administrators interviewed at CSU by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), these high relative costs limit the size of the cohort they can enroll each year.

Related budget activity. AB 74 (Ting, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2019), which is the Budget Act of 2019, allocated $3 million for the CSU to increase enrollment in graduate specialist programs in speech and language pathology.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

• While the bill’s provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation, it could result in one-time General Fund cost pressure in the high hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars to provide competitive grants to CSU campuses for speech-language pathologist programs.
  
• The CSU estimates General Fund costs of approximately $200,000 to manage the grant program if it were to be funded.

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/30/19)

California Hospital Association

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/30/19)

None received

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/28/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooley, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Gray, Ting

Prepared by: Lynn Lorber / ED. /

9/1/19 9:56:39

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

AB 1075 (Holden) - California State University: speech-language pathologist programs

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the Chancellor of the California State University (CSU) to allocate funds to campus speech-language pathologist programs to expand enrollment in those programs.

Fiscal Impact:

• While the bill’s provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation, it could result in one-time General Fund cost pressure in the high hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars to provide competitive grants to CSU campuses for speech-language pathologist programs.
• The CSU estimates General Fund costs of approximately $200,000 to manage the grant program if it were to be funded.

Background:

Existing law establishes the CSU, under the administration of the Trustees of the CSU, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The CSU comprises 23 institutions of higher education throughout the state, and the Chancellor of the CSU serves as the university’s chief executive officer.

The CSU offers a number of -accredited Master’s Degree speech-language pathologist programs. Currently, 13 CSU campuses offer master’s degree programs that prepare speech-language pathologists. Of these programs, 11 are state funded and two are entirely supported by student fees. According to the CSU, for the 2017-18 school year, CSU enrolled a total of 933 full-time equivalent students in these programs and graduated about 400 students. Speech-language pathologists diagnose and treat communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults, and work in schools, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, private clinics, and other settings.

Proposed Law:

This bill, contingent upon an appropriation for this purpose for the 2019-20 fiscal year, requires the Chancellor of the CSU to allocate funds through competitive grants to each campus speech-language pathologist programs. The campus programs, as part of their applications, would be required to specify how many enrollment slots they plan to add during the grant period and how they propose to address any potential impediments to expanding their enrollment capacity.

This bill also requires the Chancellor’s office to evaluate campus applications, award and oversee the grants, and report periodically to the Legislature on the progress of the CSU toward increasing enrollment in speech-language pathologist programs.

Staff Comments:

AB 74 (Ting, Chapter 23, Statutes of 2019), which is the Budget Act of 2019, provides $3 million for the CSU to increase enrollment in graduate specialist programs in speech and language pathology. While the language in the bill differs somewhat from what is included in the budget, both address funding to increase enrollment in CSU speech and language pathology programs.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Connie Leyva, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: AB 1075 Hearing Date: June 26, 2019

Subject: California State University: speech-language pathologist programs.

SUMMARY

This bill requires the Chancellor of the California State University (CSU) to allocate funds to campus speech-language pathologist programs to expand enrollment in those programs.

BACKGROUND

Existing law establishes the CSU, under the administration of the Trustees of the CSU, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The CSU comprises 23 institutions of higher education throughout the state, and the Chancellor of the CSU serves as the university’s chief executive officer. (Education Code § 89000, et seq.)

ANALYSIS

This uncodified bill requires, contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation for this purpose to the Trustees of the CSU for the 2019-20 fiscal year, those funds to be allocated in accordance with all of the following:

1. Requires the Chancellor of the CSU to allocate funds through competitive grants to each campus speech-language pathologist programs.
   
2. Requires campus programs, as part of their applications, to specify how many enrollment slots they plan to add during the grant period and how they propose to address any potential impediments to expanding their enrollment capacity.
   
3. Requires the Chancellor’s office to evaluate campus applications, award and oversee the grants, and report periodically to the Legislature on the progress of the CSU toward increasing enrollment in speech-language pathologist programs.

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “California is experiencing one of the worst teacher shortages in history. We all know there is a severe shortage of Special Education teachers but what might be less well known is that there is a serious shortage of Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs). SLPs provide many services in a student’s individualized education program. Speech and language is one of the largest disabilities in students and is growing each year. Due to the shortage in SLPs, school districts are forced to contract with speech service agencies and pay higher rates. We do not have enough certified SLPs to meet the need of our current student population. The CSU graduate programs graduate the large majority of our SLPs. There are huge waiting lists to get into the CSU’s speech pathologist preparation graduate programs. Last year the CSU graduated 422 SLPs and there were 1,443 vacant SLP district positions. By expanding the number of seats in these CSU SLP graduate programs we will be able to meet the desperate need for SLPs in our schools. If we do not expand SLP graduate programs in California we will never meet the growing demand of SLPs.”
   
2. This uncodified bill is funded in the Budget Act of 2019. AB 74 (Ting, 2019), which is the Budget Act of 2019, allocates $3 million for the CSU to increase enrollment in graduate specialist programs in speech and language pathology. While this bill differs somewhat from the budget bill language, both address funding to increase enrollment in CSU speech and language pathology programs. AB 74 accomplishes that goal (albeit not yet signed by the Governor). Therefore, this bill is unnecessary and conflicts with the Budget Act.
   
3. Need for additional speech-language pathologists. The CSU offers a number of -accredited Master’s Degree speech-language pathologist programs. Currently, 13 CSU campuses offer master’s degree programs that prepare speech-language pathologists. Of these programs, 11 are state funded and two are entirely supported by student fees. According to the CSU Chancellor’s Office, in 2017-18, CSU enrolled a total of 933 full-time equivalent students in these programs and graduated about 400 students.
   
   According to the Assembly Higher Education Committee’s analysis of this bill, high speech-language pathologist education costs are due primarily to accreditation standards that require programs to maintain a 3:1 student-to-clinical faculty (supervisor) ratio in their on-campus clinics. (Programs do not have a required student-to-faculty ratio for classroom instruction.) Speech-language pathologist programs also often purchase expensive equipment, such as high-tech mannequins that can simulate speech impairments for students. On average, total program costs are well beyond costs for typical CSU programs. According to program administrators interviewed at CSU by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), these high relative costs limit the size of the cohort they can enroll each year.

SUPPORT

California Hospital Association

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board

OPPOSITION

None received

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1075

Author:(Holden)

As Amended Ver:May 16, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Provides to the Trustees of the California State University (CSU) from the General Fund for the 2019–20 fiscal year, contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation for this purpose, for the allocation of funds by the chancellor through competitive grants to speech-language pathologist programs at campuses of the CSU.

Major Provisions

1. States that the Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
2. The CSU can likely increase enrollment in its speech-language pathologist programs by about 47 full-time equivalent students, which would be a five-percent increase, at a cost of about $750,000; and,
3. If the state provides additional augmentations moving forward, these programs can continue expanding by roughly five percent annually for at least another 10 years.
4. Stipulates that, contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation from the General Fund to the Trustees of the CSU for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, those funds shall be allocated in accordance with all of the following:
5. The Chancellor of the CSU shall allocate the funds appropriated through competitive grants to campus speech-language pathologist programs;
6. As part of their applications, campus programs applying for grants under this subdivision shall specify how many enrollment slots they plan to add during the grant period and how they propose to address any potential impediments to expanding their enrollment capacity; and,
7. The chancellor's office shall evaluate campus applications, award and oversee the grants made, and report periodically to the Legislature, in compliance with the Government Code, on the progress of the university toward increasing enrollments in speech-language pathologist programs.

COMMENTS:

In correspondence with the Assembly Education Committee, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) wrote that they believe CSU likely could increase enrollment in SLP programs by about five percent (47 full-time-equivalent students) in 2019-20. Based on the LAO's analysis of these programs, they estimate the state cost of these additional enrollment slots would be approximately $16,000 per student or approximately $750,000 overall. If the state were to provide additional augmentations moving forward, it was estimated that these programs could continue expanding by roughly five percent annually for at least another ten years.

The LAO also noted that, because programs could have different capacities to grow in the coming years, it was recommend the Legislature appropriate these targeted enrollment funds on a competitive grant basis.

According to the Author:

According to the author, "California is experiencing one of the worst teacher shortages in history. We all know there is a severe shortage of Special Education teachers but what might be less well known is that there is a serious shortage of Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs). SLPs provide many services in a student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Speech and language is one of the largest disabilities in students and is growing each year. Due to the shortage in SLPs, school districts are forced to contract with speech service agencies and pay higher rates…By expanding the number of seats in these CSU SLP graduate programs, we will be able to meet the desperate need for SLPs in our schools. If we do not expand SLP graduate programs in California we will never meet the growing demand of SLPs."

Arguments in Support:

The California Hospital Association wrote in support of this legislation, noting that "…SLP's diagnose and treat communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults, working in hospitals, skilled-nursing facilities, private clinics, schools and other settings. To become licensed, they must earn a master's degree in speech-language pathology from an accredited program, pass a national exam, and complete a post-graduate clinical fellowship. CSU programs graduate a majority of the state's SLPs. There are long waiting lists to get into the CSU programs, and the acceptance rate ranges from 7 percent at CSU Long Beach to 28 percent at CSU Sacramento, which illustrates the high interest in these capacity-restricted programs… for these reasons, CHA and its more than 400 member hospitals and health systems respectfully ask for your support of AB 1075."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

The Assembly Committee on Appropriations noted one-time General Fund costs, subject to appropriation, for competitive grants to SPL programs at CSU campuses. The Committee also noted one-time General Fund costs, likely in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, for the CSU chancellor's office to hire a staff member to administer and oversee the grant program and report to the Legislature.

VOTES:

ASM HIGHER EDUCATION: 12-0-0

YES: Medina, Choi, Gloria, Bloom, Gabriel, Irwin, Kiley, Gonzalez, Low, Patterson, Santiago, Weber

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

UPDATED:

VERSION: May 16, 2019

CONSULTANT: Kevin J. Powers / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN: 0000924

Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1075

Author:(Holden) – As Introduced Ver:February 21, 2019

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill appropriates $750,000 to the trustees of the California State University (CSU) in the 2019-20 fiscal year for allocation through competitive grants to speech-language pathologist (SPL) programs at CSU campuses. An applicant for a grant must specify how many slots they plan to add on their campus during the grant period as well as any barriers to expanding enrollment in the program. It also requires the CSU chancellor’s office to report to the Legislature on the progress toward increasing enrollments in SPL programs.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. One-time General Fund costs of $750,000 for competitive grants to SPL programs at CSU campuses.
2. One-time General Fund costs, likely in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, for the CSU chancellor’s office to hire a staff member to administer and oversee the grant program and report to the Legislature on the program.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author, the goal of this bill is to increase the number of SLPs in schools. “We all know there is a severe shortage of special education teachers but what might be less well known is that there is a serious shortage of SPLs…Speech and language is one of the largest disabilities in students and is growing each year.”
2. Background. SPLs diagnose and treat communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults. SLPs work in schools, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, private clinics and other settings. To become a certified SPL, an individual must earn a master’s degree in an accredited program, pass a national exam and complete a post-graduate clinical fellowship. Currently, 13 CSU campuses offer accredited master’s degree SLP programs and enrolled 933 full-time students in the 2017-18 academic year. Programs typically are two years in duration and include hands-on clinical training of at least 375 hours.

On average, SLP master’s degree programs at CSU are more expensive to offer than other CSU master’s degree programs. This is because (a) accreditation standards require programs to maintain a three-to-one student to supervisor ration during their clinical training and (b) equipment, such as high-tech mannequins, for the programs is expensive. CSU campuses indicate recruiting clinical faculty is challenging because the salaries they offer are not competitive.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office indicates the state cost for each additional SLP slot at a CSU campus is $16,000. If the CSU were to increase slots by 47 full time students (5%) in the 2019-20 academic year, costs would be $750,000.

Analysis Prepared by: Natasha Collins / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 9, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Jose Medina, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1075 (

Author:Holden) – As Introduced Ver:February 21, 2019

SUBJECT: California State University: speech-language pathologist programs

SUMMARY: Appropriates $750,000 to the trustees from the General Fund for the 2019–20 fiscal year, for allocation by the Chancellor of the California State University (CSU) through competitive grants to speech-language pathologist programs at campuses of the university. Specifically, this bill:

1. Appropriates $750,000 from the General Fund to the Trustees of the CSU for the 2019–20 fiscal year, for allocation in accordance with all of the following:
2. The Chancellor of the CSU shall allocate the funds appropriated through competitive grants to campus speech-language pathologist programs;
3. As part of their applications, campus programs applying for grants under this subdivision shall specify how many enrollment slots they plan to add during the grant period and how they propose to address any potential impediments to expanding their enrollment capacity; and,
4. The chancellor’s office shall evaluate campus applications, award and oversee the grants made, and report periodically to the Legislature, in compliance with the Government Code, on the progress of the university toward increasing enrollments in speech-language pathologist programs.
5. Statues that the Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
6. The CSU can likely increase enrollment in its speech-language pathologist programs by about 47 full-time equivalent students, which would be a five-percent increase, at a cost of about $750,000; and,
7. If the state provides additional augmentations moving forward, these programs can continue expanding by roughly five percent annually for at least another 10 years.

EXISTING LAW: Establishes the CSU, under the administration of the Trustees of the CSU, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The CSU comprises 23 institutions of higher education throughout the state, and the Chancellor of the CSU serves as the university’s chief executive officer. (Education Code Section 89000, et seq.)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS: Need for the bill. According to the author, “California is experiencing one of the worst teacher shortages in history. We all know there is a severe shortage of Special Education teachers but what might be less well known is that there is a serious shortage of Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs). SLPs provide many services in a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Speech and language is one of the largest disabilities in students and is growing each year. Due to the shortage in SLPs, school districts are forced to contract with speech service agencies and pay higher rates…By expanding the number of seats in these CSU SLP graduate programs, we will be able to meet the desperate need for SLPs in our schools. If we do not expand SLP graduate programs in California we will never meet the growing demand of SLPs.”

Background. Speech-language pathologists (often referred to as speech therapists) diagnose and treat communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults. Besides schools, SLPs work in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, private clinics, and other settings.

There are several requirements one must achieve in order to practice as an SLP. Most importantly, an individual must earn a master’s degree in SLP from an accredited program, pass a national exam, and complete a post-graduate clinical fellowship. The Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) accredits SLP programs.

The CSU offers a number of CAA-accredited Master’s Degree SLP programs. Currently, 13 CSU campuses offer master’s degree programs that prepare SLPs. (The SLP program is known as “communication disorders” at several campuses.) Of these programs, 11 are state funded and two are entirely supported by student fees. According to the CSU Chancellor’s Office, in 2017-18, CSU enrolled a total of 933 full-time equivalent students in these programs and graduated about 400 students.

SLP programs at CSU generally are two years in duration, with student cohorts attending year-round in the first year (fall, spring, summer) and in the fall and spring in the second year. CAA requires all programs to offer a substantial amount of hands-on clinical training to supplement classroom instruction. Currently, students must complete at least 375 hours of clinical placements. CAA specifies that students must gain this clinical experience in a variety of settings working with different populations and age groups.

On-campus clinical placements are provided through CSU-run speech-language clinics. These clinics are open to the campus community and general public, typically on a donation basis. Under the supervision of a CSU clinical faculty member, students assess, diagnose, and treat clients. To supplement these clinical hours and give students required experience in other work settings, programs enter into contracts with schools, hospitals, and other local providers to host student clinicians. Through these off-campus experiences (often referred to as “externships”), students provide speech-language services and receive one-on-one supervision and feedback from an employee at the work site (a practicing speech-language pathologist).

Barriers to expanding SLP programs at CSU. High SLP education costs are due primarily to accreditation standards that require programs to maintain a 3:1 student-to-clinical faculty (supervisor) ratio in their on-campus clinics. (Programs do not have a required student-to-faculty ratio for classroom instruction.) SLP programs also often purchase expensive equipment, such as high-tech mannequins that can simulate speech impairments for students. On average, total program costs are well beyond costs for typical CSU programs. According to program administrators interviewed at CSU by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), these high relative costs limit the size of the cohort they can enroll each year.

Program administrators also expressed ongoing concern with hiring sufficient numbers of clinical faculty to supervise students at on-campus clinics. Recruiting for these positions is challenging due to non-competitive salaries. Clinical faculty are often hired under CSU’s lecturer classification (with limited opportunities for future pay increases) and generally are paid less than starting salaries for SLP graduates at a hospital or school setting. CSU administrators have indicated to the LAO that until they begin paying more competitive salaries, expanding program enrollments will be a challenge.

In addition, program administrators reported to the LAO that they sometimes experience challenges with securing enough off-campus placements for their students. While placements in schools generally are not a problem, administrators indicate that clinical opportunities serving adults (such as in a hospital) are relatively limited in number and thus can be difficult to secure. The issue is further compounded in areas with a higher concentration of SLP programs, where programs are in competition to secure an already limited number of opportunities for their students.

LAO Recommendations. In correspondence with the Assembly Education Committee, the LAO wrote that they believe CSU likely could increase enrollment in SLP programs by about five percent (47 full-time-equivalent students) in 2019-20. Based on the LAO’s analysis of these programs, they estimate the state cost of these additional enrollment slots would be approximately $16,000 per student or approximately $750,000 overall. If the state were to provide additional augmentations moving forward, it was estimated that these programs could continue expanding by roughly five percent annually for at least another ten years.

The LAO also noted that, because programs could have different capacities to grow in the coming years, it was recommend the Legislature appropriate these targeted enrollment funds on a competitive grant basis.

Committee comments. Committee staff notes that the provisions of AB 1075 align closely with the LAO’s recommendations. While it is unusual for the Legislature to fund specific academic programs, this bill is similar to Legislative initiatives to fund enrollment increases in CSU and community college nursing programs in order to address shortages in the field.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Hospital Association/California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Kevin J. Powers / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960