Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education

Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everyone to the Assembly Higher Education Committee. The Assembly Higher Education Committee is now called to order. I want to welcome everyone to the Assembly Higher Education Committee. Whether you're here in person or watching virtually, I welcome each and every one of you. I will now go over some key elements of the structure of today's hearing.

Please note that while this hearing will not have phone testimony, we are accepting written testimony through the position letter portal on the Committee's website at ahed.assembly.ca.gov. Bills will be taken up in sign-in order. Authors, you can sign in at the sergeant's desk in room 127.

Additionally, please note that the guidelines for bills heard in this Committee is to allow for testimony from two lead witnesses in support and two lead witnesses in opposition to speak for no more than two minutes each.

Stakeholder groups and entities that are neither in support nor in opposition will be allowed to give testimony for no more than two minutes when a call for 'tweeners. If a measure has more than two entities in a 'tweener category, only two will be allowed to speak for two minutes each.

For members of the Committee, members, if you would like to respond to a roll call, ask a question or provide a comment, please be sure to activate your mic and speak into your mic. For authors of bills up today, authors, each member presenting today will provide an opening statement and a closing statement. As previously stated, your two lead witnesses will each have two minutes to provide testimony. We have 27 measures on the agenda today with six measures proposed for the consent calendar.

However, file items 23 Assembly Bill 3112 by Assemblymember Bill Essayli and item number six Assembly Bill 2328 by myself have been pulled from today's hearing. That leaves us with 19 measures to be heard today in Committee. Additionally, file item 12 Assembly Bill 2532 by Assemblymember Devon Mathis will be presented today by Assemblymember Phil Chen, and like to extend the warm birthday greetings to you and happy birthday.

Before we proceed with our first author, we'll take up the consent calendar when we have a quorum and at this time we'll start off as a subcommittee. And thank you so much everyone for being here today. I'd like to welcome up Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry. Presenting item number 16, Assembly Bill 2901, welcome.

Good afternoon Mr. Chair and Committee. Under current state law, faculty at community colleges cannot earn any paid pregnancy leave. Only after they have used up to 12 weeks of accrued sick leave can faculty be eligible to receive differential pay when they cannot work due to pregnancy-related disabilities, and in case you are not familiar with differential pay, it is paying educators their regular salary minus the cost of their substitute.

The current standard of pregnancy leave discriminates against women and leaves them with the decision to either schedule pregnancies based on the academic calendar or try to get by with less pay. For any of you who are parents, I'm sure you know how well scheduling pregnancies works in real life. This standard is unacceptable in a world where we are trying to evolve in our treatment of our workers.

But since this legislation was last proposed, we now have proof that the real world implication is inequity for women in the retirement data from CalSTRS shows women will receive almost $100,000 less in retirement benefits than their male counterparts. Members, that is shocking and it's about time we fix it. Speaking in support with me today is Dr. Sarah Seekatz, a Professor of History at San Joaquin Delta College, and Seth Bramble on behalf of our sponsor, the California Teachers Association.

Mr. Chair and Assemblymembers, my name is Dr. Sarah Seekatz and I'm a Professor of History at San Joaquin Delta College. I am here today sharing my story in hopes that you will vote aye on this bill to end discrimination against women who are required to deplete leaves balances to bear children. The decision to have children is not an illness, and educators should not be forced to use our sick leave for this purpose.

We are left with little to no sick days to care for ourselves and our family. Though I began a career in public education as a teaching assistant in 2018, I postponed rejoining higher education as a professor to have my first child in 2015. My career was delayed because of a desire to have a family, which failed to match the demands of higher education. I was working full time when I had my son in February 2020.

As a result, I used up almost all of my sick time, and this will ultimately mean less of a retirement benefit for me when I choose to retire. Situations like this no doubt contribute to the gender disparity in retirement, which recent statistics, as she said, have been placed at around 100,000 difference per educator. Requiring birthing parents to deplete their sick leave disproportionately impacts women. It is critical that we eliminate the systemic barriers to recruitment and retention in higher education.

At each faculty rank and level, women earn less than men, so the systemic issue of also having to lose out on our sick leave to recover from birth furthers this inequality. It means we must work longer in order to obtain the exact same retirement as our non-birthing colleagues.

By requiring community college districts to provide 14 weeks of fully paid pregnancy leave, this bill will help faculty take necessary time off without sacrificing our financial security, the health of our families, or the well-being of our community colleges. I urge your support for Assembly Bill 2901.

Seth Bramble, excuse me, speaking on behalf of more than 300,000 impacted educators, the members of the California Teachers Association. Proud to sponsor this important legislation alongside our state superintendent and our state treasurer. A study pointed to in the analysis by the International Labor Organization of the United Nations found that there has been a gradual shift towards pregnancy leave periods that meet or exceed a minimum standard of 14 weeks.

When leave is too short, mothers may feel, you know, not yet ready to return to work and may drop out of the workforce. The study points to some startling statistics. Out of 167 countries studied, 97% grant this paid leave for women. Only four of those 167 countries did not: Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and the United States.

In California, the fifth largest economy worldwide, one of the largest and predominantly female workforces in the state are excluded from pregnancy leave, a fundamental standard for reproductive rights in most countries across the globe. As of 2020, Ireland provided workers with six and a half months of paid leave, Italy provided five months of paid leave, England provided nearly 10 months of paid leave, and Sweden had nearly 16 months of paid leave.

California is far behind and as we embrace our diversity and family friendly policies in our state, California has an opportunity to bring more equity to retirement income. This proposed new pregnancy leave for educators will not be deducted from sick leave and improves working conditions to help and attract and retain talented educators, more than three fourths of whom are female, making this proposed policy especially impactful for those who choose public education for their career.

We do want to thank the majority leader for carrying this important legislation, and we urge your support.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses of support in the hearing room?

Daniel Pearl on behalf of the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees, in strong support.

Jennifer Baker on behalf of the California Retired Teachers Association, in proud support.

Joycelyn Martinez Wade with the California State Teachers Retirement System, in support.

Anna Matthews with the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, in strong support.

David Hawkins representing the California Community College Independence Faculty Union, support. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room?

Hi. Katie Duberg, California Work and Family Coalition in strong support of AB 2901. Also have permission to testify on behalf of the following organizations in strong support: Asian Law Alliance, Breastfeed LA, California Breastfeeding Coalition, California WIC Association, Caring Across Generations, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Center for Workers Rights, Child Care Law Center, Citizens for Choice, Electric Universe and Equal Rights Advocates. Thank you.

Sara Bachez with Children Now, as well as Food Empowerment Project, Friends Committee on Legislation of California, Human Impact Partners, LA Alliance for a New Economy, LA Best Babies Network, National Council of Jewish Women of LA, Orange County Equity Coalition, Our Family Coalition, Parent Voices of California, San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition and Worksafe. Thank you.

Hello. Karen Stout on behalf of Reproductive Freedom for All California, in support.

Jennifer Robles with Health Access California, in support.

Kimberly Rosenberger with SEIU, in support.

Bryan Ha with California Faculty Association. We're enthusiastically supporting this bill.

Good afternoon. Mitch Steiger with CFT, a union of educators and classified professionals. Also in support.

Mr. Chair and Members, Matt Broad for CSEA, in support. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, Members, I'm Julie Glenn-Juuko with CSEA and I am in support.

George Parampathu on behalf of the California Labor Federation, in support. Thank you.

Thank you so much to all the supporters. Are there any witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Seeing none. Are there any tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none. Assemblymember, would you like to close?

I would. AB 2901 will finally end the discriminatory practice of giving community college faculty who are pregnant no choice but to deplete their sick leave, a benefit that directly affects their compensation now and their retirement forever. At a time when faculty are so stressed that they're leaving the profession and young people are choosing different careers, we must do everything we can to help recruit and retain our educators.

And it is at a time we need to stop charging women $100,000 to care for their child until they return to care for ours. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you so much. Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry for bringing this very important bill forward. Paid leave is something that is often left to the bargaining table. I don't think that it should be. People around the world, as has been mentioned, have figured this out, and we can too. This bill is a strong step in the right direction. And with that, I look forward to supporting the measure here today. And when we have a quorum, we'll take a motion.

Thank you very much, Chairman and Committee, appreciate your help.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Next up, I'd like to welcome Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, presenting three bills?

I think I'm just going to do one or so and then have Mr. Holden jump in.

Okay, understood. We'll start with Assembly Bill 2076?

Yeah, we'll do that one. I don't have my talking points, but I have the phone. So here we go. This is a bill that you're very familiar with. This. This helps implement our college student housing fund, the revolving fund that we created a couple years ago that may be tied up a little bit because of the budget situation. So we're looking for some innovative ways to put resources on the table to fund this program.

So this would loan $200 million from the state treasurer's pooled money, investment account money to build new student housing in California. We know we look at the cost of college. It's not always tuition. It's books, it's food, it's transportation, and most of all, it's housing. So California can and should step to the plate and help build more student housing in all of our segments with this as an innovative. With me today is the UC talking about an innovative approach to finance that in California. Ask for your aye vote. University of California?

Thank you so much. Welcome.

Good afternoon. My name is Meghan Gutekunst. I am the Associate Vice President, Capital financial planning and analysis at the University of California. Thank you for having me here today. I'm here on behalf of the University in support of AB 2076. The University has significant demand for on campus student housing that is demonstrated by the over 16,000 students who are waitlisted for campus housing in fall of 2023. The revolving loan fund will be an important tool in helping the University finance additional beds by providing a lower cost form of financing.

It would allow the University to extend its resources and ensure on campus housing remains affordable. Under this program, the University would pay back the principal it receives, but would not be required to pay any interest. That means if the University received $75 million out of the $200 million total, it would save about $2 million every year in interest cost for 30 years. That savings compares to using the University's own financing, which would be the alternative funding source.

The $2 million in annual savings would help the University finance the additional student housing beds that it plans to build at a lower cost, which would have a direct result of lower cost for students. In addition, since the loan fund is revolving, the principal UC pays back could be redeployed for future student housing and lower cost beds for students. Thank you again for your time.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Eric Bakke with the California State University and support. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room. Colleagues, any questions or comments? We will do that once we have a quorum. Assemblymember, you'd like to close please.

Ask for you aye vote, thank you.

Thank you so much Assemblymember Kevin McCarty for bringing this very important Bill forward and being the champion of student housing at a time when affordable housing seems to be virtually non existent. We need to continue to do whatever we can to ensure that our students have access to affordable housing on or near their campuses. Please continue to work with all appropriate stakeholders in order to address the comments on page four of the analysis.

And with that, I look forward to supporting measure here today once we have quorum. Thank you.

Thank you.

Anything you want to.

Yeah, keep going.

Oh keep going. All right. Are we going to keep going? Next up is

Im gonna do one, simpler one.

You want to do number four?

Do the third one, and then we'll come back for the middle one, which has some opposition. This one does not.

So number 24. Okay, so now we're on item 24, Assembly Bill 3131. Welcome.

Yeah, thank you, Mister chair. Thanks for working with us and we'll be accepting the author amendments. This Bill is part of our legislative Black Caucus Reparations package related to career education. This will ensure that our state career education programs targets schools with high Black populations. And of course, we know these are students who have primarily been unfortunately excluded from our high quality CTE programs. Career Education education is of course, the equalizer for opportunity.

And as we have an opportunity to really change the trajectory for young people in California looking through their reparations lens, this is an important thought through policy. With me today to testify and support is a representative from our greater Sacramento Urban League. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you so much. Welcome.

Thank you so much. So, thank you, chair and members for having me today. My name is Doctor Jahmese Fort Williams. I'm an advocate for educational equity, the mother of two future scholars, and the Executive Vice President of the Greater Sacramento Urban League. In this role, I provide executive oversight to Greater Sacramento Urban League's youth and family center and our portfolio of youth focused programs.

Having been a college Professor, a University program Director, I have come into contact with students from various backgrounds and learned about their educational trajectories. For many of them, it's the hands on, skills based learning experiences that have helped them develop an image of themselves in a future career of their choice. It has also increased their interest in school because the skills and knowledge were applicable to their future careers. Career Technical Education, or CTE, is the practice of teaching skills, careers to students.

CTE provides the type of long term skills with practical applications that help students shift their experience of education from kind of guessing about what they could do with a certain knowledge to being able to really envision themselves in a career using the various skills that they're gaining in the classroom. Students will make that important shift from will I ever use this knowledge to having a more specific vision of themselves in a specific career using the skills they are currently practicing in class.

Access to quality CTE programs will not only help prepare students for vocational careers, but will also prepare students for higher education and STEM careers. Investments into high quality CTE programs that combine academic education with occupational training offers an essential tool against persisting inequities. AB 3131 is part of the California Black Caucus Reparations Bill package and will improve CTE programs for Black students by directing existing CTE grants towards schools eligible for equity multiplier funding.

This Bill will help break down barriers to educational access and create pathways to economic mobility for underserved populations. By prioritizing equity and inclusion in our education and workforce development in initiatives, we can build stronger, more resilient communities and create opportunities for all Californians to thrive. Thank you and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Chair and Members Austin Webster with W strategies on behalf of the California Community Colleges Association for Occupational Education, representing the workforce and CTE instructors throughout the community college system in strong support.

Thank you. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? A summary we'd like to close.

Thank you. Ask for your aye vote.

Thank you so much for bringing this very important measure forward and working with Committee staff on the amendments and ensuring that this work impacts our students here to make sure they have high quality career educational opportunities and appreciate the work and efforts around this as a black caucus party as well. And with that, I look forward to supporting the measure here today. And when we have a quorum, we'll take this up. Thank you. We will now proceed to item number five.

Welcome, Assemblymember Chris Holden. Assembly Bill 21.

2193.

Thank you, Mister chair. Let me thank my colleague for allowing me to come in earlier on my presentation and for you to allow us to do that. Chair Fong and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to present Assembly Bill 2193 dealing with hazing accountability. Last year's Bill, AB 299, had bipartisan support.

I'm prepared to accept Committee amendments for AB 2193 but I want to have the record reflect that because of the short turnaround times, I would like the opportunity to continue to work with the Committee should the Bill move out of Committee today, my sponsors and the appropriation Committee consultants to get this Bill to the better place.

Specifically, when the Bill was heard in Judiciary Committee, the recommendation was to include, "a school shall be deemed to have acted reasonably based on how effective their anti hazing policies, as well as training for students and faculty members have been implemented". I'm in full support of that recommendation. California already codified laws in 2006 that make engaging in hazing unlawful. Despite this, we continue to see hazing incidents occur around educational institutions, oftentimes proving to be fatal.

It is clear that our laws are overlooking the key player when outlining responsible parties, the educational institution itself. How is it that these institutions can promote and profit from students participation in certain extracurricular activities, but not share the responsibility when a tragedy occurs? This Bill allows for a civil action to be brought against an educational institution that should have known of the dangerous hazing practices of an affiliated organization.

It is time we hold all parties involved responsible for these tragedies in the hope that we can come together to prevent them in the future. Here with me to testify in support of AB 2193 is Faculty Association of California Community Colleges Advocacy Manager, Anna Matthews.

Hi Chair and members, my name is Anna Matthews, Advocacy Manager of the Faculty Association of California Community colleges and a proud supporter of this Bill. The purpose of educational institutions is, of course, to educate and to foster an environment conducive to learning and personal growth. The practice of hazing is contrary to this mission. Hazing involves taking advantage of a power differential from being on the inside of a social group to pressure vulnerable people to engage in practices that humiliate, degrade, or endanger them.

I remember watching a friend get hazed when I was in college. He and other students rushing for a fraternity were coerced into drinking immense amounts of alcohol on the other side of the city, had their phones confiscated, and were instructed to find their way back to our University in the middle of the night. It was nothing short of a miracle that nobody got seriously hurt. College hazing has killed over 100 students in the last 20 years and caused lasting harm to many more.

If we as institutions do not take a strong stance against hazing and create clear mechanisms for accountability, we are complacent in the face of unnecessary trauma, injury, and even death of students. AB 2193 requires comprehensive prevention and outreach regarding hazing, providing campuses with the tools to intervene in cases of hazing, engaging in risk reduction, and empowering students to know what is and is not acceptable behavior in clubs, athletics, and greek life.

While it is widely recognized that hazing occurs on many campuses and has severe consequences, very few institutions intervene as a result. This damaging practice continues with nobody to hold affiliated organizations accountable and no path forward to justice for victims of hazing. AB 2193 is a step forward in the right direction. We can no longer afford to let hazing go unchecked at the cost of students mental and physical well being and safety. I respectfully request your aye vote.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Mitch Steiger with CFT in support.

David Hawkins with the California Community College Independents in support.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room?

My name is Joanna Hull and I'm a litigator with the California State University. While CSU has taken an opposed unless amended, position on the Bill in print, we want to be clear that the CSU shares the author's goal to wipe out hazing practices and protect our students. We fear that the legislation, as it was introduced, would have the opposite effect because it creates expansive liability for educational institutions that fail to prevent, discover, or stop hazing, even if the institutions did not know of the hazing.

The Committee's analysis raises important points about how to effectively prevent hazing while holding institutions accountable. We strongly support the Committee's analysis, and we appreciate the author's acceptance of the Committee amendments. The CSU is absolutely committed to preventing hazing. We believe the strategies outlined in the amendments will strengthen hazing prevention. Given the proposed amendments, we will review to amend our position once the amended Bill is in print. I'm happy to answer any questions that members may have.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Good afternoon Chair and members, Alex Graves of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. I would just echo the comments of my counterpart from the CSU. Fully support the goal and work to prevent and stop as much hazing as possible, and we will also review those amendments once they are in print and reconsider our position then. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any tweeners in the hearing room blessing colleagues, any questions or comments? I'm sorry, go ahead. Tweeners, welcome.

Hello. Nune Garipian on behalf of the Community College League of California, in opposition, and we are also looking forward to reviewing the amendments. Thank you.

Kyle Hyland, on behalf of the Association of California Community College Administrators, also respectfully in opposition, but looking forward to reviewing the amendments once they're in print. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any other tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Assemblymember, would you like to close?

Again, I appreciate the chair working with us, and I know that when we spoke at the end of last week, the Committee was very rushed in terms of making their way through a lot of the information and being able for us to be able to have a fullness. We have a lot of strikeouts that in this analysis and we're continuing to understand what was added back in, what was taken out, and what was changed.

And as I indicated to you, my complete support for the effort that's been put forward here, and we're prepared to support them. But we want to also know that we can continue to work with this Committee and with the Appropriations Committee should it move forward, to be able to fine tune at that point. So with that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote. And thank you.

Thank you so much, Assmeblymember Holden, for working with our Committee staff and our conversations as well on the amendments and for accepting those amendments. I agree with our Governor. Hazing is a terrible practice that should be prevented on our campuses. However, campuses cannot be liable for the actions of every student, faculty, and staff. They can only be liable for what they do know and do not address.

I appreciate you, Mister Holden, for working with our Committee staff to address concerns and moving forward, I'd like to see additional provisions added to add supportive measures being provided to students who are victims of hazing. It's not just to hold people accountable after an event, but to ensure supportive measures are in place to help victims continue with their education. And with that, I look forward to supporting the measure here today once we have a quorum. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Mr. McCarty is presenting his final and third bill here today: Assembly Bill 2088, file item number four. Welcome Mr. McCarty.

Thank you Mr. Chair and Members. This bill, also heard at the Ed Committee, is related to classified school employees. We all know they do critical roles at our school districts, community college districts. This is a simple concept. Want to give them the first crack at a job opening on the campus, not a guarantee they'll get that job, not going to delay the process in hiring anybody, not going to do anything different.

But all things being equal, if there's a part time person already working at the community college district and there's another part time job that comes open, give them the first crack to make sure they're not splitting positions. Because we all know that many times these individuals can make more by working in the food and fast food industry.

Classified employees are the backbones of our schools and community college districts and vital employees to our State of California. And respectfully ask for your aye vote. With me today, our representative from the Classified School Association.

Hi. Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee, my name is Julie Glenn-Juuko and I'm a paraeducator, level three at the San Lorenzo Unified School District. I've been working as a paraeducator for over 18 years. I am also a CSEA chapter President and the 2023 CSEA Member of the Year. Our union is proud to be a co-sponsor of the AB 2088 by AssemblyMember McCarty. This important Bill would be instrumental in addressing the education workforce crisis across California.

I know firsthand because we already have a similar process, right of first refusal for classified employees at San Lorenzo Unified School District. We have operated this system successfully at San Lorenzo since the beginning of the pandemic. And the sky hasn't fallen. In fact, since implementing a similar process to the right of first refusal, our district has seen better recruitment and retention of talented staff members. We went from the beginning of the year, 46 vacancies of paraeducators to 14 by December.

And last Friday I just got a report, we're down to two. And this is the same thing with our tech department. Our district is now more competitive with private sector employers because qualified internal candidates can consolidate part-time shifts into full-time work, and this also creates a diverse employee based staff base. In doing so, my coworkers have been able to obtain benefits and much needed stability that will keep them in their jobs for years.

I also want to add that AB 2088 will work in both merit and non-merit districts. I am a proud second generation employee of merit districts. I believe strongly in preserving this system because it ensures that employees are selected, promoted, and retained without favoritism or prejudice based on merit and fitness. Under AB 2088, an eligible candidate must be qualified for the open position at the time of application to receive the privilege of the right of first refusal.

This means that an internal candidate must already have the requisite merit and fitness before consideration for the vacancy. At the same time, districts and their unions are free to negotiate alternative agreements or processes through the collective bargaining process. Many of you have supported this bill last year and I hope you'll do the same this year. For this reason, I urge an aye vote on AB 2088. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Daniel Pearl on behalf of the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees, in strong support.

Mitch Steiger with CFT, proud to co-sponsor this bill. Also urge your support.

Kimberly Rosenberger with SEIU, in strong support.

George Parampathu on behalf of the California Labor Federation, in support. Thank you.

Seth Bramble on behalf of the California Teachers Association, in support.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room?

Good afternoon. Andrew Martinez, the Community College League of California. We must respectfully be opposed to AB 2088 as we were with 1699 last year. We do believe that this puts us in conflict with our Title V regulations, which deals with fair and opening hiring practices for our employees. We think that this bill would put newer people applying for the outside at a disadvantage and would give seniority to those already in place.

And then therefore that would be a challenge for us as we go forward trying to improve our diversity equity inclusion efforts. And then lastly, we are concerned about the impact it would have on our local control. Our locally elected boards are the ones that decide employment issues. It's specifically states that in the ED Code and this bill puts out in conflicts. For those reasons, we must be opposed.

Good afternoon. Kyle Hyland, on behalf of the Association of California Community College Administrators, in respectful opposition to AB 2088. We still believe the governor's veto message applies in the fact that these issues could already be bargained locally. So we are appreciative of the language that allows the alternative bargaining tool if both sides agree. However, we're opposed to this being the default law should those two sides not come to an agreement.

So 72 community college districts have 72 unique needs, and we think that it's important to keep that local control, and that's why we respectfully oppose AB 2088. Thank you.

Thank you. Everyone could just say their name and position.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members. David Neben, on behalf of the School Employers Association of California, the Small School Districts Association and Alameda County Office of Education, in opposition.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Ashley Walker with Nossaman, on behalf of Citrus College, Mt. San Antonio College and North Orange County Community College District, in opposition.

Good afternoon, Chair and Committee Members. Carlos Rojas, representing the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office as well as on behalf of the Riverside County Office of Education, in opposition.

Good afternoon. Mr. Chair and Members, Chris Reefe, on behalf of the California School Board Association. And also have approval to share opposition from the Association of California School Administrators as well as the California Association of School Business Officials. All in opposition.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Sam Nasher, on behalf of the Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Debra Duardo. I want to thank the Committee for helping us clarify our position. Thus, in the analysis, although it says that we support the bill, we remain opposed, as reflected in the letters we sent to the Committee. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Assemblymember, would you like to close, please.

Thank you. I think this is a balanced approach. This was, didn't succeed last year, and we took to heart the governor's message as well as opposition.

And we've worked on clarifying and removing some of those points of contention and continuing to work with the opposition. That's our commitment. And respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you so much, Assemblymember McCarty, for bringing this idea back. I know last year in this Committee we passed this out, a similar measure passed this out. The measure before us today appears to address the policy concern raised by the Committee last year and appears to address the governor's veto message.

And with that, I look forward to supporting the measure here today. Once we have a quorum, we'll take the item up. Thank you, Assemblymember. Next up, I'd like to welcome Assemblymember Valencia presenting item number nine, AB 2447. Welcome.

Buenos Dias Mister chair and Members, I want to start by thanking the chair and the Committee team for diligently working on AB 2447 and acknowledge my legislative team member, Katie Guthrie, who worked on this Bill. Thus far will be accepting the Committee's amendments. AB 2447 will require the CSU to disclose specific data on their contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, investments, and any expenditure from a Reserve account.

The data will identify the recipients of expenditures, including the amount awarded, the type of transaction, office of Department making the expenditure the budget program source for a description of the purpose and item purchased. While the CSUs currently publish a General expenditure plan on their websites, the data does not provide sufficient details on those expenditures and only provides a total amount for expenditures of each category.

Collecting this data will increase transparency and provide a better understanding of how their spending compares to the reserves, surpluses and operating budgets. And it's my belief that when we are dealing with a budget deficit, it's pertinent that we ensure how each dollar is being spent, especially when it's a public resource. With me to provide by testimony is Mister Bryan Ha, the Director of Government Relations for the California Faculty Association.

Thank you Mister Chair Members of the Committee, I want to applaud the author for sponsoring this Bill on our behalf. The Bill, also known as the CSU Transparency act of 2024, earlier this year we won on a strike. It was the first ever at the CSU, and it was the first time we had to actually call for a strike. A lot of it had to do with a lot of falsified information we've been receiving over the years. I know that the Bill does exactly that.

We would require the CSU to post expenditures, anything over $10,000, onto a website, ideally speaking website that is not part of the CSU. Websites such as open gov or Openbooks have actually. We've actually seen some successes out of CSU Dominguez Hills and also CSU San Luis Obispo. We've seen some very good figures come out and very consistent.

So again, we are, just, as the Assemblymember alluded to, we are in a budget crisis, and every opportunity that gets us more transparency and we can hold the CSU accountable is necessary at this point. So we urge your aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room? Are there witnesses in opposition in a hearing room? Are there tweeners in a hearing room?

Good afternoon. Mary Moyle with the CSU would like to thank the Committee staff for their thoughtful analysis. We do plan to keep work working with the author on this.

Thank you, Christine Isakson with the Academic Senate of the CSU, and we appreciate the thoughtful writing of the Bill we support. But we still have serious concerns about some of the language in the Bill, and we look forward to continuing working with the authors.

Thank you, colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none, Assemblymember would you like to close please.

As always, happy to continue dialogue to ensure that this Bill accomplishes its intended goal. Really appreciate your time and respect for your aye vote.

Thank you so much, Assemblymember Valencia, for bringing this Bill forward and working with our Committee on the amendments. Your Bill will create greater transparency on the use of state funds at the California State University. I'm happy to support it here today. And with that, once we establish quorum, we'll take it up. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next up, I'd like to welcome Assembly Member Cervantes presenting item number seven, Assembly Bill 2370. Welcome.

Thank you Mister chair and Committee Members for allowing me to present Assembly Bill 2370 today. A Bill that would help protect community college faculty here in California. As you know, artificial intelligence has seen incredible advancement in recent years, but it is still a resource that is very much in development. Nonetheless, many institutions of higher education are exploring options to integrate artificial intelligence into their courses and curriculum. Unfortunately, in many instances, this is being done without any boundaries or guardrails.

Indeed, one of the most pressing issues faced by the growing use of AI is the possible effect on human workers, particularly the threat that human workers could be replaced wholesale by artificial intelligence. The growing use of the new technology in educational settings has left many faculty members concerned about the impact on them in their classrooms. Faculty reasonably fear that that the institutions that they work for might attempt to have AI tools perform jobs that have historically been performed by human faculty.

In May 2023, the Digital Futures newsletter put out by the California Community College published an article entitled transforming the rise of AI in California Community Colleges. This article contained a lengthy discussion about how AI could be integrated into community colleges within California, including an individualized instruction and tutoring. AB 2370 will help provide guardrails in the integration of AI and community college courses.

The Bill will require that the instructor of record of four community college courses be an individual who meet minimum qualifications to teach and serve as faculty librarians or counselors as determined by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. This would apply to faculty Members who teach both credit and non credit courses. While certainly there is a room for AI to contribute to community college classrooms, human faculty are still necessary and best suited to teach human students.

I respectfully ask for an aye vote on AB 2370 with me to testify. The sponsors of the Bill we have Wendy Brooklyn Wine cop with a faculty Member at College of Canyons, excuse me. And President of the Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges. FACCC, we have Jay Doherty, a student at American River College. On behalf of the student Senate for the California Community Colleges, we also have Austin Webster, also representing FACCC here to answer any questions from the Committee.

Thank you so much. Welcome.

Thank you. Good afternoon, chair Fong and Members, my name is Wendy Brill-Wynkoop and I serve as the President of the Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges. FACCC is pleased to be the sponsor of Assembly Bill 2370 and we extend our sincere thanks to assemblymember Cervantes and her leadership in bringing this Bill forward. I would like to take a moment to thank the higher ed Committee Committee staff who work tirelessly to help with amendments in the bill's previous Committee.

AB 2370 seeks to clarify existing law around minimum qualifications. An individual must have to teach a credit or non credit course, an effort to safeguard against course automation while best serving the needs of our students. Across the country, colleges and universities are turning to self guided course modules, artificial intelligence and instructional coaches, and other educational approaches that remove qualified faculty from the classroom in the name of cost savings and efficiency.

This diminishes the overall quality of education being offered and deprived students of invaluable mentorship and guidance. Existing law establishes the process by which the Board of Governors and the academic Senate for California community colleges develop minimum qualifications for faculty throughout the community college system. AB 2370 would simply clarify that those qualifications must be met by a person and close and close a loophole related to noncredit instruction.

This simple clarification safeguards against the displacement of qualified faculty in our classrooms without stifling innovation or the adoption of other students support services at the college throughout the state. I would again thank the author for her effort in bringing this measure forward and respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Welcome.

Hello Chair Fong and Members, thank you for having me. My name is Jay Doherty and I'm a legislative affairs Director for the student Senate for California Community Colleges. I'm here on behalf of the SSCCC to convey our strong support for AB 2370 and to provide some context as students. Access to qualified faculty Members is paramount to our success as a student. I can appreciate that colleges are turning to self paced education models, automated tutoring tools, and other technologies that can be catered individual needs.

But having a faculty Member that can provide instruction and provide context to lecture is essential. A video tutorial is not a replacement for an experienced instructor who can help me understand an assignment. A chatbot is absolutely not a replacement for a counselor who can help me plan my future. And a database is not a replacement for a librarian who can provide context and guidance based on literature they've read.

Personally, having this access is essential, and I think this Bill is a common sense step towards fulfilling the promise that AI is not meant to eliminate job, but to provide new opportunities. The SSCCC thanks Assemblymember Cervantes for authoring this legislation and we respectfully ask for your aye vote on 2370. Thank you.

Mitch Steiger with CFT in support.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses and support in the hearing room? Thank you.

Priscilla Quiroz here on behalf of the California Faculty Association, in support.

George Brampthew on behalf of the California Labor Federation, in support, thank you

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Assemblymember would you like to close.

David Hawkins with the California Community College Independence and support thank you.

I respectfully ask for aye vote.

Thank you so much Assembly Cervantes, for bringing this important measure forward. And thank you for bringing the concerns of faculty. We know that hearing from their testimony here, we know that students learn better from humans rather than just than robots. And community colleges should be using every tool in a toolkit to help students succeed and also looking at the role of questions, of raising and answering questions as the role of AI going forward.

I appreciate the premise of this Bill and look forward to supporting a measure here today once we have quorum. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Next up, I'd like to welcome Assemblymember Maienschein presenting item number 19. Assembly Bill 2971, welcome.

Thank you very much Mr. Chair and Members. I'd like to start by accepting the Committee amendments, as proposed in the analysis. Classified school employees are the people who keep our schools running smoothly, from serving meals to cleaning classrooms. Unfortunately, many schools are facing staffing shortages which makes it harder to support students and maintain a healthy environment.

Currently, there are no clear guidelines on how many staff members schools actually need. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these issues even more urgent. AB 2971 will help us have better conversations about how many staff members schools need to keep students safe and supported. It's an important step towards creating a stronger and more resilient educational system. Thank you and I respectfully ask for an aye-vote and with me here to testify is Mitch Steiger from the California Federation of Teachers.

Thank you Mr. Chair Members and staff. Mitch Steiger with CFT, a union of educators and classified professionals, proud to sponsor this Bill for all the reasons stated so well by the author. We would just add that there really is no compelling reason for community colleges and community college workers to not be included in this process. All of the reasons why we need classified workers in K12 institutions apply here. While one would hope that community college students aren't quite as destructive as K12 students, sometimes they are.

And while you may not need as many bus drivers, you might need more counselors. And we would also add that there are laws requiring students to attend K12 institutions, it's not really the case with community college. And the more that an institution might be too dirty or might not have enough counselors to help them, the more likely it is that a student might just withdraw.

It's one more thing pushing them away from the education system and leaving them less likely to achieve whatever educational goals they're there trying to achieve. So for all those reasons, we would strongly urge your support. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses of support in the hearing room?

Seth Bramble speaking on behalf of the California Teachers Association, we are in support.

Daniel Pearl on behalf of the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees, in strong support.

Kimberly Rosenberger with SEIU, in support.

Cassie Mancini on behalf of the California School Employees Association, in support.

George Pramthew on behalf of the California Labor Federation, in support. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none, we'd like to close.

Thank you very much and respectfully request and I vote.

Thank you so much Assemblymember Maienschein for authoring this measure and for accepting the Committee's amendments. This measure will help future community college governing boards and the Legislature make data informed decisions as to how many classified staff are needed to help keep our colleges, community colleges functioning. I look forward to supporting measure here today. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, I'd like to welcome Assemblymember Gibson presenting item number one, Assembly Bill 2027. Welcome.

Thank you very much Mr. Chairman and Members. Thank you for allowing me to present Assembly Bill 2027. This Bill seeks to authorize the use of College Access Tax Credit dollars for community college students transferring to a University listed as black serving. In a report by the National Center for Education Statistics, the College Access Tax Credit program was established to provide financial aid to low income college students.

Current law allows these funds to cover college costs for California community college students seeking to transfer to historically black University located outside California. The law also allowed both individuals and businesses to claim a tax credit for cash contributions made to the College Access Tax Credit Fund. These contributions are then used to distribute to students.

For example, HBCU, defined by prior legislation, did not include Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, founded in the neighborhood of Watts, where I represent in the 65th Assembly District in Los Angeles, in 1966. When amended, Charles Drew is designated as a historic black graduating institution under Section 326 of the part b or Title Three of the Higher Education Code Act of 1965.

The Higher Education Code Act of 1965, as amended, defines a HBCU as many historic black colleges or universities that was established prior to 1965, whose principle mission was, and is, the education of African Americans and that it is accredited by the national, nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary of Education. Charles R. Drew satisfied all requirements to consider as an HBCU with an exemption that was founded two years after the deadline established by the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Assembly Bill 2027 is a step forward in the right direction, that all students that attend black serving institutions have access to resources they absolutely need to succeed. With me to provide supporting testimony for Assembly Bill 2465 is Mr. Daryl Lucien, legislative advocate for Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

Thank you so much. Welcome.

Thank you Mr. Chair, Members. Darryl Lucien here testifying on behalf of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. We want to thank you for your consideration of Assembly Bill 2027. The unique thing I think about this program that was established is that if you're transferring to a historically black college or university, you're eligible for this tax credit, so long as that historically black college or university has a transfer agreement or a memorandum of understanding with the chancellor's office.

What we're really seeking to do, more than anything, is to ensure that California's only historically black educational institution is included in that list. Charles R. Drew is technically not defined, as Mr. Gibson mentioned, as a historically black college or university because it was founded two years after the cutoff date. Otherwise, we meet all of the same criteria. We serve largely the same student population, though the diversity of the school really is reflective of California.

And I think I would just for the Members that are not aware of the institution, it really has proven more than, I think, any other institution in the country, that we can take students who didn't get the best start in life and through the power of an education, elevate them into not just the middle class, but almost reaching toward the upper middle class, not only with our doctoral programs, but with our other programs as well.

So much so, that we've been recognized by the Brookings Institute to just for that. And so I think we're not trying to take any money from anyone or anything else, we want to give California students one more choice. That's really all we're doing. You can choose these other universities where the community college chancellor's office has a transfer agreement, and in addition to those universities, there's also one more option.

You can stay in California and still enjoy a wonderful experience that our campus has to offer, very similar to the other campuses out of state. And we think the California students deserve that choice. And so we were very meticulous with the language, appreciate working with your staff to ensure that we didn't open this up to everyone. We're offering students one more choice, and if they choose our University, we will turn them into fine medical professionals. And if they choose another University, well, God bless them.

And so I appreciate the opportunity to speak on behalf of the University. I can answer any technical questions that the Committee may have. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there any witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Susan Reyes from the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, in strong support.

Priscilla Quiroz here on behalf of the California Faculty Association, in support.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in a hearing room? Are there tweeners in a hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? I'm sorry, go ahead.

That's okay. I'm Alex Zucco from the Student Aid Commission. We shared some of our concerns with the author and the Committee. This was primarily set up last year with the, as sponsors of the Bill with Mr. Bryan, to serve students that receive no California aid, and students from Charles Drew do receive California aid. Additionally, no graduate institutions are eligible for California grant aid at this time. This would be a new dimension to that. Thank you.

Thank you. Colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none, Assemblymember we'd like to close, please.

Sure. Thank you very much. If I may, Mr. Chairman, my witness, just wanted to make something, a correction on the record, if I, if that's possible.

Yeah. Thank you, Chair Members. No graduate institutions, or should I say students attending graduate school, are eligible for a scholarship or any type of funding under this Bill. And as a matter of fact, we could argue that the previous Bill that was offered by your colleague from Los Angeles, left that gray.

Yes.

We actually clarified that with your Committee staff to ensure, to be clear, Charles Drew started as a graduate University, but currently offers both graduate and undergraduate programming no differently than many other HBCUs across the country. So there's nothing different about this in that regard.

And I respectfully ask for an aye-vote on Assembly Bill 2027.

Thank you so much, Assemblymember Gibson, for bringing this measure forward today. While I'm prepared to support this measure here today, as we noted, we hear, I do have concerns that this measure potentially takes away limited resources to our students who earn an associate degree for transfer and go to HBCU with an existing MOU in place with the California Community College Chancellor's office. Please continue to work with the California Student Aid Commission in order to address their concerns as outlined in page seven of the analysis.

And once we have quorum we look forward to supporting the measure today. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next up, I'd like to welcome Assemblymember Alvarez presenting item number 14, Assembly Bill 2633. Welcome.

Thank you, Mister chair. It's always great to be for your committee to talk education issues, and today I am proud to be here with you with the opportunity to present Assembly Bill 2633 a Bill that allows the California State University system to award joint undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in partnership with international institutions. I also want to take the moment to thank the staff for the analysis and for the communication with our office as we work through this process.

As a lifelong resident of Assembly District 80, which shares a border with Mexico, I understand the importance of facilitating binational collaboration, particularly in the space of education. But there are still improvements that can be made. According to the journal article published by the James Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice, quote the levels of academic mobility and collaboration between the United States and Mexico are low when compared to those between other important trading partners, including China, India, and South Korea.

Universities across the US are already offering joint degrees and building international partnerships. Johns Hopkins, Columbia, the University of San Diego all have well developed international joint degree partnerships that are paving the way for international collaboration and academic enrichment. The University of Arizona has officially partnered with the Universid Tonoma Chapingo in Estado De Mexico. This international partnership was fostered through the University's endeavor to build cross border educational relationships, especially in terms of agricultural research.

Given that Arizona is also a binational border sharing state, just like California, binational collaborations are becoming more common in California. Although not a joint degree program, the Center for US Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego offers a fellowship opportunity for research collaboration with Mexican universities, including the Universidad Nacionalo Tonoma De Mexico, or known as UNAM, and Instituto Technological Otonomo De Mexico Itam, two of the major institutions in Mexico, the country of Mexico. International joint degree programs are gaining traction across the globe.

They open the doors to a wealth of opportunities across borders, allowing students to immerse themselves in diverse academic environments and gain a true international perspective. AB 2633 represents an effort to embrace the binational collaboration that we in California have with Mexico and to speak more on the benefits of binational education opportunities, I'd like to ask Professor Armando Vasquez Ramos, CEO and founder of the California Mexico Studies center, to testify as a witness in support and also help answer any questions.

Thank you very much. Some of you may recall I was here a couple of weeks ago in support of the Garcia Bill and I'm really honored to testify today as he speaks. Sponsor of AB 2633, which will authorize the CSU awarding joint undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees with international universities.

Collaborative joint degree initiatives are not new and offer students the invaluable opportunity to access new intellectual resources, innovative expertise, and diverse prospects, hence enriching their academic, linguistic, cultural, and social experience while preparing them for success in a globalized society. Binational joint degree programs are rapidly gaining prominence as colleges and universities worldwide acknowledge the personal and academic benefits of cross border collaboration and learning. This is decades overdue in the Americas.

While the European Union pioneered facilitating academic partnerships which promote academic mobility and intellectual change in the 1950s, in California this type of collaboration is already being done, but in a very limited scope, primarily through collaborations with institutions. As was already mentioned, Lagunam and ITAM, where the UC San Diego campus has successfully promoted academic mobility, highlighting the importance of education institutions facilitating international exchange. But the CSU has never offered similar opportunities with Mexico and less than 100 of the csus.

Almost half a million students participate in a single study abroad program in Mexico at a private University where the CSU pays tuition. Assemblyman David Alvarez's AB 2633 recognizes the value of international partnerships and would empower CSU students to pursue study opportunities for academic, cultural, language, and scholarly exchange. Please help pave the way for a brighter future of academic excellence and global engagement for the CSU system.

I ask you to support AB 2633 because this Bill reflects the long term need to invest in the development of higher education exchange, conduct research for policies and programs between California as the fifth economy of the world and its number one economic partner, Mexico, which is the 12th economy of the world. In order for the California Mexico mega region to remain competitive and the most productive area of the world's economy, I respectfully request and urge you and I vote for AB 2633.

Thank you so much. At this time, we're going to take the opportunity to establish quorum. Madam Secretary, roll call, please.

[Roll Call]

[Roll Call]

Thank you so much. Now, are there witnesses in support in the hearing room? Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? We have a motion. Do we have a second? Assemblymember, would you like to close?

Thank you, and again, thank you to the staff and the analysis. We recognize a few things that are in the Bill that we need to keep an eye out, including the Commission for post secondary education. I know the Chair has a Bill appending in the Senate. So we want to be very mindful of that.

And we will on an ongoing forward basis, in addition to what we in the Legislature authorized just last year, which was Assembly Bill 656, which allows CSU to offer up to 10 doctoral degrees. And we want to be very mindful and cognizant of not interfering with that process as this Bill authorizes also doctoral degrees. And perhaps we will be revisiting the doctoral aspect of this authority to see how it doesn't create any conflict with AB 656. So we'll be probably working on those two issues.

But appreciate again the analysis and appreciate your aye vote on this Bill.

Thank you so much, Assemblymember Alvarez, for authoring this important Bill, and thank you for your leadership and efforts on international programs which offer great opportunities for our students. It would be great to have the CSU expand into this space and thank you for bringing up the concerns about potential unintended consequences of expansion around joint doctoral programs and around AB 656 and its implementation.

Look forward to working with you in advance to continue to find solutions on this and look forward to supporting the measure here today. And with that, Madam Secretary, roll call please.

File Item Number 14: AB 2633: the motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has six ayes and it's out, and we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Assembly Member. Next up, we'd like to do the consent calendar. We have--we have a motion and a second on the consent calendar. The six measures on consent are as follows: File Item Eight, File Item Ten, 22, 25, 26 and 27. Madam Secretary, roll call, please.

File item number eight, AB 2403. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 10, AB 2500. The motion is do passed to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 22, AB 3087. The motion is do passed to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 25, AB 3240. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 26, AB 3290. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee and file item number 27, AJR 13 to be adopted. [Roll Call]

That measure has six ayes and we'll keep the rope and open for additional members on the consent calendar. Colleagues if it's okay at this time we'll go through a number of items that presented and I'll enter any motions on as we go through each one. File item number one. Assembly Bill 2027 by Assemblymember Gibson do we have a motion? We have a motion. Do we have a second? 2nd? Any further discussion? Seeing none. Madam Secretary, roll call please.

[Roll Call]

[Roll Call].

That measure of six ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for additional Members add on to Item Number One. Next up, we'll do Item Number Two: Assembly Bill 2076 by Assembly Member Kevin McCarty.

File Item Number Two: AB 2076: the motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.'

Sorry, do we have a motion on it? We have a motion and a second. Thank you. Roll call, please. Thank you.

The motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

Thank you so much, colleagues. That measure has six ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for Item Number Two. Next, I'd like to entertain a motion for Item Number Four: Assembly Bill 2088 by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty. Do we have a motion? We have a motion. Do we have a second? We have a second. Seeing any further discussion? We have a second already. Thank you. Roll call, please.

Madam Secretary, file item number four, AB 20088. The motion is do passed to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measures four ayes and one no, and we'll keep the row open for additional Members to add on. Next up, we'd like to entertain a motion for item number five. Assembly Bill 2193 by summer Chris Holden, do we have a motion on item number five? The motion in a second. Thank you. Seeing no further comments. Roll call, please.

Madam Secretary, file item number five, AB 2193. The motion is do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure six ayes and we're not voting, we'll keep the row open for additional members to add on. Thank you. Next up, we'd like to turn a motion for item number seven, Assembly Bill 2370 by Assemblymember Cervantes. Do we have a motion? Motion in a second. Thank you, colleagues. Any discussion? Seeing none. Madam Secretary, roll call please.

[Roll Call]

That measure has seven ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on. Thank you, colleagues. Next up is Item Number Nine: Assembly Bill 2447 by Assembly Member Valencia. Do we have a motion on that? We have a motion and a second. Thank you, colleagues. Seeing no further discussion, Madam Secretary, roll call, please.

File Item Number Nine: AB 2447: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure six ayes when not voting, will keep the row open for additional members to add on. Next up, I'd like to entertain a motion for number 14. Assembly Bill 2633. We have a motion. A second. Oh, we did I'm sorry, we did that already. We'll go to item number 16, assuming Bill 2901, by summer Aguiar-Curry with a motion. Second. Thank you, colleagues. Seeing no further discussion. Madam Secretary, roll call.

Please file item number 16, AB 2901. The motion is do passed to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has seven ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on. Thank you. Next up is Item Number 19: Assembly Bill 2971 by Assembly Member Maienschein. Do we have a motion on Assembly Bill 2971? We have a motion. Do we have a second? A second. Thank you so much. Colleagues, any discussion? See none, Madam Secretary, roll call, please.

File Item Number 19: AB 2971: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure of five ayes to not voting will keep the row up for additional Members. Add on next up is item number 24, Assembly Bill 3131 by Assembly Kevin Mccarty. Do we have a motion on item 24? A motion and a second. Thank you, colleagues. Any discussion? Seeing none, Madam Secretary, roll call.

Please file item number 24, AB 3131. The motion is do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

Thank you so much. That measure has seven eyes. Now we've gone through. Thank you so much, colleagues. Now I'd like to have a summer Low present item number 15, assuming Bill 2883. Welcome.

We have a motion and a second. Thank you, colleagues. Welcome.

All right, so I can begin, correct? All right. Again, thank you, Chair Fong and thank you, Committee. My name is Andrew Yang. I am the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Center Coordinator and Academic Success Counselor at California State University, Sacramento. Now, here at Sacramento State, it's an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institution serving over 7,000 students who identify as Asian Pacific Islander or Desi American.

It is without reservation and with the highest enthusiasm across California amongst my peers, faculty, staff, and students that we urge for the recognition of the Lunar New Year as a holiday at the California State University system and University of California systems. Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is a time-honored tradition celebrated by billions of people worldwide, particularly in Asian communities.

It marks the beginning of the lunar calendar and is the time for families to come together, pay respects to ancestors, and usher in luck and prosperity for the coming year. The significance of the Lunar New Year cannot be overstated. It is not merely a cultural celebration, it is a deeply rooted tradition that reflects the values of family, community, and heritage.

For many Asian Americans, the Lunar New Year is the time to reconnect with their roots, preserve cultural identity, and press down customs and traditions to future generations. And recognizing the Lunar New Year as a holiday within the CSU and UC system, we acknowledge the diversity of our student body and honor the cultural heritage of our Asian American communities. Currently, over 66,000 API students attend one of the 23 CSU campuses and 46,000 students attend one of the ten UC campuses.

To conclude, recognizing Lunar New Year as a holiday is a step towards fostering a more inclusive and equitable environment for all members of our community. It is a recognition of the rich cultural tapestry that makes up our state in the celebration of the values of diversity, unity, and respect. I urge you to support this initiative by officially recognizing the Lunar New Year as a holiday within the CSU and UC system. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Hello. Johnny Vu, also from the Asian and Pacific Islander Desi American Center at Sacramento State University, in support. Thank you.

Thank you.

Priscilla Quiroz, here on behalf of the California Faculty Association, in support.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none, Assembly Member, would you like to close, please?

Respectfully ask for aye vote.

Thank you so much, Assembly Member Low, for bringing this important measure forward. As one of the authors of Assembly Bill 264 last year, which authorizes the California Community College to close to observe Lunar New Year, I believe your measure explicitly makes it clear that CSU and UC can close for Lunar New Year.

And with the recent high and racially motivated attacks on Asian Americans Pacific Islanders in recent years, drawing more awareness and education around Lunar New Year to celebrate diverse cultures is important, and thank you for your leadership around these issues. I'm proud to support your measure here today, and with that, Madam Secretary, roll call, please. I believe we had a motion and a second earlier. Thank you.

File Item Number 15: AB 2883: the motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

Thank you colleagues. That measure, seven eyes. And we'll keep the row open for additional Members to add on. Thank you. Next up, we'll have Assembly Evan Lowe present item number 20. Assembly Bill 3034. Welcome Summer Lowe.

Thank you colleagues, for allowing me to present Assembly Bill 3034 to provide tuition assistance.

All right, we have a motion to.

Help identify service learning as well, and.

I respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in a hearing room? Are there witnesses in opposition? In a hearing room? Are there tweeners in a hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none has somewhere we'd like to close, please, respectfully. Aspirin. Thank you so Mister Lowe, for bringing this measure forward today. This is an interesting approach to reward individuals who volunteer and serve our great state.

I'm prepared to support the measure here today because I understand the goals and objectives of measure you're providing. Please continue to work with our Committee and appropriate stakeholders and to address the policy concerns as outlined on page five of the analysis. And with that, I look forward to supporting the measure here today. Madam Secretary, roll call please.

File item number 20, AB 3034. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure six ayes and we'll keep the rope in for additional members to add on. Thank you. Next up, I'd like to welcome Dr. Arambula presenting item number three, Assembly Bill 2080. Welcome Assemblymember Arambula.

Thank you Mister chair and Members, motion second, I'd like to begin by thanking the Committee staff for the recommended amendments, which I accept. California's physician workforce should reflect the diversity of the state. AB 2080 would request the University of California to provide meaningful data on each UC school of Medicine and their progress in diversifying their medical school classes. I want to thank the UC office of the President for their input on this Bill and for their commitment to develop this policy into actionable insights.

Health care disparities occur across a broad range of dimensions, including race, socioeconomic status, gender, language, and many more. Research shows us that a diverse and representative healthcare workforce improves patients access to care, their perceptions of the care that they receive, and ultimately their health outcomes, especially for people of color. In particular, a physician's ability to speak the same language as their patients is critical. Non-English speaking patients experience adverse health outcomes ranging from moderate harm to death at twice the rate of their English speaking counterpart.

Testifying in support of AB 2080 is Doctor Marco Angulo, who is the Director of Medical Education at Altamed.

Good afternoon, chair Members. My name is Doctor Marco Angulo. I'm a family medicine doctor and the Medical Director for the Institute for Health Equity at Altamed Health Services. We are the largest federally qualified health center in California. I'm here today as a proud co sponsor of Assembly Bill 2080 and wanted to thank Doctor Arambula for his dedication in addressing the provider shortage that we have across our state and particularly in the communities we serve as community health centers.

At Altamed, every year we care for nearly half a million patients, more than 80% Latino, through 2 million visits at our clinic throughout Los Angeles and Orange County, about 73% of our patients rely on Medicaid. Another 14% are uninsured. Altamed was born on the civil rights movement and for Latinos in Los Angeles and Orange County and is titled to social justice. We take this very seriously. This is why I went to medical school for, to serve the most under resourced populations.

We serve a majority of MediCal patients and Spanish speaking patients, and every day we reach out to enroll as many patients as we can. We want health care for all. As a result of the mission, the majority of ultimate physicians that practice in medicine and are fulfilling our lifelong dream of seeing the patients that remind us of our family members. And we want to make sure that we're giving that culturally competent, linguistically concordant care.

I've been practicing medicine for 12 years and received my medical degree to serve this community, and I grew up in our medically underserved communities of my life. I'm a product of pipeline programs, and I've dedicated my work to the purpose for 20 years. California has spent billions of dollars on pipeline programs to make sure that we have enough physicians working in these under resourced areas. Areas. It's unfortunate to say that the needle has not moved in having culturally competent doctors in these communities.

In fact, when I was applied to medical school in 2000, there were 6% Latino doctors. Today there are 6% Latino doctors. The needle has not moved. Now we're hitting 40% Latinos in our state. Given this gap and the need to develop and train culturally and linguistically competent physicians, Altamed had to take the initiative to partner with academic institutions leaders to do something about this. Our efforts at Altamed are to continue to train our own for us to be a teaching institution.

We have our residency program in family medicine. We partner with USC's Family Medicine Residency Program, CHLA's pediatric program, and we proudly train our physicians to serve the underserved. And I'll be honest, it continues to feel like a sinking ship. And the people that are the most affected by the shortage are physicians. That are physicians are our patients and our burned out doctors. Adding to this, Spanish speaking physicians are the most underrepresented in the state, despite the need for a culturally and linguistic competent workforce.

This is why I'm here today. This is why we're here today to seek your support and the state's commitment to move this Bill forward as the first step in addressing the state's healthcare workforce needs. We're looking forward to the partnership with the University of California to identify solutions to address our workforce needs and address disparities. This is critical data reporting that it's a first step in the right direction and we need commitment to address disparities and AB 2080 is a tool that can get us there.

Thank you again for this opportunity to testify and to share our journey at Altamed. We look forward to working with you and identifying solutions to address the healthcare workforce challenges that we are experiencing today. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Good afternoon, Mister chair and Members of the Higher Education Committee. This is Jessica Duong with the University of California. The UC has a support if amended on AB 2080. We appreciate the work of the author and the Committee and will be moving to a support position once the Committee amendments are in print. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments. Seeing none. Assemblymember would you like to close, please.

Thank you, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much, Dr. Arambula, for bringing this measure forward and continue to be a champion of diversifying our state's premier medical schools. This Bill raises policy questions that I'm glad now will be studied and reported on. Based on your accepting of the Committee's amendments as outlined on page four of the analysis, I am pleased to support the measure here today. With that. Madam Secretary, roll call please.

[Roll Call]

Thank you, colleagues. That measure of seven eyes. And we'll keep the row open for additional Members. Add on. Thank you. Next up, I'd like to have Doctor Rambler present item number 11. Assembly Bill 2510. Welcome.

If it please the chair. Can I do 3081 just so we're not shuffling.

I'm sorry, which one? 3081. Yes. Item number 21. Yes. Assumable 3081. Welcome, Doctor Rambleau.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mister chair. And Members. California has a primary care physician shortage. It is rapidly growing. In our rapidly growing San Joaquin Valley, this shortage is particularly severe. AB 3081 would address the severe shortage of physicians by establishing a world class medical school in the Central Valley. As a medical Director, I often struggled to recruit enough doctors to come to the valley. They didn't want to breathe our air or live where I grew up.

As a result, valley residents often experience longer wait times and travel longer distances for care if they don't forego it entirely. To meet the healthcare needs in the Central Valley, UC Merced has already launched the San Joaquin prime plus B's two MD pathway. Their first class is expected to graduate medical school in 2031.

AB 3081 will establish an additional 15 million ongoing for the UC Merced Medical Education collaborative to enable UC Merced to expand its expertise in medical education, to begin hiring medical education faculty, to build clinical partnerships, and to start laying the foundation to increase class size as it moves closer to becoming an independent medical school. Testifying in support of AB 31 is Doctor Marco Angulo, the Director of medical education at Altamid.

Good afternoon, chair and Members. Once again. My name is Doctor Marco Angulo. I'm a family medicine Doctor and the medical Director and Institute for Health Equity at Altamed. Altamed is not only the largest federally qualified health center in California. It serves half a million patients. As I stated earlier, our patients are medi Cal patients. My role I have the privilege of working and training residents in a federally qualified health center setting.

Despite decades of significant investment in the shortage of physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals, especially those working underserved, this problem persists due to the persistent provider shortage. Over the past several years, Altamed has implemented initiatives strategies for the 5000 employees and over 400 providers to address this issue. Strategies resulted in significant turnover reduction and including continued investments in career pathway programs, leadership development and medical education efforts to grow our own. We cannot wait for others to do this for us.

However, we cannot do this alone and our success is due to the strong partnership and academic institutions of our community partners. And I'm here today to ask for your support on AB 3081, which is much needed investment to address the physician shortage we continue to experience across the state. The Central Valley faces a particularly severe physician shortage. Data indicates that the rural upbringing and college location are some of the strongest predictors of where physicians ultimately decide to practice. Where you grow up, you go back to.

However, due to the limited opportunities to complete medical education in largely rural communities, only 1.1% of medical students report a plan to practice in rural communities. So only 1.1% in unincorporated areas after completing medical education. The Bill will allow UC Merced to further the formation of a medical school of UC Merced and meet the healthcare needs of the Central Valley and the state. The Central Valley needs to grow their own. For these reasons, I respectfully ask for the support of AB 3081.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room? Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none. Assembly, we'd like to close, please.

I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much, Doctor Rambler, for bringing this measure forward. I believe that this measure is necessary in order to continue to assist UC Merced in becoming an independent school of medicine. I look forward to supporting the measure here today. Madam Secretary, roll call, please. Do we have a motion? In a second. Thank you.

File item number 21, AB 3081. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has six I's and it's out. And when not voting, we'll keep the row open for additional Members to add on next up, I'd like to welcome Doctor Rambler presenting item number 11, assuming Bill 2510. Welcome.

Thank you Mister Chair and Members. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities should have access to quality and timely dental care to prevent dental disease. Access to preventive dental care is critical for the prevention of chronic illness. Deferred or avoided oral health treatment is not only linked to tooth decay, but to depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory infections, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. People who have complex medical, physical, cognitive or behavioral health challenges are the most vulnerable to delayed dental care in our state.

This community oftentimes requires extra time and attention for routine and preventative care. Yet there are not enough oral health providers with the expertise to serve these patients effectively. This has led many people with disabilities to be placed on waitlists that are months or years long or simply to go without routine dental care.

Specifically, AB 2510 establishes the oral health for people with disabilities technical assistance center to provide training and educational materials to expand the use of alternative methods other than sedation or General anesthesia for providing oral health services for people with disabilities that are not currently widely understood across our state's Regional Centers.

In support of AB 2510 today our two lead witnesses, Doctor Paul Glassman, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Community Engagement at the College of Dental Medicine at California Northstate University, and former Assembly Member and friend Jim Frazier, Director of public policy at the Arc of California.

Thank you so much. Welcome.

Thank you Chairman Fong and Members of the Committee and Doctor Arambula for the opportunity to be here. I have been working with people with developmental disabilities providing dental care for close to five decades. Long time. I actually started my career providing dental care under General Anesthesia in the hospital operating room. I taught residents, I taught dentists how to do this. I actually wrote a book on hospital dentistry.

And I think maybe I was a slow learner because it took me a long time to figure out that although many people needed that level of services, I was also providing dental care under general anesthesia for people who didn't really need that level of service. But we're having because there really weren't any other alternatives available.

And it took me a while to realize that I was actually contributing to this horrible situation where people are waiting 1, 2, 3, 4 years in these long, inhumane, horrible lines to get their care. And I think everyone realizes dental care doesn't heal itself, it doesn't get any better while people are in these lines. It only gets worse.

This terrible mismatch between the resources available for that kind of care and the ability to provide it have been well documented by the Little Hoover Commission, the Legislative Analyst Offices and many other groups. So when I realized I was actually contributing to the situation, I began to change the direction of my career.

I've spent now several decades and more intently in the last couple years working with California Regional Center staff, dentists, behavior support specialists, and we have actually designed a comprehensive solution that can keep people with developmental disabilities, many people, out of these long and humans main lines.

This Bill would provide technical assistance and resources that keep, we're predicting 50 or 60% of people who are now in these inhumane and terrible lines, out of those lines and allow them to be kept healthy with less complex interventions, allow those type of people who needed that kind of care to get it more quickly, save tremendous amounts of money, improve the oral health of people with developmental disabilities, and reduce the suffering caused by this current situation.

Thank you and I respectfully ask for your aye vote on this comprehensive solution and AB 2510.

Thank you so much. Welcome Honorable Jim Frazier.

Thank you Mister Chairman and Members want to first thank your staff for a comprehensive analysis. It was really well done and thank you. There's 15.3 million participants in the MediCal dental program, 40% of Californians as of September 2022. As Doctor Glassman has stated, Little Hoover Commission, the LAO, the California State Auditor have all determined the shortcomings of the developmental disability community medical dental program.

MediCal dental program. Reimbursement rates are some of the lowest in the country for this program. There is no registry on the DHCS or Smile California website for dentists that serve the developmental disability community and that accept the MediCal reimbursement. And that's Smile California also. There's 330 MediCal dental clinics statewide. We don't know how many prescribed to the developmentally disabled.

There's 5,462 General practitioners only right now for the 15.3 million taking new patients, but we don't know how many of them actually have the talent to work with a developmentally disabled. Many counties have zero dentists taking on new patients and most of those are the rural counties. And there's 31,000 new Regional Center clients coming in online this year. I ask this Committee to support this, 2510, just on the premise that we haven't been doing it well and we need to do it much better.

The developmentally disabled have been undervalued and underfunded for decades and it's time that we step up and I am proud to serve this Bill to you with Doctor Arambula and Doctor Glassman and ask respectfully for your aye vote.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room? Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Seeing none. Senator would you like to close, please?

Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much, Doctor Arambula, for bringing this important measure forward. Our state's Regional Centers serve some of our most vulnerable neighbors. This is a great program and I'm proud to support it today. With that, Madam Secretary, roll call, please.

File item number 11, AB 2510. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure of seven ayes. One. I'm sorry, seven eyes. And we'll keep the row open for additional Members to add on. Thank you so much, Doctor Arambula. Just for the record, Summer Papin has pulled Assembly Bill 2571 item number 13. Thank you. I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry, Mister Chen. I will be presenting now on behalf of Assembly of Mathis. Assembly Bill 2532. Welcome Senator Chen. Thank you very much and happy birthday again.

Thank you Mister chair, for letting me present on behalf of senior Devin Mathis. Today I'm presenting AB 2532 on behalf of assuming Devin Mathis. Assembly Devin Mathis, thank the Committee for all your leadership and all your hard work and we will be accepting all the Committee amendments. Assembly Mathis again would like to thank me staff for their diligence. Briefly, AB 2532 would extend the sunset date and authorizes the California Community College use a multi criteria screening tool when evaluating applicants for nursing programs until 2030.

Under existing law, CCC districts are authorized to use a variety of diagnostic assessment tools when evaluating applicants for a registered nursing program. The number of applicants exceeds the program's capacity and this Bill would allow community colleges to continue to do so.

These current multi criteria screening process, they create critical mechanism to ensure educational equity and allow those applicants with a disability who are veterans, refugees, or are from a Low-income family, amongst other circumstances, to receive the necessary consideration when pursuing higher education and a career in nursing. This sunset was initially introduced in 2007 by AB 1559. It has been extended two more times, most recently in 2019, by Assembly Member Rudy Salas, AB 239 and AB 2532.

This Bill also makes a small update to allow community colleges to consider residences within a college district as a factor within the multi criteria screening process. This update would allow applicants, many of whom are in areas facing a nursing shortage, to have greater access to community college nursing programs. There is no opposition to this Bill AB 2532 has received from the Board of Registered Nursing and the California Association of Health Services at home.

With us today to speak on the Bill is Doctor Joanna Slager, who's the dean of nursing and allied health at the College of the school.

Thank you. Thank you Chairman Fong and Members of the Committee for hearing this Bill. As a dean of a local community college nursing school, I turn many, many local students away every year from our nursing program. We had over 1100 applicants semester and only 32 were from our local zip codes. Because we can no longer rank by residency, we are medically underserved. And when the sunset was taken off a couple years ago, the ability to rank by zip codes for medically underserved areas was removed.

So, all California applicants had equal access to our nursing spots. And previous to this, when we were able to rank by zip code or if they were from a medically underserved area, about 95% to 98% of our applicants and graduates were from our local areas, which dramatically increased the ability of our local healthcare partners to employ people that look like their patients, speak the language of their patients, and serve their own family Members.

Since the last five years, some of our classes have been less than 11% from our local areas. They often come from more expensive areas such as the Bay Area, Southern California, San Diego counties, and they basically take up the spots of our local students. When we were able to rank with our zip codes, we still had about a 98% pass rate on our NCLEx.

So it's not that our students aren't prepared, it's just that oftentimes our students have difficulty competing with people that have had AP classes in anatomy, physiology and chemistry in high school which are not available to our students in the rural areas. I would speak on behalf of our healthcare partners. They are tired of training the Bay Area and Southern California nurses. They want their clinical spots to be given to local students that they can employ as nurses.

The Madera hospital's bankruptcy is directly related to the cost of travel nurses because we could not fill those with local students who are wanting to get in and serve our local healthcare needs. This is what I deal with every day. I don't even like going to the grocery store because I'm going to see too many parents whose kids have not gotten into our nursing program.

Because of this, both of the rural hospitals have signed very expensive contracts with for profit nursing schools that basically get to pick who they want because they are private and they can just let local employers buy certain spots. So part of this is to also decrease the amount of heavy debt that our local nursing students would have.

Also, I would say that we've had a decrease in equity in our nursing applicants because often the people that can come from outside areas and move to our area to go to nursing school are not as diverse as our local students. So there's been a lot of unintended consequences of which I thought, I'm sure was done as an equity measure, has actually decreased the diversity in our nursing program, and it costs nothing.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses and support in the hearing room? Chair and Members Austin Webster with w strategies on behalf of the California Community Colleges Association for Occupational Education and support. Thank you. Are there witnesses in opposition in a hearing room? Are there tweeners in a hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Siena Seminar would like to close, please.

Thank you, Mister chair.

We respect last year. I vote.

Thank you so much. Assembler Chen, for presenting on behalf of summer Mathis. Today, I wish to extend my gratitude to summer Mathis staff for working with Committee staff on the amendments. As we heard with most nursing programs at the community colleges impacted and this was discussed in budget sub three this morning. It is also important that we continue to examine ways to provide more opportunities for nursing students and to prioritize enrollment to students who will remain in the medically underserved areas.

And one way to do this is to prioritize homegrown nursing students. We'll be looking forward to supporting measure here today. And thank you so much, Assembly of Chen, for presenting on behalf of summer Mathis. Madam Secretary, roll call please. I'm sorry, did we have a motion on this? Motion by Mister Morsucci. Second by Mister Doctor Rambulla. I see no comments. Madam Secretary, roll call.

Please file item number 12. AB 2532. The motion is do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure of six eyes and we'll keep the row open for additional Members. Add on. Next up, we'll present item number 22. I'll pass the gravel over to Vice Chair top. Thank you.

All right, Item 17: AB 2931 by Assembly Member Fong.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members. Assembly Bill 2931 exempts community college districts and merit systems from classifying part time students employed part time as student teachers in the district that they are enrolled in. Under current law, these districts must classify all staff unless exempted. While appropriate for most staff, this process is not necessary for part time students, which is why existing law exempts even full time students employed part time and part time students in a work study or work experience program.

Not included in this list are part time students who wish to work part time. Community college districts who employ Personnel Commissions are hesitant to hire part time students as tutors, depriving the majority of our students of this very enriching opportunities that benefit students and campuses.

More than 65 percent of all our community college students are enrolled as part time students, and research has shown that tutoring increases student engagement and previous education outcomes for both the tutors and those being tutored. By clarifying that part time students are exempt from classification, Assembly Bill 2931 helps more students participate in enriching activity of peer tutoring. Here to testify in support is Maria Veloz with the Los Angeles Community College District.

Good afternoon, Chair and Honorable Members of the Higher Education Committee. I am Maria Luisa Veloz, sharing testimony on behalf of Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District. LACCD is the proud sponsor of AB 2931. As Assembly Member Fong mentioned in his opening statement, this bill addresses the critical issue of peer-to-peer tutoring at community colleges.

Currently, at community college merit districts, full time students are eligible to be hired part time as part time peer-to-peer tutors at their college without having to go through the Personnel Commission hiring process. AB 2931 will treat part time students the same as their full time peers and exempt them from this requirement, thus expanding the hiring pool of eligible part time peer-to-peer tutors.

Studies have shown that peer-to-peer tutoring is as effective, if not better, than direct and indirect instructional time for students. More than 65 percent of community college students are enrolled part time, and this bill will enable an estimated additional 367,000 part time students to be eligible for employment as part time student tutors. At LACCD last year, we served 170,000 students and about 73 percent of those students were part time students.

AB 2931 would significantly increase the learning power of all students enrolled at merit system community college districts, and I thank you for your time and respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you so much for your presentation. Are there any witnesses in the room who would like to support the bill? Are there any witnesses in opposition? Are there any tweeners in the room? Okay, I see none, so I want to thank Assembly Member Fong for bringing this measure before us today. This measure provides parity between non-merit and merit district by allowing part time students to be employed without concerns from the Personnel Commission.

I want to thank you for addressing this issue and we look forward to supporting this measure today. So any concerns, any question from Committee Members? See none, so can I have a motion? Oh, we already have a motion by--motion and a second. So Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File Item Number 17: AB 2931: the motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call]. We have seven. The motion passes. We'll keep it open for a roll.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much colleagues. Now I'd like to welcome up Doctor Jackson presenting item number 18, Assembly Bill 2936. We have a motion. Do we have a second? All right, Doctor Jackson, welcome.

Thank you very much Mister chair. I will be accepting the Committee's amendments as well as thanking you and the Committee staff for working with us on this Bill and the commitment to continue to work on this Bill as it goes through the process.

Indeed, it still has some work to do, but AB 2936 really is an effort to ensure that we return back to the practice and the expectation that when cultural, political debates and discourse is happening around the world and in this nation, certainly the best place to do so is in our higher education institutions and to ensure that our institutions are equipped with the necessary plans and skills in order to ensure that all viewpoints are being heard, yet everyone still feels safe in the process.

And so again, more work still needs to be done as we continue to work with this Committee, the Committee on the Senate side, as well as our higher education institutions to make sure that we get this right. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses and support in the hearing room? Are there witnesses in opposition in the hearing room? Are there tweeners in the hearing room? Colleagues, any questions or comments? CNN. Someone would like to close.

Please respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much Doctor Jackson, for working with our Committee on amendments. College campuses have a proud history of being at the core of political thought and expression, and students deserve a safe place to express those thoughts. By promoting and focusing on reconciliation after events, we ensure that our campus climate remains fertile for the expression of thought and ideas and look forward to supporting measure here today. Thank you Madam Secretary, roll call, please.

File item number 18, AB 2936. The motion is do pass as amended, to the Appropriations Committee. Fong, aye. Fong Aye. Ta Ta I. Arambula. Arambula I Berner. Chen. Chen I. Assailee. Irwin Jackson Aye. Jackson I Low. Low I. Mercucci. Mercuchi I quirk Silva.

That measure of seven eyes and we'll keep the rope. And for additional Members, add on. Thank you. Summer Jackson. Now. Thank you so much. If any Members would like to add on. We have gone through the agenda. Some Members would like to add on. Thank you so much. Actually, let's get. Yeah. So, Madam Secretary, roll call, please. On the items for Members to add on. Thank you. We'll do the consent calendar and then the individual items. Thank you.

Consent calendar includes file item number eight, AB 2403, do pass to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 102500, motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 22, AB 3087, do passed to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 25, AB 3240, do pass to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 26, AB 3290, do pass to the Appropriations Committee and file item number 27, AJR 13 to be adopted. [Roll Call]

That measure has nine ayes and we'll keep the roll open for additional members to add on. Thank you. Now members will go through the items for members to add on. So starting with item number one.

Item Number One: AB 2027: the motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has nine ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on.

File item number two, AB 20076. The motion is due pass to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has nine ayes and we'll keep the roll open and for additional Members to add on. Next item is item number three.

File Item Number Three: AB 2080: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has ten ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on. Next up is Item Number Four.

File item number four, AB 20088. The motion is due pass to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has seven ayes and two noes, and we'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on.

File Item Number Five: AB 2193: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has six ayes and four not voting, so we'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Next up is Item Number Seven.

File Item Number Seven: AB 2370: the motion is do pass to the floor.' [Roll Call].

Is that a six?

Number Seven.

[Roll Call].

I'm sorry. What number?

We're on Item Number Seven: 2370.

[Roll Call].

Thank you so much. Next up is Item Number Nine.

File Item Number Nine: AB 2447: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has eight ayes and the two not voting. We'll keep the roll open for any additional Members. Thank you. Next up is Item Number 11.

File item number 11, AB 2510. The motion is due passed to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has 10 ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Next up is item number 12.

File item number 12. The motion is due pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has ten ayes, and at this time, I'd like to entertain a vote change from Assembly Member Jackson on Item Number Five. So we're gonna go back to Item Number Five: Assembly Bill 2193 by Assembly Member Chris Holden. Assembly Member Jackson. Assembly Member Jackson is an aye, so that brings our vote tally to seven. That measure's out. Can you repeat it for the record, please?

File Item Number Five: AB 2193: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has seven ayes. We'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Next up is Item Number 14: Assembly Bill 2633.

File Item Number 14: AB 2633: the motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has ten ayes. We'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Next up is Item Number 15.

File item number 15, AB 2883. The motion is due passed to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has nine ayes, one not voting. And we'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Next up is item number 16.

File item number 16, AB 2901. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has nine ayes, one no. And we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on. Next up is item number 17.

File item number 17, AB 2931. The motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee.

[Roll Call]

That measure has 10 ayes. I'm sorry. That measure has 10 eyes. We'll keep the row open for additional Members add ons. Next up is item number 18.

File item number 18, AB 2936. The motion is due pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has 10 ayes. We'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on. Next up is item number 19.

File Item Number 19: AB 2971: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has seven ayes, one no, and two not voting. We'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on. Next up is Item Number 20.

File item number 20, AB 3034. The motion is due passed to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

That measure has nine ayes, one not voting. And we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on.

File Item Number 21: AB 3081. The motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has eight ayes, two not voting. We'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Next up is Item Number 24.

File Item Number 24: AB 3131: the motion is 'do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has ten ayes, and we'll keep the roll open for additional Members to add on. Thank you so much. Thank you. If any of those Members would like to add on, we'd like to--oh, okay. Sorry. We'll go back to Item Number One. We'll go back for Member add-ons onto Item Number One. Madam Secretary, roll call, please.

The consent calendar.

I'm sorry. Consent calendar. Consent calendar and then Item Number One.

The Consent Calendar consists of file item number eight, AB 2403, due pass to to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 10, AB 2500, the motion is due pass to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 223087, the motion is do pass to the Appropriations Committee.

Do pass to the Appropriations Committee. File Item Number 25: AB 3240. The motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.'

File item number 26, AB 3290, The motion is due pass to the Appropriations Committee. File item number 27, AJR 13 to be adopted. [Roll Call]

That measure has 10 ayes for the consent calendar and we'll keep the roll open for new additional Members to add on. Next up is item number one.

File item number one, AB 2027 the motion is due pass to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll call]

That measures 10 ayes. We'll keep the roll open for any additional members. Thank you.

File Item Number Two: the motion is--AB 2076--the motion is 'do pass to the Appropriations Committee.' [Roll Call].

That measure has nine ayes, one no, and we'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Thank you.

Mr. Chair?

Thank you so much, colleagues. I'm sorry. Mr. Muratsuchi, go ahead.

May I request a vote change?

Yes, please. Which item would you like to do a vote change?

AB 2193.

AB 2193 is File Item Number Five: Assembly Bill 2193. Mr. Muratsuchi?

Not voting.

Mr--

I did not vote.

AB 2193: do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call].

Change from aye to not vote.

Change from aye to not voting.

Thank you so much, Mr. Muratsuchi. That item now has six ayes and five--sorry, go ahead. That measure has six ayes and four not voting, and we'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Thank you, Mr. Muratsuchi. Thank you so much, colleagues, for a robust meeting. We'll keep the roll open for an additional five minutes for any Members that would like to add on.

Thank you so much to the Committee staff and to everyone who testified here today and colleagues for a robust Assembly Higher Education Committee, and we'll keep the roll open for an additional five more minutes. Thank you.

I apologize. Not voting to aye.

Thank you so much, colleagues. We'll keep the roll open for an additional three more minutes, but I'd like to entertain a vote change from Mr. Muratsuchi. Item Number Five: Assembly Bill 2193.

Yes.

Mr. Muratsuchi?

Muratsuchi: AB 2193: motion 'not voting to aye.'

Thank you so much. That measure now has seven ayes and three not voting. We'll keep the roll open for any additional Members to add on. Thank you.

Thank you so much, colleagues, again, for our robust meeting, and thank you to everyone who testified on our robust package of bills here today. And thank you to the Assembly Higher Education Committee staff for their tremendous work and efforts. And with that, this Assembly Higher Education Committee meeting is adjourned.