LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES BEGIN HEARINGS

The legislative committees have started hearings on some bills. The following is a summary of recent actions.

There currently are four major bills pending on the subject of education benefits for members of the California National Guard:

AB 1758 Postsecondary education. (Chuck DeVore, Irvine)
Would create the California National Guard Education Assistance Program, for the purpose of promoting recruitment and retention of members of the California National Guard. Would also provide for covering the costs of the program by repealing the existing provision in the Education that permits aliens without lawful immigration status to attend the State Universities and Colleges by paying the lower fees for California residents.
At a hearing on March 25 by the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, the bill was amended to remove the repeal of the lower fees for students who are aliens without lawful immigration status. With that change, the Committee passed the bill on a unanimous vote.

AB 2082 Student financial aid: military service. (Mary Salas, Chula Vista)
Existing law requires that priority for the Cal Grant B Entitlement awards be given to students with the lowest expected family contribution and the highest level of academic merit.
This bill would require that priority also be given to students serving in the California National Guard with at least 2 years of service.
Passed by the Assembly Committee on Higher Education and referred to Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs.

SB 1290 National Guard: Educational Benefits. (Mark Wyland, San Juan Capistrano/Carlsbad)
Would require any campus of the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges to provide a tuition and fee waiver, as specified, to any qualified member of the California National Guard.
This bill was scheduled for a hearing on March 25 but was cancelled by the author. Apparently the bill is being dropped in favor of the following proposal.

SB 1752 California National Guard Education Assistance Award Program. (Mark Wyland, San Juan Capistrano/Carlsbad)
Would provide awards to members of the National Guard which would be equal to the cost of attendance at a qualifying education institution, or would be the sum of the mandatory system-wide fees and the campus based fees charged to California resident undergraduate students at the University of California.
Passed by the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs March 25 and referred to the Senate Committee on Education.

In other actions:
SB 1222 County veteran service officers funding. (Gilbert Cedillo, Los Angeles)
Would provide that the State Budget include funding at the rate of $3 for every veteran in the State to provide funding to the Counties for the operations of the Veterans Service Offices, funding for grant programs to allow veteran service organizations to conduct outreach programs in conjunction with the County offices, and funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs to manage the grant and contract administration.
Passed by the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.

SB 1572 Veterans Bond Act of 2008 (Mark Wyland, San Juan Capistrano/Carlsbad)
Provides for a Bond Act to be submitted to the voters at the November 4, 2008, General Election to authorize a State General Obligation Bond issue of $900 million for funding of the Cal-Vet Farm and Home Loan Program.
Passed by the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.

A special item:
SB 1322 Communism (Alan Lowenthal, Long Beach)
Would have the State Legislature declare that the “Cold War is long over and the threat of a communist takeover of the state or federal government no longer exists” and would repeal a provision in the Education Code that provide for dismissal of a teacher who is a member of the Communist party. It would also remove sections of the Code that were adopted during the 1940’s concerning the threats of the world communist movement and the dangers to the state and federal governments.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing by the Senate Committee on Education on April 2.

Complete information on all state legislation involving veterans issues is available at the website: http://www.califveterans.com/

Bill Manes, Legislative Officer
California State Commanders Veterans Council

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