SB 135: Higher education budget trailer bill.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Cradle-to-Career Data System to be a source for actionable data and research on education, economic, and health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities, and to provide for expanded access to tools and services that support the navigation of the education-to-employment pipeline. Existing law defines “data providers” as the entities that submit the individual, educational, academic, training, employment, social service, health, and other information used to create the data system.

This bill would require the data providers, and would request the University of California, to enter into memoranda of understanding for data sharing purposes for implementation of the data system.

(2) Existing law establishes the Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program to provide one-time grants for the construction of student housing, or for the acquisition and renovation of commercial properties into student housing for the purpose of providing affordable, low-cost housing options for students enrolled in public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires, as a condition of receiving these funds, the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to, from the receipt of funds to completion of a project and following completion of a project for a 5-year period, report by July 1 annually to the Department of Finance and the relevant policy and budget committees of the Legislature with information on the status of the project or the public benefit provided by the project, as applicable.

This bill would require this information to be provided by February 1 rather than July 1, together with an annual report provided for in existing law on student housing data, if applicable.

(3) Existing law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California State University and the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and requests the office of the President of the University of California, to require each of their respective campuses that provide campus-owned, campus-operated, or campus-affiliated student housing to collect and post on its external and internal internet websites, data on student housing, and to submit an annual report with that information to the Legislature, as specified.

This bill would require the above-described annual report to be submitted together with certain information required to be provided pursuant to the Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program.

(4) Existing law requires each California State University campus, and requests each University of California campus, to establish the position of the Basic Needs Coordinator to, among other responsibilities, assist students with basic needs services and resources, including childcare, and to establish a Basic Needs Center where basic needs services, resources, and staff are made available to students, as provided.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature for certain funds appropriated to the University of California and the California State University in the annual Budget Act specifically for rapid rehousing, basic needs, and student mental health to be used for specified purposes, as provided. The bill would require those funds that are to be provided to students to be distributed to the student by the campus financial aid office, as specified.

(5) Existing law requires, among other requirements related to nondiscrimination, the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State University, and the President of the University of California to each annually present during a public hearing of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education and the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance on the state of their respective systems in ensuring that their programs and activities are free from discrimination based on specified characteristics, as provided.

This bill would authorize a designee of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State University, and the President of the University of California to perform the above-described presentation on nondiscrimination.

(6) Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement awards, the California Community College Expanded Entitlement awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards, the Cal Grant C awards, and the Cal Grant T awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for these awards for participating students attending qualifying institutions. Existing law requires a Cal Grant C award to be used only for occupational or technical training in a course of not less than 4 months.

This bill, among other changes related to the Cal Grant C award, would instead require a Cal Grant C award to be used only for occupational or technical training in a program of not less than 8 weeks and provide Cal Grant C award amounts based on the length of the occupational or technical training program, as provided.

(7) Existing law prohibits a student who will be 28 years of age or older by December 31 of an award year from receiving a California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement award.

This bill instead would prohibit, for the 2026–27 award year through the 2030–31 award year, inclusive, a student who will be 30 years of age or older by December 31 of an award year from receiving a California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement award.

(8) Beginning on July 1, 2026, for the financial aid award year of 2026–27 and each award year thereafter, existing federal law establishes the federal Workforce Pell Grant program to award grants to eligible students who are enrolled, or accepted for enrollment, in a short-term educational program that, among other things, provides an education aligned with the requirements of high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations, as provided.

This bill would require the commission, on behalf of the Governor, to determine whether a short-term program offered by postsecondary educational institution, as defined, meets specified requirements in order to receive federal Workforce Pell Grant program funds for students enrolled in the short-term program. The bill would require the Student Aid Commission to consult with the California Workforce Development Board and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency on the process for making those determinations and the short-term programs that the commission is proposing to approve, as specified. The bill would require a postsecondary educational institution seeking a determination that one or more of its short-term programs meets the requirements of the federal Workforce Pell Grant program to provide to the commission, among other things, a completed program application, and to provide to the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data specified data. The bill would require the Employment Development Department to provide a list of high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, as specified. The bill would require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, after presenting the list to the California Workforce Development Board, to provide the list to the commission for the commission’s consideration in determining whether to approve a short-term program.

This bill would prohibit the commission from authorizing a participating institution to receive federal Workforce Pell Grant program funds for a short-term program unless the commission determines, among other things, that the short-term program meets the requirements of the above-described federal provisions. The bill would require the commission to determine a participating institution’s eligibility and provide written notice of its decision within 90 days of receiving a request for an eligibility determination and a completed participation agreement, as specified. The bill would require the commission to submit specified reports to the Department of Finance, the Assembly Committee on Budget, and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review with, among other things, a list of all institutions seeking an eligibility determination and an evaluation of the federal Workforce Pell Grant program.

(9) Existing law establishes the Middle Class Scholarship Program (MCSP) under the administration of the commission. Existing law, subject to an available and sufficient appropriation, makes an undergraduate student eligible for a scholarship award under the MCSP if the student is enrolled at the University of California or the California State University, or enrolled in upper division coursework in a community college baccalaureate program, and meets certain eligibility requirements. Existing law generally sets the MCSP award at an amount that equals the difference between the student’s cost of attendance and the sum of other scholarships, grants, or fee waivers, including those administered by federal, state, and institutions, awarded to the student in excess of $7,898 in expected student contribution, and, for dependent students with a household income exceeding $100,000, a percentage of the parents’ contribution, as specified.

If a foster youth or former foster youth receives additional financial aid following the determination of the student’s MCSP award, this bill, for purposes of determining the student’s MCSP award amount, would not require the student’s MCSP award to be recalculated, except as provided.

(10) This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish the Common Cloud Data Platform to create a unified, modern data infrastructure to enhance statewide reporting, data sharing, and available analytical tools across participating community college districts and the chancellor’s office. The bill would require the Common Cloud Data Platform to be designed to enable certain functions, as specified. The bill would require funding appropriated for the development, implementation, and systemwide adoption of the Common Cloud Data Platform to support specific areas of work.

(11) Existing law establishes the California Online Community College, commonly known as Calbright College, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, for the purpose of creating an organized system of accessible, flexible, and high-quality online content, courses, and programs focused on providing industry-valued credentials compatible with the vocational and educational needs of Californians who are not currently accessing higher education.

This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop and submit to the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, on or before October 1, 2028, recommendations for equating enrollment in competency-based education programs at all community college districts, including the California Online Community College, to full-time equivalent students for the purposes of generating funding. The bill would require the chancellor’s office to convene a workgroup of experts to support in developing these recommendations. The bill would require, commencing with the 2026–27 fiscal year, the California Online Community College to submit data to the chancellor’s office’s management information system on the same reporting schedule and using the comparable data elements applicable to noncredit programs offered by other community college districts, as provided, and would require the chancellor’s office to post this data on its internet website. The bill, as part of the Credit for Prior Learning Initiative described below, would require the chancellor’s office to make credit for prior learning recommendations for the California Online Community College’s programs and similar programs at other community colleges, as provided, and to submit these recommendations, on or before July 1, 2027, to the Department of Finance and Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

(12) Existing law authorizes community college districts to admit nonresident students, and requires that nonresident students be charged a nonresident tuition fee unless an exemption applies. Existing law includes among these exemptions a nonresident, low-income student who: (A) is a resident of Mexico, (B) registers for lower division courses at Cuyamaca College, Grossmont College, Imperial Valley College, MiraCosta College, Palomar College, San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego Miramar College, or Southwestern College, and (C) has residence within 45 miles of the California-Mexico border, as provided. Existing law, in any academic year, prohibits more than 150 full-time equivalent students (FTES) at each of those community colleges from being exempted from payment of the nonresident tuition fee under that exemption.

This bill would instead, in any academic year, prohibit more than 1,350 FTES in total, across all community colleges that choose to use the above-described exemption, from being exempted from payment of the nonresident tuition fee. The bill would require the governing boards of the community colleges that choose to use that exemption to develop a plan to jointly administer and allocate the total number of FTES across these community colleges. For an enrolled student granted that exemption for an academic year, the bill would require that the student retains the exemption for that academic year.

(13) Existing law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish, by March 31, 2019, an initiative to expand the use of course credit at the California Community Colleges for students with prior learning. Existing law required the chancellor to submit, by January 1, 2020, a report on the initiative to the Legislature.

This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish the Credit for Prior Learning Initiative as a systemwide initiative to award credit for prior learning opportunities at community colleges. The bill would require the initiative to include specified components, including a systemwide process to identify students who may qualify for prior learning credit, statewide technology infrastructure to make credit for prior learning opportunities visible and accessible to the public, and support for community college faculty discipline review groups to develop credit recommendations for awarding credit for prior learning that community colleges may adopt systemwide. The bill would require community colleges to evaluate prior learning documents and credentials of incoming students for the assessment and award of prior learning credit, as specified. The bill would also require community colleges to accept transcribed credit for prior learning from other community colleges as credit, as specified. The bill would require and encourage the California Community Colleges system, in partnership with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, to collaborate with certain entities of the California State University and the University of California for specified purposes, including for intersegmental alignment of credit for prior learning policies, as specified. The bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require the chancellor’s office to allocate designated funds to support implementation of these provisions at each campus using specified goals, including advancing career attainment through credit for prior learning. By imposing new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(14) Existing law requires community college districts that accept Nursing Enrollment Growth and Retention program funds to report specified data to the chancellor’s office and requires the chancellor’s office, beginning in the 2025–26 fiscal year, to compile and provide the reported data to the Legislature and the Governor biennially, on or before March 1. Existing law authorizes that data to be submitted with the below-described report related to allied health professional programs.

Existing law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to report annually to the Legislature and the Governor, on or before March 1 of each year, on students admitted to community college registered nursing programs through a multicriteria screening process, and requires the report to be submitted in conjunction with the above-described report related to Nursing Enrollment Growth and Retention program.

Existing law requires the chancellor, to submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor, on or before March 1, 2026, and each March 1 thereafter, that examines and includes certain information, including the participation, retention, and completion rates in community college allied health programs of students admitted through a multicriteria screening process, as specified, and requires the report to be submitted in conjunction with the above-described Nursing Enrollment Growth and Retention program.

Existing law requires the chancellor, beginning in the 2025–26 fiscal year, to provide to the Legislature biennially, on or before March 1, a report that includes information related to certain allied health professional programs, and authorizes the report to be submitted with the above-described report related to the Nursing Enrollment Growth and Retention program.

This bill would require all 4 of the above-described reports to be submitted on or before December 31, 2026, and on or before December 31 triennially thereafter, as provided.

(15) Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to adopt regulations providing for the payment of apportionments to community college districts on a specified schedule. Existing law, notwithstanding the provision referenced above, adjusts the payment of apportionments to community college districts for the 2025–26 fiscal year to defer $408,363,000 of those payments to the 2026–27 fiscal year in accordance with a designated schedule. Existing law appropriates that amount to the board of governors for apportionments to community college districts for expenditure in the 2026–27 fiscal year, as specified. Existing law applies that amount toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts for the 2026–27 fiscal year imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, as specified.

This bill would apply the amount referenced in the provision above toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts for the 2024–25 fiscal year, rather than for the 2026–27 fiscal year.

(16) Existing law provides a formula for the calculation of general purpose apportionments of state funds to California Community Colleges under which the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges annually calculates a base allocation, supplemental allocation, and student success allocation for each community college district in the state, as specified. Existing law requires, to calculate the base allocation for each community college district, the chancellor’s office to calculate the 3-year rolling average of funded full-time equivalent students (FTES), as specified.

This bill would require, for purposes of calculating the base allocation commencing with the 2026–27 fiscal year, a community college district’s funded credit FTES to be the greater of the above-described 3-year rolling average of credit FTES or credit FTES for the current year, as provided.

This bill, commencing with the 2026–27 fiscal year, would require each community college district to receive the greater of its total revenue computed pursuant to the sum of the base allocation, supplemental allocation, and student success allocation for that fiscal year, or its general purpose apportionment funding computed for the 2024–25 fiscal year, including the greater of discretionary resources, or specified revenue received by the district, as adjusted to reflect the application of a 1.44% discretionary cost-of-living adjustment, as provided. Beginning in the 2026–27 fiscal year, of the amount appropriated in a specified item of the annual Budget Act, this bill would require $159,741,000 to be allocated to reimburse community colleges for incurring costs related to providing employees with paid pregnancy disability leave, as provided.

(17) Existing law requires the governing board of a community college district to provide for a leave of absence from duty for a certificated employee or an academic employee of the district who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery from those conditions.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a community college district to provide for a leave of absence from duty as it deems appropriate for a female employee in the classified service of the district who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy or convalescence following childbirth. Existing law authorizes a governing board to adopt rules and regulations about leaves of absence for classified employees for these purposes, and authorizes a governing board to provide in the rules and regulations whether the leave granted shall be with or without pay, as provided.

This bill would delete the latter provisions authorizing the governing board of a community college district to adopt those rules and regulations. The bill instead would require a community college district to, for an academic employee or an employee in the classified service of the community college district, provide up to 14 weeks of a leave of absence with specified pay benefits for an employee who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from those conditions, as provided. The bill would authorize the paid leave to begin before and continue after childbirth if the employee is actually disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or a related condition. The bill would prohibit a leave of absence taken pursuant to these provisions from being deducted from other leaves of absence, as provided, would require community college districts to maintain group health coverage for an employee who takes a leave of absence under these provisions for the duration of the leave of absence at the same level and under the same conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had not taken a leave of absence, would require compensation during the leave of absence taken under these provisions to include retirement fund contributions required of the community college district, and would require the employee to earn full service credit during the leave of absence and to pay member contributions to the retirement fund. The bill would prohibit any other eligibility requirements, including, but not limited to, minimum hours worked or length of service, before an employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or related medical conditions is eligible for a paid leave of absence under these provisions. The bill would make these provisions operative on January 1, 2027.

(18) Existing law establishes the Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program, which authorizes the governing board of a community college district to provide a program of health insurance for part-time faculty, multidistrict part-time faculty, and their dependents. Existing law requires the chancellor, by June 15 of each year, to apportion funds that have been appropriated specifically for purposes of the program to each community college that establishes a program, as provided. Existing law defines “health insurance benefits” for purposes of the program to include medical benefits but excludes vision or dental benefits.

This bill instead would authorize health insurance benefits under the Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program to include vision or dental benefits.

(19) This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California State University to annually develop and report to the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on Budget, and the Department of Finance enrollment targets and related data for each California State University campus, as provided.

(20) Existing law establishes the Native American Heritage Commission and vests the commission with specified powers and duties. Existing law, the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001, requires the commission to develop a list of all California Indian tribes and their respective state aboriginal territories for the purpose of the repatriation of Native American tribal human remains and cultural items. The act requires all agencies and museums that receive state funding and have possession or control over collections of California Indian human remains and associated funerary objects to inventory those remains and objects for repatriation to the appropriate California Indian tribes, as specified. The act provides a process by which a California Indian tribe can request the return of human remains and cultural items, and requires an agency or museum receiving a repatriation request to repatriate human remains and cultural items if specified conditions are met, including, among others, that none of the exceptions to repatriation listed in those regulations apply.

This bill would, for the purposes of repatriation of human remains and cultural items as described above, in order to align with updated federal regulations, recast the condition related to exceptions to instead condition repatriation on a stay of repatriation described in the federal regulations not being in effect, and would make other changes related to repatriation of human remains and cultural items, as specified.

(21) The Budget Act of 2025 made appropriations for the support of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for the 2025–26 fiscal year, including $3,580,708,000 for apportionments.

This bill would amend the Budget Act of 2025 by reducing the appropriation made to the board of governors for apportionments by $455,452,000.

(22) This bill would appropriate $36,078,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support Dreamer Resource Liaisons in assisting students in meeting certain requirements for those students to be exempt from paying nonresident tuition by streamlining access to all available financial aid and academic opportunities for those students.

(23) This bill would appropriate $147,208,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support the Student Support Block Grant.

(24) This bill would appropriate $16,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for allocation for related and supplemental instruction hours for the 2024–25 and the 2025–26 fiscal years for certain apprenticeship programs, as provided.

(25) This bill would appropriate $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to establish and support the California Early College Demonstration Initiative, a regional pilot focused on implementing and scaling comprehensive dual enrollment and early college systems through partnerships between local educational agencies and community college districts, as provided.

(26) This bill would appropriate $1,200,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support the Cal-Bridge First Academic Scholar Training Program.

(27) This bill would appropriate $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support Pierce College Family Resource Centers.

(28) This bill would appropriate $3,312,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for specified purposes related to deferred maintenance, including, among other purposes, scheduled maintenance and special repairs of facilities, as provided.

(29) This bill would appropriate $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) students, as provided.

(30) This bill would appropriate $196,328,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support community college apportionments, and increase statewide growth of FTES, as provided.

(31) The funds appropriated by the bill would be applied toward meeting the minimum funding requirements for school district and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, as specified.

(32) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(33) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.