Amended  IN  Assembly  May 16, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 14, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 843

Introduced by Assembly Member Rodriguez

February 20, 2019

An act to amend Sections 69613.8 69613.4, 69613.8, and 69615.8 of the Education Code, relating to student financial aid, and making an appropriation therefor. aid.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 843, as amended, Rodriguez. Student financial aid: Assumption Program of Loans for Education.
Existing law establishes the Assumption Program of Loans for Education, administered by the Student Aid Commission, under which any person enrolled in an eligible institution of postsecondary education, or any person who agrees to participate in a teacher trainee or teacher internship program, is eligible to enter into an agreement for loan assumption, to be redeemed pursuant to a prescribed procedure upon becoming employed as a teacher in an eligible school, if the teacher satisfies certain conditions. The program provides for the assumption of loans for each consecutive year of teaching completed, up to 4 consecutive years. The program provides additional loan assumption benefits of $1,000 or $2,000 per year in assumed liability, as specified, to a person who holds a credential appropriate for teaching, and who teaches, mathematics, science, or special education in schools within certain percentiles of Academic Performance Index (API) rankings.
This bill would repeal the additional loan assumption benefits that rely on API rankings, and instead instead, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, provide additional loan assumption benefits of an unspecified amount to a person who holds a credential appropriate for teaching, and who teaches, mathematics, science, special education, bilingual education, or career technical education in a school district that is determined to be in need of differentiated assistance, as specified. The bill would provide that if a program participant is unable to complete a school year of teaching, that year may still be counted as completed for purposes of the program in specified circumstances. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature to restore the funding for the Assumption Program of Loans for Education to its 2011–12 fiscal year level. The
Existing law limits the number of agreements for the assumption of student loans under the Assumption Program of Loans for Education to 6,500 per school year, except as specified in the annual Budget Act.
This bill would would, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, require the commission to award 7,200 new warrants for the assumption of loans under the program in the 2020–21 fiscal year. The bill would appropriate $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the commission for the funding of warrants for the assumption of loans under the program for the 2020–21 fiscal year.
Vote: TWO_THIRDSMAJORITY   Appropriation: YESNO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature to restore the funding for the Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE) to its 2011–12 fiscal year level.

SEC. 2.

 Section 69613.4 of the Education Code is amended to read:

69613.4.
 (a) The terms of a loan assumption granted under this article shall be as follows, subject to the specific terms of each agreement:
(1) After a program participant has completed one school year of classroom instruction pursuant to Section 69613.2, the commission shall assume up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) of the participant’s outstanding liability under one or more of the designated educational loan programs.
(2) After a program participant has completed two consecutive school years of instruction, the commission shall assume up to an additional three thousand dollars ($3,000) of the participant’s outstanding liability under one or more of the designated educational loan programs, for a total loan assumption of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(3) After a program participant has completed three consecutive school years of teaching service, the commission shall assume up to a maximum of an additional three thousand dollars ($3,000) of the participant’s outstanding liability under one or more of the designated educational loan programs, for a total loan assumption of up to eight thousand dollars ($8,000).
(4) After a program participant has completed four consecutive school years of teaching service, the commission shall assume up to a maximum of an additional three thousand dollars ($3,000) of the participant’s outstanding liability under one or more of the designated educational loan programs, for a total loan assumption of up to eleven thousand dollars ($11,000).
(b) If a program participant is unable to complete a school year of teaching, that school year may still be counted as completed if any of the following occur:
(1) The program participant has completed at least one-half of the school year.
(2) The employer deems the program participant to have fulfilled the program participant’s contractual requirements for the school year for the purposes of salary increases, probationary or permanent status, and retirement.
(3) The program participant was not able to teach due to the financial circumstances of the school district, including a decision to not reelect the employee for the next succeeding school year.
(4) The program participant has a condition covered under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2601 et seq.) or similar state law.
(5) The program participant was called or ordered to active duty status for more than 30 days as a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States.

(b)

(c) For purposes of this section, “school year” means at least 175 school days or its equivalent.

(c)

(d) An applicant who teaches on less than a full-time basis may participate in the program, but shall not be eligible for loan repayment until that person teaches for the equivalent of a full-time academic year.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 Section 69613.8 of the Education Code is amended to read:

69613.8.
 (a) In Upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, in addition to the amounts set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 69613.4, for each of the four years of classroom instruction referenced in subdivision (a) of Section 69613.4, ____ dollars ($____) of additional liability shall be assumed for a person who holds a credential appropriate for teaching, and who teaches, mathematics, science, special education, bilingual education, or career technical education in a school district that is determined to be in need of differentiated assistance pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 52071.
(b) Not more than a total of five million dollars ($5,000,000) shall be expended in any academic year for the purposes of this section.
(c) The commission shall award benefits payable under this section upon receipt of all documentation necessary to establish eligibility for the additional loan assumption benefits. Payments Upon appropriation as specified in subdivision (a), payments shall be made to applicants in the order received until the five million dollars ($5,000,000) authorized by subdivision (b) has been expended.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

 Section 69615.8 of the Education Code is amended to read:

69615.8.
 Notwithstanding any other law, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, in the 2020–21 fiscal year, the commission shall award 7,200 new warrants for the assumption of loans pursuant to this article.

SEC. 4.

The sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Student Aid Commission for the funding of warrants for the assumption of loans under the Assumption Program of Loans for Education (Article 5 (commencing with Section 69612) of Chapter 2 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code) for the 2020–21 fiscal year.