BILL NUMBER: AB 48INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Portantino and Niello DECEMBER 1, 2008 An act relating to private postsecondary education, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 48, as introduced, Portantino. Private postsecondary education: Department of Consumer Affairs. (1) The former Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989, which became inoperative on July 1, 2007, and was repealed on January 1, 2008, was administered by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education in the Department of Consumer Affairs. The former act required the bureau, among other things, to review and investigate all institutions, programs, and courses of instruction approved under the act. The former act also established the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund, composed of certain fees imposed on private postsecondary institutions, which was repealed on July 1, 2008. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish a Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education and to encourage the Department of Consumer Affairs to receive and respond to student complaints and provide information to students and prospective students of private postsecondary educational institutions, until a Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education is established. The bill would continue the existence of the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund under the administration of the Department of Consumer Affairs and would appropriate $1,000,000 from that fund to the department for the above purposes. Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish a Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the legislation described in subdivision (a) should be clearly drafted, reasonably enforceable, and easily understandable to students, schools, and regulators. (c) It is further the intent of the Legislature to encourage the Department of Consumer Affairs to receive and respond to student complaints and to provide information to students and prospective students of private postsecondary educational institutions, until a Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education is established. SEC. 2. (a) The Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund established by former Section 94932 of the Education Code, and extended and reconfigured by Chapter 635 of the Statutes of 2007, is hereby continued in existence under the administration of the Department of Consumer Affairs. (b) This section shall apply retroactively from June 30, 2008. SEC. 3. The sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund to the Department of Consumer Affairs for purposes of receiving and responding to student complaints and providing information to students and prospective students of private postsecondary educational institutions.