BILL NUMBER: SB 957INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Price (Coauthor: Senator Hancock) FEBRUARY 5, 2010 An act to amend Section 69439 of the Education Code, relating to student financial aid. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 957, as introduced, Price. Student financial aid: Cal Grant C awards. Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Act, establishes the Cal Grant C Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under this program. The act requires that a Cal Grant C award be used only for occupational or technical training, as defined, in a course of not less than 4 months. The act requires the commission, after consultation with state and federal agencies, to determine the areas of occupational or technical training for which Cal Grant C awards shall be awarded. This bill would require the Student Aid Commission, in cooperation with specified entities and persons, to develop and regularly update the areas of occupational or technical training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards and would require the commission to give priority in granting the awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in areas that meet specified criteria. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 69439 of the Education Code is amended to read: 69439. (a)Commencing with the 2001-02 academic year, and each academic year thereafter, aA Cal Grant C award shall be utilized only for occupational or technical training in a course of not less than four months. There shall be the same number of Cal Grant C awards each year as were made in the 2000-01 fiscal year. The maximum award amount and the total amount of funding shall be determined each year in the annual Budget Act. (b) "Occupational or technical training" means that phase of education coming after the completion of a secondary school program and leading toward recognized occupational goals approved by the commission. (c) The commission may use criteria it deems appropriate in selecting students with occupational talents to receive grants for occupational or technical training. (d) The Cal Grant C recipients shall be eligible for renewal of their grants until they have completed their occupational or technical training in conformance with terms prescribed by the commission. In no case shall the grants exceed two calendar years. (e) Cal Grant C awards shall be for institutional fees, charges, and other costs, including tuition, plus training-related costs, such as special clothing, local transportation, required tools, equipment, supplies, and books. In determining the amount of grants and training-related costs, the commission shall take into account other state and federal programs available to the applicant. (f)Cal Grant C awards shall be awarded in areas of occupational or technical training as determined by the commission after consultation with appropriate state and federal agencies(1) To ensure alignment with the state's dynamic economic needs, the commission, in consultation with appropriate state and federal agencies, employers and business es , representatives of organized labor, and occupational and technical training providers, shall develop and regularly update areas of occupational and technical training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards . (2) The commission shall give priority in granting Cal Grant C awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in areas that meet at least two of the following criteria: (A) High employment need. (B) High employment salary or wage projections. (C) High employment growth. (g) The commission shall determine areas of occupational or technical training that meet the criteria described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) in consultation with the Employment Development Department using projections available through the Labor Market Information Data Library.