Office of Government Relations

2005 Legislative Summary First Regular Session of the 47^th Legislature

Table of Contents

The 2005 First Regular Session of the 47^th Arizona Legislature ended May 13^th, 2005 at 1:25a.m. This past session was a particular challenge to the District. The focus of the 2005 session by many at the Arizona Capitol was on proposed legislative and budgetary changes to the community colleges. The Senate and House Higher Education committees dedicated entire agendas solely to many of these proposed changes. There was a substantial amount of time spent meeting with individual legislative members, Senate and House leadership and committee chairs and providing committee testimony from District officials and college presidents.

For 2005 there were a total of 1,311 bills introduced. Of those, the Legislature approved 392. Of those the Governor signed 334 bills and vetoed 58 (3 of which were line-item vetoed). In addition, there were 132 memorial resolutions introduced of which 25 were approved by the legislature. Detailed here are the bills of interest to Arizona’s community colleges for the 2005 regular session. They are cross-referenced in different formats to aid review.

Legislative Priority	Maricopa Issue	Resolution/Outcome
Protect Base Funding	Oppose cuts to general budget reductions	Base funding was protected for Maricopa Community Colleges.
Full Funding of Enrollment Growth	State aid formula for community colleges should be fully funded	Growth formula was fully funded for Maricopa Community Colleges.
Arizona State Retirement Increases	Seek assistance to cover proposed District/employee contribution increases	FY05-06 contribution rate was reduced to 7.4% to provide relief to employees/employers experiencing impacts due to large percentage increases. This rate will be 9.10% effective July 1, 2006.
Initiative Funding	Increased funding for nursing programs	$4 million in funding annually until 2010 to fund nursing education. Funding will be distributed to community colleges and universities based on graduating nursing students.
Proposition 301 Redistribution	Provide corrective language to set order of fund distribution	Administrative correction provided: Official documentation from JLBC and the Treasurer’s office revising the order of recipients for Prop. 301 funds.
Community College Baccalaureate	Higher Education realignment discussions	The higher education reform bill, which included the community college baccalaureate, progressed until the last days of session. The bill was ultimately held from a final floor vote. The Governor established a P-20 Council to look at higher education issues including transfer, articulation and baccalaureate offerings for community colleges. The Legislature established an Ad Hoc Committee on higher education to address these issues as well.

Community College Statutory Funding Formula	Discuss weighted formula to provide more state aid for occupational programs	This issue was included in the baccalaureate discussions. Language was added to the higher education reform bill for a 1.5 weighted FTSE for health care profession baccalaureate offerings.
JCCR Review Authority	Seek clarification in statute to eliminate review of general obligation bonds	The JCCR gave a favorable review to the $190.3 million General Obligation bond issuance with the provision that the Maricopa Community College District report to the Committee on actual project costs when the district returns for review of the second issuance. Legislative oversight of the community colleges will be an ongoing issue.

Other issue areas...

Subject	Community College issue		Resolution/outcome
Budget	Proposed reductions in the amount of $23 million during the first round of budget negotiations.		Base funding was protected for FY 06 budget.
Dual enrollment	Prohibition of mixed classes, passage of the AIMS test as a prerequisite to dual enrollment and the limitation of dual enrollment to vocational education classes only.		Chapter 152…Related to contracts and community college advisory committee meetings.
Immigration	HB 2030: Prohibited ADE from providing adult education classes to adults who are not lawfully present in the U.S., stated persons without lawful immigration status are not entitled to classification as in‑state students, prohibited entitlement of these students to tuition or fee waivers, grants, scholarship assistance, financial aid and required each community college to report twice yearly to the JLBC the number of people who applied to participate in the stated programs and the number who were not eligible for those programs due to their status.	Vetoed by the Governor.
Social security numbers	HB 2149: Extended current social security number restrictions to prohibit state or political subdivisions, including school and community college districts, from requesting a social security number unless required by federal law. This could have had an impact on our Admissions and Records offices countywide.	Held by the sponsor.
Charter school sponsorship	Allowed a university, private institution or community college to sponsor a charter school, however it also would have precluded those community colleges with such sponsorships from counting students that may have attended both for state funding purposes.	Vetoed by the Governor.
Family Literacy	HB 2050 officially transferred the Family Literacy Program from the ADE Adult Education Division to the Division of Early Childhood Education Programs.	Signed by the Governor, Chapter 147.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Budget	Miscellaneous
Education	Bills that failed to pass
Construction/Procurement	Resolutions that failed to pass
Elections	New Committees/Boards
Retirement/Human Resources	Bills Vetoed by the Governor
Taxation/Bonding

BUDGET

SB 1294

professions and occupations; shortage

Chapter 314 See Executive Summary

SB 1294 establishes the Arizona Partnership for Nursing Education Demonstration Project to increase the capacity of Arizona nursing education programs in Arizona.

SB 1513/HB 2764

general appropriations; budget

Chapter 286 See Executive Summary

This bill makes state General Fund and other fund appropriations for FY 2005-2006 for the operations of state government. SB 1513 includes full-funding for community colleges.

SB 1516/ HB 2767

K-12 education; budget

Chapter 329

SB 1516 makes statutory and session law changes necessary to implement the FY 2005-2006 budget related to general K-12 education funding, transportation funding, desegregation, Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind teaching contracts and joint technological education districts.

SB 1517/ HB 2768

higher education; budget

Chapter 330 See Executive Summary

Provisions of this bill include:

• Prohibits a district from being eligible for growth funding unless the most recent audited FTSE count exceeds the highest audited FTSE count recorded from and after FY 2003-04.
• Changes the ability of the ABOR to differentiate the tuition and fees between institutions and residents, nonresidents, undergraduate students, graduate students, students from foreign countries and students who have earned credit hours in excess of the hour threshold, unless the student’s chosen program requires additional credit hours above the threshold for a degree. The credit hour threshold for FY 2006-07 is 155, decreasing to 150 in FY 2007-08 and 145 for each fiscal year thereafter. This provision begins with the 2006-07 academic year.
• The bill also prohibits the Legislature from appropriating monies supporting any university student who has exceeded the credit hour threshold, unless the student’s chosen program requires additional credit hours above the threshold for a degree.
• Requires the FTSE enrollment reported by each university for the prior fiscal year to be annually audited by the Auditor General and delineates the university FTSE calculation.
• Establishes university FTSE auditing guidelines including a provision that the basic FTSE enrollment must be counted on the 21^st day.
• Requires the ABOR to determine current actual FTSE enrollment at each of the universities under its jurisdiction.

Medical Campus Appropriation

• Appropriates $3,000,000 from the state General Fund to the UA Health Sciences Center in FY 2005-06. Appropriates an additional $3,000,000 in FY 2005-06 to the Center upon submission of operational and capital plans for the medical campus by the ABOR.
• Appropriates $500,000 from the state General Fund to ASU in FY 2005-06 for the Department of Biomedical Informatics. Appropriates an additional $500,000 in FY 2005-06 to the Department upon submission of operational and capital plans for the medical campus by the ABOR.
• Provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that no more than $7,000,000 from the state General Fund be appropriated for the Phoenix medical campus in any fiscal year.

Phoenix Medical Campus

• Requires the UA to establish a medical campus in Phoenix, utilizing the campus of Phoenix Union High School. Stipulates that the campus shall address medical education needs throughout the state.
• Requires the medical campus to accommodate 24 first year medical students continuously through the remaining years of their instruction and clinical rotations.
• Requires the ABOR, by December 31, 2005, to submit a progress report to the JLBC detailing expenditures, the status of renovations, the status of faculty and staff and any changes to the project scope or schedule.
• Requires the ABOR to submit any significant material changes to the operational plan to the JLBC and any significant material changes to the capital plan to the Joint Committee on Capital Review.

Clinical Rotations

• Stipulates that public and private medical schools shall not prohibit a hospital from entering into an agreement to provide clinical rotations to qualified osteopathic or allopathic medical students.

Medical Education Tuition Assistance

• Appropriates $1,500,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2005-06 to the Board of Medical Student Loans for medical education tuition assistance. Requires that 50% of the monies be used for private medical school student scholarships.
• Authorizes the Board to grant scholarships to first-year medical students to defray the expenses of medical education at a public or private medical school in this state. The bill prescribes procedures and requirements for the scholarships.

Nursing Education Demonstration Project

SEE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF SB 1294, CHAPTER 314, FOR FURTHER DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION

• Establishes the Arizona partnership for Nursing Education Demonstration Project to increase the capacity of nursing education programs in Arizona.
• Requires the project to address the state’s nursing shortage by increasing the number of nurses graduating from nursing education programs with the goal of doubling the number of nurses by the end of FY 2009-10.
• Appropriates $4,000,000 annually from the state General Fund for four years, from FY 2005-06 through FY 2009-10, to the Nursing Education Demonstration Project Fund.
• Establishes the Nursing Education Demonstration Project Fund, consisting of monies appropriated to the Fund and monies provided by any federal agency, entity or program for nursing education and workforce expansion. Monies are exempt from lapsing.
• Requires monies in the Fund to be used to increase the number of qualified nursing education faculty members to teach in nursing degree programs operated and overseen by the ABOR or by community college districts.
• Requires Fund monies to be allocated into an ABOR account and a community colleges account based on the number of nursing students graduating in FY 2004-05 from programs offered or overseen by the ABOR compared to the number of nursing students graduating in FY 2004-05 from programs offered or overseen by community colleges.
• Requires the ABOR to establish a process to annually distribute fund monies from the ABOR account to universities for use in nursing programs.
• Requires a statewide organization representing community colleges to establish a process to annually distribute fund monies from the community colleges account to community colleges for use in nursing programs.

Miscellaneous

• Requires the ABOR to submit a report by December 31, 2005 to the JLBC and the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting on the advisability and options for implementing a tuition structure that limits tuition increases for continuing students to no more than inflation.
• Requires the ABOR to submit a report by December 1, 2005 to the JLBC and the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting on the FTSE enrollment as of the 21^st and 45^th day of the Fall 2005 semester at each university.  The report must also include the advantages and disadvantages of using either enrollment count, or enrollment count for any other day of the semester, for funding purposes.  The ABOR must complete a similar report by April 15, 2006 for the Spring 2006 semester

SB 1521/ HB 2772

state budget procedures; budget

See Executive Summary Chapter 331

This measure makes various changes necessary for the state’s budget reconciliation including ASRS contribution revisions.

HB 2619

community colleges; declining enrollment

Chapter 244

HB 2619 prohibits a community college district from being eligible for growth funding unless the most recent audited FTSE count exceeds the highest audited FTSE count recorded from and after FY 2003-04.

HB 2779/SB 1528

taxation; corporations; property; budget

Chapter 302

HB 2779 provides property tax reform measures. The bill reduces the assessment ratio for class one (commercial, industrial and mining) properties from 25% to 20% of full cash value over ten years. The bill also updates the truth in taxation statutes regarding the qualifying tax rate and the county equalization assistance for education rate to reflect the JLBC calculation for FY 2006. HB 2779 increases the Additional State Aid for owner-occupied residential properties from 35% of the primary school tax rate to 40% over five years and increases the current maximum amount for a rebate from $500 to $600 over five years.

EDUCATION

SB 1010

college savings oversight committee; membership

Chapter 251

This bill adds an individual with investment, asset management and financial related expertise and an individual employed by a community college or university with investment, asset management and financial related expertise to the Committee. The bill then removes the Director of the Securities Division of the Arizona Corporation Commission or the director's designee and the president or chancellor of a community college district from the Committee.

SB 1196

in-state tuition; spouses

Chapter 255

This bill permits an in-state student classification for the spouse of an Arizona resident.

SB 1009

school buildings; air quality

Chapter 182

SB 1009 provides requirements for maintaining indoor air quality in schools. Additionally, the School Facilities Board is responsible for conducting an environmental site assessment when approving the construction of a school building and is authorized to deny school building projects if certain conditions exist.

SB 1011

membership; school councils; district employees

Chapter 42

SB 1011 allows a parent or guardian who is employed by a school district to serve as a member of the school council where their child is enrolled if the parent or guardian is not employed by that same school.

SB 1038

AIMS test; graduation; exceptions

Chapter 304

SB 1038 exempts pupils from the requirement to achieve a passing score on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test in order to graduate from high school if the pupil meets c