Legislative Update: Bills Addressing California Community Colleges
On February 21, the Legislature met its first major deadline of the year—the last day to introduce new bills. This legislative session, lawmakers implemented new bill limits, reducing the maximum number of bill introductions to 35 per legislator for both the Senate (down from 50) and the Assembly (down from 40). Despite these changes, 2,350 new bills were introduced across both chambers.
Each year, our Government Relations team closely monitors legislation that could impact California’s 116 community colleges. For 2025, the League has identified 164 bills that meet this criteria, categorized within the following subject areas:
- Academic Affairs: 38 bills
- Student Services: 43 bills
- Human Resources & Labor: 15 bills
- Immigration: 11 bills
- Governance: 27 bills
- System Partners (UC/CSU): 25 bills
- Other: 5 bills
As the League’s two policy boards, the CCCT and the CEOCCC, begin shaping policy positions, here are some of the key bills we are tracking:
Housing & Facilities
AB 648 (Zbur): Community colleges: housing: local zoning regulations: exemption
Proposes to exempt the construction of faculty and staff housing projects, student housing projects, and university housing development projects from local zoning regulations of any city, county, when constructed on property owned or leased by a community college district.
AB 48 (Alvarez): College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2026
Establishes the College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2026 providing an unspecified amount of funds to construct and modernize higher education facilities. This bond act would become operative only if approved by the voters at a future, statewide primary election.
AB 90 (Jackson): Overnight student parking
Requires the governing board of each community college district to create a plan of action to establish an overnight parking program, designating at least one parking lot per district with 50 spots. The governing board must vote on the approval of the plan, students are granted an overnight parking permit for a period of two weeks, students are allowed to park in the overnight lot until a grant, a hotel voucher, or rapid rehousing is provided.
Financial Aid & Fees
AB 537 (Ahrens): California College Promise
Removes the full-time eligibility requirement for the California College Promise Program, allowing all part-time students to receive the Promise Grant. It would also prohibit any other program from being referred to as the “California College Promise.”
AB 850 (Pacheco): Institutional Debt Transparency Act
Requires all post-secondary institutions to grant a one-time exemption from an enrollment or registration hold on a current or former student on the grounds that the student owes an institutional debt.
SB 323 (Pérez): California Dream Act Application
This spot bill intends to encourage all students to submit a California Dream Act Application (CADAA). This approach to financial aid aims to protect AB 540 students from sharing sensitive data with the federal government via a FAFSA form but means students would only receive a Cal Grant, if they only submit the CADAA.
Baccalaureate Degrees
AB 1462 (Hart): baccalaureate degree program: Allan Hancock College
Authorize the Board of Governors to approve a baccalaureate degree program at Allan Hancock College without a written agreement established between an objecting higher education segment and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.
AB 664 (Alvarez): Baccalaureate degrees: Southwestern Community College District
This spot bill intends to create legislation that would expand access to workforce-aligned baccalaureate degree programs in underserved, college desert areas like South San Diego County by authorizing Southwestern Community College District to offer a limited number of baccalaureate degrees.
Master Plan for Career Education
AB 95 (Fong): Coordinating Commission for Education in California
Establishes the Coordinating Commission for Education in California as a state career and higher education coordination body composed of workforce, education segment, and employer representatives to establish joint and regional plans and make recommendations on state and federal funding related to statewide educational attainment and career education goals.
SB 744 (Cabaldon): Credit for students with prior learning
Requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish competencies, in consultation with faculty and other interested parties, focusing on the knowledge and skills a student would need to demonstrate they could pass a course that would lead to a degree or credential, or to transfer to a baccalaureate degree program.
Immigration
AB 695 (Fong): Colleges Access and Continuity for Deported Students Act
Exempts deported students from nonresident tuition if they were previously classified as residents, not paying nonresident tuition at the time of deportation, provide proof of deportation, and enroll in an online community college program.
SB 98 (Pérez): Immigration enforcement: notification.
Requires schools to immediately notify students, parents, faculty, and staff if immigration officers are present on campus.
Labor
AB 1028 (Fong): Part-time faculty
Changes the definition of a part time faculty by stating that the maximum time a part-time, temporary employee may teach, without becoming a contract employee, by stating that any person who works 19% of the hours per week of a full-time employee having comparable duties, and would reclassify a part-time, temporary faculty member whose teaching assignment at a single community college district cumulatively for at least 6 semesters or 8 quarters within 4 consecutive academic years as a contract employee.
AB 1171 (Patel): Part-time faculty benefits
Require all part-time faculty member whose total teaching assignments at 2 or more community college districts equal or exceeds a full-time teaching assignment to be provided the same benefits as a full-time faculty member.
AB 1247 (Garcia): Classified employees: school districts and community college districts: contracting out: training requirements
Requires school districts and community college districts to compensate their classified employees at their regular rate of pay for time necessary to complete any training mandated by law, a collective bargaining agreement, or an employer policy. The bill would require any of those trainings that are related to child abuse reporting, suicide prevention, sexual harassment, or discrimination to be conducted in person.
To view all the bills the League is tracking, please visit the League’s website here: https://www.ccleague.org/advocacy/bill-tracking/