The bill lets six Community Colleges test the "two tier" pricing structure, but LBCC is the only Community College district that plans to implement it swiftly. The test period will last five years.

AB 955 was sponsored (explicitly sought) by Long Beach City College. It was opposed by a number of student and teacher groups and the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and passed the state legislature without the voted support of Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal (D., Long Beach) and state Senator Ricardo Lara (D., Long Beach-Huntington Park.). LBREPORT.com provides access to a lengthy list of the bill's recorded supporters/opponents as part of the measure's state Senate legislative analysis visible at this link.

Dems control majorities in both houses of the state legislature, but in May 2013, Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal (D, Long Beach) voted "no" on Third Reading Assembly passage and in September was recorded as "absent, abstaining or not voting" on Assembly concurrence in Senate amendments here (final Assembly passage). In September, State Senator Ricardo Lara (D., Long Beach-Huntington Park) voted "no" on Senate passage while State Senator Rod Wright (D., NLB-Inglewood) voted "yes" ((Senate vote tally here).

To view the full text of AB 955 as enrolled and signed by the Governor, click here.

In a brief signing statement, Gov. Brown wrote in part, "This seems like a reasonable experiment. Why deny these campuses the opportunity to offer students access and financial assistance to courses not otherwise available?"

The measure limits the higher rates to summer and winter courses (shorter 4 to 6 week sessions between fall and spring sessions.)

[UPDATE] LBCC Superintendent-President Eloy Oakley issued the following statement after the Governor signed AB 955 into law:

[Written statement by Superintendent-President Oakley] I thank Governor Brown, Assemblymember Das Williams, and the majorities of both houses who passed AB955, for taking a tangible step to address the challenges and to expand opportunities for Long Beach City College students to reach their educational goals.

By signing AB955, Governor Brown has opened access for students who have been patiently waiting for high demand classes and will allow them to move through our college with more expediency.

This is especially true for our military veterans who can now access and fully utilize their GI benefits to cover housing and educational costs, instead of having the threat of losing GI Bill coverage due to a lack of enrollment status.

I agree with Governor Brown that AB955 is a worthwhile experiment that gives students access and financial assistance to courses that would not otherwise be available. This legislative item, though a step in the right direction, is just one small piece of a solution and I urge the California State legislature to continue to work to restore regular general funding to community colleges.

AB955 is an innovative and progressive approach in addressing the reduced access caused by years of funding cuts to California Community Colleges. Long Beach City College is dedicated to implementing AB955 and offering intersession courses needed by our students.

LBCC mounted an effort on its website-linked "newsletter" urging the state legislature to pass AB 955 and to have the Governor to sign it. On its website, LBCC recently posted the following text:

ACTION ALERT: Support AB 955 to increase access for students to community college classes

URGENT!!!

We need your immediate support by asking Governor Brown to SIGN AB 955! [emphasis in original]

AB 955, Community Colleges: Intersession Extension Programs, authored by Assembly Member Das Williams, is now before the Governor and we need your help in urging Governor Brown to help increase access for community college students and SIGN AB 955 into law.

Long Beach City College (LBCC) and California Community College students have been hit hard by several years of funding cuts from the state that have reduced access to higher education. While Proposition 30 will restore some of the access lost in recent years, student access is still significantly restricted, especially in winter and summer sessions. AB 955 will allow for a pilot program offered at participating community colleges to offer additional self-funded courses to students next year restoring some of the lost access.

AB 955 would enable the designated Community Colleges to expand access to higher education, at no cost to the state, while still allowing students to obtain courses leading to a degree, certificate or transfer to a four-year institution.

California State University campuses have set a precedent for intersession extension programs. In fact, most CSU campuses provide summer courses to their matriculated students through extension programs where students pay the full cost of instruction. Although the intersession courses through AB 955 would be at a higher fee, about $250 per unit, it would allow students to finish sooner, similar to how students access additional classes through the CSU extension program.

This is especially important to our Veterans who need to maintain continuous college enrollment to keep receiving their GI Bill benefits, and who have a fixed timeline to complete their education. Our Vets have a clear need for this option and their benefits cover the additional cost. Without AB 955, many of our Vets will no longer be eligible to receive their GI Bill benefits, and will no longer be able to complete their degree, certificate or transfer. In addition, AB 955 also contains provisions for low-income students that provides funding to reduce the cost of these courses.

According to Federal Reserve data, American students, former students and graduates owe more than $1 trillion in private and federal student loans. Without this option of accessibility, many students will either be forced to take out thousands of dollars in loans to enroll at a for-profit college, remain in the community college system for a longer period of time in order to complete their educational goals, or forgo higher education altogether. As one LBCC student shared with The Viking, our College newspaper: "If we would have had winter session, it would've allowed me to finish school sooner," said Brian Reid, 26, an English major. Reid, who has taken summer classes, is a strong supporter of AB 955, and supports the signing of the bill into law.

WHO [sic] TO CONTACT:

Call or email Governor Jerry Brown today! Send a message to the Governor on Facebook. Share your support of AB 955 with the Governor via Twitter now!

WHAT TO SAY:

Hello! My name is __________ and I am calling to encourage Governor Brown to SIGN AB 955, Community Colleges: intersession extension programs. This issue is very important to me and to community college students. Without access to classes in the summer and winter sessions, many of our students will be forced to take out loans, lengthen their stay at a community college to complete their education, or drop out. Please do the right thing for our community colleges and our students and sign AB 955!

Some LBCC officials have blamed Sacramento -- in particular the state legislature -- for not providing Community Colleges with sufficient funds to offer the high-demand courses at the previous "regular" student cost. (Their position: if Sacramento had provided Community Colleges with sufficient funding, LBCC wouldn't need "two tier" pricing to offer the courses which it can't afford to offer without the extra cost.)

Students opposed to AB 955 note that LBCC officials and Sacramento lawmakers told the public in fall 2012 that voter approval of Proposition 30 (Nov. 2012 state sales tax increase) would help protect education programs...and some point to what they call unwise spending and misguided decisions by LBCC's administration and LBCC Trustees.