Lobbying for three core issues; tuition fee increases, Proposition 98, and a textbook bill, is all on the agenda for the Associated Student Organization (ASO) members who will meet in Sacramento Monday where they will speak on behalf of community college students.
“We’re going to be speaking to Sen. Debra Bowen, Sen. Edward Vincent, and Assemblyman George Nakano,” said Philip Gomez, public relations officer on the executive cabinet of ASO.
Eight ASO members will lobby in Sacramento: Cameron Samimi, student president; Celina Luna, student trustee; Philip Gomez, executive officer; Bryce Matson, Susan Stark, and Kimberly Von Slomski, senate members, and Kristoffer Bachmann and Luke Freiburghouse, commisioners.
“We will be accompanied by Harold Tyler, ASO adviser, and Ann Garten, director of public relations and marketing,” Gomez said.
“We’re lobbying for three core issues,” Luna said. “The tuition fee increase, Proposition 98 and a textbook bill.”
Proposition 98 establishes a minimum funding level or guarantee for K-12 and community colleges, county offices as well as child development and educational programs.
K-12 education, including child development, accounts for 87 percent of Proposition 98 spending; community colleges account for 11 percent and all other agencies account for 2 percent.
“We split funding with K-12 and we’re supposed to get eleven percent but we’ve been getting under nine percent,” said Bryce Matson, senator of behavioral & social science.
The amount guaranteed depends on a number of factors, according to formulas specified in the Constitution.
“We have funding but we share it, and a lot of the time K-12 gets more of the emphasis,” Matson said. “If we were to get the full eleven percent it would eliminate a lot of community college problems.”
Another issue that is being lobbied is a textbook bill, which will offer textbook rental services.
The proposed bill would set up textbook rental services for students to be able to rent books at a lower price and then return them at the end of the term.
“This bill provides protection and tools for colleges to choose to establish a textbook rental service,” Gomez said.
ASO also plans to continue to lobby against the tuition increase and fight for community college student to get their “fair share.”
