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Millions of Young Californians Expected to Benefit from Seven New Laws Signed by Governor Brown

California Makes Strides In Higher Education, But There Is Still More to Be Done

[LOS ANGELES]— Today, Governor Brown signed a final round of bills, concludingthe 2014 California legislative session. Linda Leu, California Policy and Research Director at Young Invincibles, released the following statement on the outlook for young Californians:

“Young Californians continue to suffer from high unemployment rates, low wages, and a lack of access to higher education. The California Legislature and Governor Brown showed great dedication to millions of young Californians, especially low-income and undocumented young people, by signing new laws that invest in higher education and
California workers.”

“While these laws will go a long way in boosting financial security for young adults, there is more that California must do to create an economic environment in which all young adults can succeed.”

Here’s an overview of legislation that expands economic opportunity for young adults, broken down by bills that have become law, and bills that did not.  Legislation That The Governor Signed Into Law:

AB 1522 – Provides paid sick days to all California workers, with a few exceptions. Currently, 43% of female workers, 32% of Latino workers, and 48% of black workers ages 18-25 do not have access to paid sick days.

AB 2099 – Requires for-profit schools to gain accreditation, in order to receive GI Bill funds for veteran education.

SB 174/798 – Creates a tax credit that could raise up to $500 million to help the more than 250,000 low-income California students who receive Cal Grant B awards better afford non-tuition costs.

SB 1159 – Allows the more than 2 million undocumented Californians to be able to apply for professional licenses.

SB 1210 – Creates the DREAM Loan Program. The nearly 8,000 undocumented students on UC and CSU campuses will now be able to finance their educations with loans.

SB 1247 – Reauthorizes the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education, continuing the regulation of the 412 for-profit colleges in California at which minority student enrollment is growing 2X faster than all other colleges.

Legislation That The Governor Rejected, Or That Never Made It To His Desk:

SB1005—Would have expanded health coverage to millions of undocumented Californians.

AB1976—Would have created a new model to award all 22,500 Competitive Cal Grant Awards annually.

AB1425—Would have created a system to award degrees for the thousands of former community college systems who earned them.

Please be in touch if you would like to speak with a policy expert, or have questions.

Young Invincibles is a national organization committed to amplifying the voices of young adults, ages 18 to 34, and expanding economic opportunity for our generation. Young Invincibles ensures that young adults are represented in today’s most pressing societal
debates through cutting-edge policy research and analysis, and innovative campaigns
designed to educate, inform and mobilize our generation to change the status quo.