CHAPARRAL

AB 982 and GCC:
How our students helped pass a new law (and how implementation will impact them here at GCC)
by Mona Field, Political Science Department 

Student Health Centers:
It’s Controversial, It’s Signed and Now What?

Student health centers at California community colleges are an essential component of student life, and are often the only health care that students can access.  Health centers are generally funded through a fee paid by each enrolled student, with a maximum fee permitted of $14 per semester.  However, under past state law, low-income students who get a BOG fee waiver were not charged any health center fees.  Due to increasing enrollment fees and thus the increase in students receiving BOG fee waivers, many community college health centers were losing revenue and cutting services.
     At GCC, our health center director, Dr. Mary Mirch, realized a long time ago that diminishing health center fees inevitably meant cuts in services to our students. With half of our students getting BOG fee waivers, it became clear that health services could not survive the lack of revenue. She served as president of the state organization representing all CC health center directors, and helped draft the budget language that could have solved the problem if the legislature and governor had cooperated.
     However, year after year, the state budget process was unresponsive to this issue, so the new approach became AB 982, which allows individual district boards to impose a health fee on BOG fee waiver students up to the current $14 maximum. The legislation was carried by Assemblymember John Laird, a former trustee at Cabrillo Community College.
     In a better world, low income students would not be charged for health services.  In fact, in a really good world, students would get the education they need regardless of financial status.  However, in the current reality, health care is already a scarce commodity for many CC students.  Reducing their campus access would only impose more difficulties on their ability to complete their educational goals.
     Because most faculty organizations have traditionally opposed all forms of fee increases, the legislation was originally opposed by our union, CFT. However, at the CFT convention last March, many union leaders from around the state spoke in favor of the legislation on behalf of the health needs of their students. The dialogue led to a vote reversing the CFT position from “oppose” to “support.” Meanwhile, some districts supported the legislation through board resolutions and lobbying.
     Through the efforts of  Mary Mirch and Student Activities Coordinator Alen Andriassian, GCC students went to Sacramento to testify at the Assembly Higher Education Committee hearing on AB 982. The bill had already been “pre-lobbied” so much that the committee chair didn’t call on any speakers, leaving our students sadly disappointed. However, the goal was achieved when the bill sailed through the committee and was sent to the full Assembly.
     Eventually, AB 982 wound its way through the legislature and landed on the governor's desk.  Most insider guesses predicted a veto, but somehow, the governor chose to sign the bill, with the following message:  "To the Members of the Calif State Assembly:  I am signing AB 982 because it will allow CC health centers to continue operating and providing health services to students…. For many low income students, the campus health center may be the most expedient and effective health care they can receive…. While this bill allows CCDs to charge the same modest fee on all their students, regardless of income level, I encourage districts to reassess all of their spending priorities annually to ensure their campus Health centers are not reducing hours or staff, before considering the step of charging fees to lower income students. "
     While we may often debate our governor’s political decisions, in this case, he is correct.  Each district must ensure that before the new fee is implemented, the current spending on health center activity is well-spent, appropriate and useful to students.  If the fee is implemented, faculty must be watchdogs to ensure that those dollars go precisely to health center services and are not diverted to other campus expenses.
     At GCC, given the long discussion about our health center’s vital role in student well-being, our Board of Trustees (as of Chaparral deadline) will be presented with a proposal to charge BOG “A” students half the usual health fee; instead of paying $14 as our more solvent students do, our very low-income students will pay $7 per semester if the board approves.
     Given the costs of health care, and the number of uninsured students, it seems like a real bargain. &

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