By Christina Sampson | Casa Grande Dispatch
Legislation wending its way through the Arizona Legislature this session is being watched by Central Arizona College officials.
“We’re really looking at three bills closely that could affect community colleges,” college Presiudent Doris Helmich told Governing Board members last week.
House Bill 2265 could garner CAC additional funding for its science, technology, engineering and math programs. The proposed legislation would allocate about $11 million to 10 community college systems. The amount a particular college received would be based on its full-time enrollment in 2008, which translates into up
to $300,000 for CAC.
The bill has passed the House of Representatives and was reviewed by a Senate committee Monday.
Another bill would impact provisional community college districts, although Chris Wodka, CAC vice president of finance and administration, said it would not have an impact on CAC.
Still, Wodka said, “We keep an eye on all the legislation that impacts community colleges.”
Provisional districts are exempt from the county’s minimum assessed valuation and do not have to meet the population requirements of regular community college districts. They are required to contract with an existing community college district to provide instruction and students services within their
boundaries.
House Bill 2543 would require counties that reimburse provisional districts for out-of- county tuition to continue doing so until the end of the fiscal year during which the provisional district was formed.
It also would require the county’s board of supervisors to approve a tax to support the school.
The bill unanimously passed the Senate Government and Environment Committee, but an amendment adding a study committee on provisional districts has delayed its movement through the Legislature, and it is still in the Senate.
“So it still has a lot of work to do and I’m not sure what the final fate of that bill will be,” Helmich said.
