Assembly Bill 67 (AB 67), which was authored by Republican legislators of the California State Assembly, was passed with bi-partisan support in the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee. It is now been re-referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.

Assemblymembers Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto), Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside) and Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) authored the bill. It was supported by many assembly Republicans including Fresno’s Jim Patterson.

The bill is intended to act in conjunction with Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30, which will raise taxes on people earning more than $250,000 for the next seven years. The proposition also raises the California sales tax by a quarter of a cent for the same period of time. The tax revenues are said to ensure funding for the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems.

AB 67 would freeze tuition at the UC and CSU. In doing this, Republican legislators say, the tuition rates will not increase in the midst of the sales tax increase and income tax hikes.

Fresno State’s College Republicans chief of staff Justin Thomason said AB 67 is a measure aiming toward fiscal responsibility.

“The governor campaigned saying that college tuition wasn’t going to go up, that money would still be there for colleges, but in reality there’s no wording in Proposition 30 that says these things,” Thomason said. “We want to make sure the government is accountable.”

In an April 9 press release, Assemblywoman Olsen discussed the positive effects of AB 67 on California’s college student population.

“Too many students are being priced out of a college degree in California,” said Olsen. “Giving students a reliable and predictable tuition rate will go far in helping students achieve their dreams of a college education, and is an integral part of ensuring we have a well-educated and properly trained workforce.”

Opponents of the bill say the tuition freeze would put the CSU and UC boards of trustees at a stand-still in the case that higher education is severely cut.

Sean Kiernan, Fresno State Associated Student’s Inc. (ASI) vice president for external affairs said the bill could cause potential problems should that happen.

“If you freeze tuition by law for the next seven years, in seven years we are going to have a new governor or this governor. What if higher education is cut severely? If that happens the trustees are restricted and can’t raise tuition which is normally how they would make up for that,” Kiernan said. “If education is cut and tuition is frozen, it forces the trustees to either severely cut classes or the system stays insolvent.”

In a statement released last week, the president of the UC proposed opposition to the bill. According to the open letter to State Assemblyman Das Williams, President Mark G. Yudof, said the tuition freeze would pose a problem in that state revenues are not enough to cover the expenses of the system.

“Notably, the tuition-funded portion of the university’s core operating budget is now far more than the state portion””tuition and fee revenue provides over $3 billion, while the state provides $ 2.4 billion for basic operations.”