Dear faculty colleagues,

PLEASE join our Local in supporting necessary amendments to SB 893 (Becker), a bill that would give SMCCCD—and only SMCCCD—additional flexibility with the district’s general fund revenue. The aim of SB 893 is to use general fund revenue to make community college free for San Mateo County residents, a goal our Local wholly supports. However, SB 893 does not create a new revenue stream to fund free college—meaning that essential SMCCCD programs and services could lose funding as a result of the bill. We are asking for essential amendments to make sure that students are not only able to enroll in community college, but also have the support they need to succeed. These amendments include requiring our District to comply with the 50% Law, requiring that our District report on services and programs that lose funding due to SB 893, and directing general fund revenue specifically towards eliminating tuition and fees.

The California Assembly Committee on Higher Education will hear the bill this coming Tuesday, and we need to let them know our faculty support these necessary amendments to make sure students have the support they need. Please click here to send a prewritten letter in support of our amendments to the members of the Committee on Higher Education. We’ve set up our system to automatically send to all committee members, so there’s no need to look up addresses or draft anything unless you want to. The whole process takes just 30 seconds!

Thank you, as always, for everything you do to support our students, staff, and faculty.