AB 656

With the state of the economy, all sorts of ridiculous-and some not so ridiculous-ideas are being thrown out as ways to collect revenue in support of higher education.
Enter Assembly Bill 656 or AB 656.
Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, Democrat, has come up with a way to tax oil in order to help the University of College, California State University and California Community College systems recover from the lack of funds that they have received.
The bill would make it mandatory for all business that extracts oil from California to pay a 9.9 percent tax.
Money from the bill would be divided between the three school systems with the UC system receiving 30 percent, 60 percent would be given to the CSU system and the remaining 10 percent would go to the community college system. This yearly break down would give $270 million for the UC system; the CSU system would get $540 million while the Community college system would get $99 million.
Unfortunately, school officials have been less than enthusiastic about the bill. The UC system is not thrilled with the amount of money that it would receive, while all three school systems are worried that the money they receive from the bill would make it so other money would be withheld from them.
While schools officials are not supporting the bill, 150 students and teachers showed their support in a rally on Monday in the Sacramento State University Library Quad.
The event was kicked off b y a speech from ASI President Torres who urged students to support the bill.
“We must say to the nation that higher education is the solution to our problems,” said Torres. We must invest in higher education and Assembly Bill 656 does exactly that.”
Torrico got students and faculty revved up by mentioning the huge profits that oil companies take in yearly. He told the people in the audience that California was the only state that does not tax oil company revenues and that it’s about time it did.
The rally was one of eight that are being held on eight different California State University campuses including Hayward and San Jose.
The bill is also being supported by groups such as the CSU’s California State Student Association.
The need for the funds is obvious. Students are paying ridiculous fees that are only expected to continue to go up with no end in sight.
The tax is a logical way to help fund education that is needed according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
The bill state that the study showed “California's need for college-educated workers is outpacing the state's ability to produce them, and that gap is expected to widen in the future.” With such a huge need for college graduates and higher education becoming more and more of a financial stretch for the middle class, the money from the oil companies would help bring tuition back to a reasonable price, prevent faculty from losing their jobs on campus and put teachers back in classrooms.