Introduction
VPLA Nickens Hello, my name is Andrew Nickens and I am the Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC). This is the first of many regular legislative alerts for students by students that will highlight critical advocacy opportunities you can get involved in individually, with your college, or in your community college district. We hope this is informative for you.
Block Grant AdvocacyAs part of the 2020 Budget Act passed by the Legislature, a $120 million COVID-19 Block Grant was allocated to community college districts to directly support student learning, continuity of education, and mitigate learning loss related to COVID-19. Districts can use these funds on basic needs, mental health, technology, internet access, and more. Get involved and make sure your students get the funds they need! Take action by getting your student body association (SBA) to pass a resolution urging your community college district to spend the funds in support of your
students' needs. You can find a sample slideshow presentation at this link and a sample resolution at this link. Remember to share the resolution your SBA passes with your influential decision-makers around your campus. For questions about the block grant advocacy toolkit email vpla@studentsenateccc.org.
Proposition AdvocacyThere are a lot of important measures on the ballot this year and California voters need to hear from community college students like you. Issues like affirmative action, funding for schools and communities, and voting rights will be decided by election day on November 3rd. Make sure you spread the word and support Propositions 15, 16, and 17 by making SSCCC your one-stop shop for all your proposition advocacy resources. Find our proposition advocacy toolkits at this link. These toolkits contain legal guidelines for community college student body association participation in proposition advocacy, sample resolutions, social media graphics, advocacy opportunities like phone banking, and more. Don’t miss out on the most important election day in decades!
For questions about the proposition advocacy toolkit email vpla@studentsenateccc.org.
Legislative DeadlineThe increasingly hectic 2019-2020 legislative session came to a close on August 31st as both houses began their four-month recess before reconvening on January 1st of next year. As you may know, many critical pieces of legislation were cut due to the impact of COVID-19. Bills that addressed holistic financial aid reform for community colleges, basic needs, student trustee enfranchisement, and more were unfortunately cut. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the SSCCC is dedicated to pushing the legislative priorities of community college
students and to addressing key issues that our students face. Please visit our website at studentsenateccc.org to learn more about our legislative priorities.
Legislative Training Opportunities Are you interested in learning more about legislative advocacy? Or are you interested in learning about how to get involved in advocating for propositions on the November ballot? You are in luck! We have two upcoming opportunities for you to learn more about how to advocate at our upcoming Professional Development and Leadership Training September 24 - October 2, 2020. Both events will be on October 1, 2020. Below are the times: - Proposition Advocacy 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm
- Legislative Advocacy Training 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
You can find more information about the Professional Development and Leadership Training on our website. Click this link for more information and registration.
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