Article 9. Part-time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program of California Education Code >> Division 7. >> Title 3. >> Part 51. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 9.

It is the intent of the Legislature that part-time community college faculty and their eligible dependents have continuous access to health insurance benefits.

There is hereby established the Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program for the purpose of providing a state incentive program to encourage community college districts to offer health insurance for part-time faculty.

For the purposes of this article:
  (a) "Health insurance benefits" include medical benefits but do not include vision or dental benefits.
  (b) "Part-time faculty" refers to any faculty member whose teaching assignment equals or exceeds 40 percent of the cumulative equivalent of a minimum full-time teaching assignment.
  (c) The changes made to subdivision (b) during the 1999 portion of the 1999-2000 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be operative in any fiscal year only if funds are appropriated for purposes of those changes in the annual Budget Act or in another measure. If the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act or in another measure for purposes of this section is insufficient to fully fund those changes for the fiscal year, the chancellor shall prorate the funds among the community college districts affected by this section.

The governing board of a community college district may provide a program of health insurance for part-time faculty and their dependents.

(a) A part-time faculty member and his or her eligible dependents are eligible to participate in the program established pursuant to this article.
  (b) The changes made to subdivision (a) during the 1999 portion of the 1999-2000 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be operative in any fiscal year only if funds are appropriated for purposes of those changes in the annual Budget Act or in another measure. If the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act or in another measure for purposes of this section is insufficient to fully fund those changes for the fiscal year, the chancellor shall prorate the funds among the community college districts affected by this section.
  (c) Any changes made pursuant to this section to the Part-time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program shall not affect any part-time health insurance program in effect on January 1, 2000.

No part-time faculty member or dependents whose premiums for health insurance are paid by an employer other than a community college district is eligible to participate in the program established pursuant to this article.

The governing board of each community college district that establishes a program pursuant to this article shall do both of the following:
  (a) Negotiate with the exclusive representative as to the payment of the portion of the health insurance premium that is not funded by the state.
  (b) By June 1 of each year, send verification to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges as to the number of participants in the program.

By June 15 of each year, the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall apportion to each community college district that establishes a program pursuant to this article an amount that equals up to one-half of the total cost of the individual enrollment premiums required to be paid for the health insurance coverage of participating part-time faculty and their dependents in the district. The chancellor shall distribute funds that have been appropriated specifically for this purpose proportionally based on each district's total costs for premiums for those districts that submit verification of the costs of premiums for eligible employees for a fiscal year, but in no event shall the allocation to any district exceed one-half of the cost of the verified premiums. If funds appropriated for this purpose exceed one-half of the verified cost of premiums for all participating districts statewide, the balance that exceeds that amount shall revert to the General Fund annually.

It is the intent of the Legislature that ongoing funding for the purposes of this article be subject to annual Budget Act appropriations.