By Jazzminn Morecraft
Currently, students of the California State University (CSU) system pay more for parking than any faculty, staff or administrator does. This cost is on top of tuition, books and housing.
Assembly Bill (AB) 532, California State University Parking Fairness Act would change the current status quo. If passed, AB 532 would make it so that the students of the CSU system pay the lease amount for parking out of everyone.
Part of the current digest of AB 532 Legislative Counsel’s reads, “This bill would require each campus of the California State University to make the purchase price of each student parking permit lower than the purchase price of any campus employee parking permit that is valid for the same date or dates, time period or periods, and general location or locations on campus as the student permit. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the parking rates set pursuant to this bill be implemented no later than the 2022–23 academic year.”
Over the spring break, Atticus Reyes, Student Government President and Vice Chair of Legislative Affairs at the California State Student Association (CSSA), went to Sacramento to testify before the State Assembly of the Higher Education Committee to advocate for AB 532 as the official recognized voice of CSU students. Additionally, Reyes was joined by a policy analyst from the CSSA.
“The bill passed out of the Higher Education Committee that day 10-0 and is on its way to the Appropriations Committee in the State Assembly,” said Reyes. “It will be a long process for this bill to become law in California, but this is a great step in that direction.”
“As a campus that is composed of a majority of students who commute, myself being one of those, I know how frustrating it is to afford parking on this campus,” said Reyes. “I have brought those frustrations and concerns to one of the most powerful legislative bodies in the state, the State Assembly. I hope that we can see the change that has been overdue.”
