SB 85 Summary

• Establishes Chancellor's Higher Education Innovation Awards Program providing grants to community colleges for innovations improving student success, with focus on underrepresented students, veterans, displaced workers, and incarcerated individuals.

• Creates "hunger free campus" designations for California State University and community college campuses meeting food security criteria, providing funding incentives upon appropriation by Legislature.

• Provides $11.3 million to Compton Community College District for one-time costs to restore operations and maintain accreditation, with Board of Trustees assuming Personnel Commission powers until July 1, 2029.

• Establishes Community College Completion Grant Program providing $2,000 annual grants to eligible students and California Community College Guided Pathways Grant Program supporting structured degree pathways.

• Appropriates funding for multiple community college initiatives including $5 million for veterans resource centers, $4.5 million for mental health services, $8 million for workforce development in distressed areas, and $2.5 million addressing student hunger.