Sen. Padilla’s bill would index Cal Grant B access award to CPI to preserve purchasing power

Sen. Padilla presented SB 1006 to index the Cal Grant B access award to the California Consumer Price Index so that the award—which helps low‑income students pay for non‑tuition expenses—keeps pace with inflation. Padilla said the maximum Cal Grant B access award has remained fixed at $1,648 per year despite rising non‑tuition costs.

Laura Zabelkiewicz, senior policy adviser at the Institute for College Access and Success, testified the bill would benefit more than 300,000 students at public and private institutions and would index supplemental awards for student parents and foster youth. Student activist Jomari offered testimony about being formerly homeless and struggling to cover housing and transportation costs, saying indexing Cal Grant B ‘‘would significantly benefit hundreds of thousands of students statewide.’’

Sen. Choi asked for clarification about CPI mechanics and fiscal impact. An informal estimate from sponsors’ research indicated a year‑one increase of approximately $21 million total—about $14 million to raise the main award to inflation and $7 million for supplemental awards—yielding modest per‑student increases in the first year. Sen. Padilla and supporters framed the bill as a measured, budget‑sensitive approach to protecting aid value over time and asked committee members for support. The committee voted to pass SB 1006 to the Senate Appropriations Committee and placed the bill on call for further fiscal review.