California Senate Bill 619, aimed at alleviating the requirements for flight schools under the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, was introduced Feb. 18. Under the current terms of the bill, all individual flight instructors and flight schools that don’t collect money up front for flight training would be exempt from the provisions of the postsecondary act.
To read CALPILOTS letter of support for SB619 click Read More.
Date: April 5, 2011
The Honorable Curren D. Price, Jr.
Chair, Senate Committee on Business, Professions & Economic Development
California State Senate
10th & L Streets
Sacramento, CA 95814
Subject: Support for SB 619 (Fuller): California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009: exemptions
Dear Chairman Price:
The California Pilots Association is a statewide, non-profit, general aviation airport and a pilot rights advocacy organization, and represents California’s pilots and aviation advocates statewide.
We are writing to register our support for SB 619. Prior legislation regulating private postsecondary and vocational education contained a partial exemption for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved flight training activity. The California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 (AB 48) eliminated the exemption. This was done without notification to, or input from the aviation industry. While we understand the desire to protect students from unscrupulous operators, the elimination of the exemption will have far reaching unintended consequences. Frankly, it was overkill.
Imposition of the fee schedule included in the regulations implementing AB 48 on all flight training, including independent operators, and small businesses, will severely affect aviation in California. We have documented feedback that the closure or relocation out of state of many training operations will become reality, should AB48’s fee structure be implemented upon them. This will also result in the loss of jobs which the state cannot afford to lose. Many of the more than 9,000 FAA certified independent flight instructors in the state have already ceased offering training pending clarification of the AB 48 regulations with regard to flight training.
We urge passage of SB 619 to resolve this issue.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
Ed Rosiak
President – California Pilots Association
CC: Senator Jean Fuller CALPILOTS Board
John Pfeifer, AOPA www.calpillots.org
