Your help is urgently needed to contact your California legislators on July 1 and July 2 before their recess. Please ask them to vote for AB 1140(amended), which has completely erased its original wording and now includes a single purpose:

“This bill would prohibit the bureau, for the period July 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011, inclusive, from enforcing the act against institutions that offer flight instruction or institutions that offer Federal Aviation Administration certified educational programs in aircraft maintenance.

The bill would also require the Legislature to hold public informational hearings for the purpose of reviewing the appropriateness of regulating educational programs in flight instruction and aircraft maintenance under the act.”

If you’ve already contacted your legislators regarding AB 48 and perhaps AB 1889, thank you. However, we still need your help, so please contact them again requesting them to support AB 1140. Please forward this information to other California pilots. We need the help of all California pilots TODAY in generating letters, faxes and emails regarding AB 1140.

Background
California AB 48 levied large state fees, increasing costs to flight schools and flight instructors and goes into effect in August 2010. This will raise the cost for pilots to get flight instruction, and effectively put many instructors and flight schools out of business. In early June, I emailed you asking you to contact legislators and/or attend a public hearing in Sacramento on June 7. AOPA and dozens of flight schools and flight instructors showed up and testified. However the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) said that they would still be implementing the regulations. Since new bills cannot be introduced until January 2011, efforts by AOPA, NATA and flight schools turned to finding an existing bill that could be amended with provisions delaying the new fees for a year, pending further legislative hearings.

AB 1889 was amended to include language similar to the wording in AB 1140 and it passed the CA Assembly on June 28th. However, some people feel that the Governor might not sign AB 1189, since it includes language that contains a requirement for the state to provide an additional $580,000 to fund the creation of BPPE staff. The Governor has stated he will veto any bill that increases the budget, which this bill does.

AB 1140 is a second, parallel effort. It was originally a health care bill that was “gutted and replaced” so that now it only contains the language above regarding aviation education providers.

Individual letters are more effective than form letters. Please write as little as a few sentences but not more than 1 page of comments telling your personal story and why AB 1140 should be passed. Explain the impact that complying with the new fees will have on you if AB 1140 is not passed. You can also use a sample letter provided by NATA.

If you know a Member or staff aide, say so at the start of your letter and state if you live in the member’s district. Be courteous, constructive, and not negative. Staffs are severely overloaded, so confine your comments to one typewritten page and address only one topic: implementation of AB 1140.

Contact Information
Please contact your California state assemblyman and state senator. To get contact information for your California state assembly and senate representatives, go to http://www.assembly.ca.gov/defaulttext.asp and click on “Find My District” in the left column.

Thank you for your help and please forward this information to other California pilots.
Sincerely,
Max Trescott
2008 National CFI of the Year
maxtrescott.com

Please forward this email to other California pilots. We need the help of all California pilots TODAY in generating letters, faxes and emails regarding new regulations that will levy large state fees, increasing costs to flight schools and flight instructors. This will raise the cost for pilots to get flight instruction, and effectively put many instructors and flight schools out of business. Since states often follow what other states do, this legislation could become law in other states too.

California’s Bureau of Postsecondary Education (BPE) says all comments must be received by Monday, June 7. Even if you cannot meet that deadline, please send a letter, fax or email to the Bureau and your elected California state representatives as soon as possible. Their contact information is listed at the end of this email.

Background
California A.B. 48 was signed into law giving the BPE, part of the California Consumer Protection Agency, authority to levy new fees on flight schools. The bureau appears to be taking the broadest possible interpretation of the law and proposes to include all independent flight instructors and flight schools, including Part 141 and Part 61 schools. To quote a story by EAA, “Each instructor would be charged an initial application fee of $5000 and a $3500 renewal fee every three years. If the instructor has a second location an additional fee of $1000 would be assessed. Finally, they would be required to pay an operation fee of three-quarters of a percent of the CFI’s income (not to exceed $25000 annually).” Compliance includes providing the Bureau with audited financial statements each year.

Apparently, flight schools and flight instructors were included in an amendment to the law, due to the bankruptcy of Silver State helicopters, which left hundreds of students stuck with $50,000 loans and no flight instruction.

Previously, according to a BPE document, “Individual flight instructors not having an established place of business other than their residence also were fully exempted from the Reform Act provided they do not negotiate formal contracts of indebtedness or require any advance payments. Exemptions from some, but not all, provisions of the Reform Act also were provided for Flight instruction schools certified by the Federal Aviation Administration that were operating in California on December 31, 1990.”

If you can attend the public hearing in Sacramento on June 7, please go and express your concerns. You’ll find details here: http://www.bppe.ca.gov/lawsregs/propregs_notice.pdf

Writing Your Letter
Individual letters are more effective than form letters. Please write as little as a few sentences but not more than 1 page of comments telling your personal story and how these regulations will affect you. Explain the impact that complying with the new rules will have on you.

If you know a Member or staff aide, say so at the start of your letter and state if you live in the member’s district. Be courteous, constructive, and not negative. If the regulations seem to be the wrong solution to a problem, propose constructive alternatives. Staffs are severely overloaded, so confine your comments to one typewritten page and address only one topic: implementation of A.B. 48.

Contact Information
Please contact the following:
1.Joanne Wenzel Staff Services Manager III
Bureau of Postsecondary Education
1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite S 202
Sacramento, California 95834
Phone: (916) 574-7784
Fax: (916) 574-8652
Email: Joanne_Wenzel@dca.ca.gov

2. Your California state assemblyman and state senator. To get contact information for your California state assembly and senate representatives, go to
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/defaulttext.asp and click on “Find My District” in the left column .

3. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160
Email: fill in form at http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email

Thank you for your help and please forward this email to other California pilots.
Sincerely,
Max Trescott
2008 National CFI of the Year