BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1222| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1222 Author: Bonnie Lowenthal (D), et al Amended: 7/23/09 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 06/23/09 AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno, Walters ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/28/09 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : California State University and University of California: Disclosure of alumni personal information SOURCE : California State University University of California DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset date on current law which permits the California State University and the University of California to disclose the names, addresses, and e-mail addresses of alumni to their "affinity partners" (nonaffiliated businesses with whom the university has a contractual agreement to, among other things, offer commercial products and services to alumni), subject to specified privacy requirements. These provisions are scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2011; this bill extends the provisions to January 1, 2016. Senate Floor Analyses of 7/23/09 add the Hastings College CONTINUED AB 1222 Page 2 of the Law to reporting requirement. ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, as two of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes the Hastings College of the Law, under the governance of the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, within the University of California. Existing law prescribes criteria for the disclosure of the names and addresses of alumni of the California State University, the University of California, and the Hastings College of the Law. Existing law requires that the names, addresses, and electronic mail addresses of alumni be disclosed only to provide those persons with informational materials relating to the California State University, the University of California, and the Hastings College of the Law, and its programs and activities; to provide those persons, or the trustees, auxiliary organizations of the California State University, as defined, or the Regents of the University of California, the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, or the alumni associations with beneficial commercial opportunities; or to promote and support the educational mission of the California State University, the University of California, the trustees, the regents, the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, or the alumni associations. Existing law authorizes this disclosure only if the trustees, auxiliary organizations, or the alumni associations, in the case of the California State University, or the regents, the board of directors, or the alumni associations, in the case of the University of California and the Hastings College of the Law, have a written agreement with a business, as defined, that maintains control over this data that requires the business to maintain the confidentiality of the names, addresses, and electronic mail addresses of the alumni, that requires that the university or the college retain the right to approve or reject any purpose for which the private information is to be used by the business and to review and AB 1222 Page 3 approve the text of mailings sent to alumni, and that prohibits the business from using the information for any purposes other than those described, and the disclosure of alumni names, addresses, and electronic mail addresses does not include the names and addresses of alumni who have directed the trustees, the regents, the board of directors, or an alumni association or auxiliary organization, not to disclose their names, addresses, or electronic mail addresses. Existing law requires the California State University, the University of California, and the Hastings College of the Law to make available to its alumni a specified form or an alternative notice, including specified information, in a mailing or in an Internet posting, as prescribed, before alumni names, addresses, and electronic mail addresses may be disclosed. This bill requires the form to be provided to alumni through a link on the homepage of the Internet website of the alumni association or in the alumni association's privacy policy. The bill expresses the intent of the Legislature that, by July 1, 2014, the California State University, the University of California, and the Hastings College of the Law submit reports to the Legislature regarding compliance with these provisions.Under existing law, these provisions are applicable to the University of California and the Hastings College of the Law only to the extent that the regents or the board of directors act, by resolution, to make them applicable. Existing law specifies that these provisions are repealed as of January 1, 2011. This bill extends those repeal dates to January 1, 2016. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/23/09) AB 1222 Page 4 California State University (co-source) University of California (co-source) San Jose State University California State University, Fullerton Alumni Association California Postsecondary Education Commission ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states, campus alumni associations have been established at all 23 California State University (CSU) campuses as well as the 10 University of California (UC) campuses. The primary purpose of these associations is to maintain relationships and build long-term connections to graduates with the ultimate goal to support the University in the form of donations, scholarships, and involvement. It is common practice among public universities throughout the country, and private institutions in California, to offer benefits and services through affinity partnerships with commercial vendors to alumni as one way to stay connected to their university. Examples of these affinity partnerships include group rates and discounts for home and auto insurance, mortgage programs and travel programs. In light of California's recent revenue shortfalls and budget reductions to public universities, the role of alumni associations and the need for private funding of public universities is more critical then ever to help University leaders get non-state dollars necessary to maintain program quality. Affinity programs must continue to support CSU and UC with donations, scholarships, and community involvement. All 23 CSU campus associations currently use the funding they receive from these programs to further their programming and outreach to alumni as well as to provide both general and athletic scholarships to students. The University of California, a co-sponsor of this bill, explains the benefits of affinity partner agreements to the university, noting that "[r]evenues generated from UC campus affinity partnerships generally provide funding to supplement the operational costs of campus alumni programs. For example, revenue generated by affinity partnerships at the University of California, Santa Barbara account for AB 1222 Page 5 almost 30 percent of the total $12 million in construction costs for the Mosher Alumni House. [another] example is the UC Irvine alumni association's affinity partnership revenues, of which almost 35 percent are used to support the cost of student programs and scholarships. The funds generated by affinity partnerships allow the UC campus alumni associations to provide services and events to alumni and students that the campuses would otherwise not be able to offer." Co-sponsor California State University writes that "[t]hroughout the first three years of implementation of this statute both public universities have held the privacy of their alumni in the highest regard, keeping meticulous record of all opt-out information obtained from alumni as well as continually following the letter of the law by ensuring ample opportunities for alumni to have their information removed from records." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller, Monning, Nava, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass NO VOTE RECORDED: Duvall, Evans, Mendoza, Nestande RJG:do 8/4/09 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****