BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1965 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 1965 (Pan) - As Amended: April 24, 2012 Policy Committee: Higher EducationVote:6-2 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill allows a designee to attend meetings of the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees (BOT) and act on behalf of an ex officio board member. Specifically, this bill: 1)Allows an ex-officio member of the board, except the CSU Chancellor, to designate a person to represent them at a trustees' meeting in their absence. A designee cannot attend closed sessions, and only one person may be designated by an ex officio member in any calendar year. 2)Requires the ex-officio member, pursuant to (1), to notify the board secretary in writing (a) with the name and contact information of a designee for that calendar year by January 10 and (b) 10 business days prior to a meeting if the ex officio member will be sending their designee to that meeting. 3)Allows the student board member, during the first year of their term, to vote at a board meeting if the other student board member is absent. FISCAL EFFECT Negligible fiscal impact. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . The BOT includes the following ex officio members: the governor, lieutenant governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the CSU Chancellor. In addition, there are two student members appointed by the AB 1965 Page 2 Governor for overlapping two-year terms. While they can fully participate in board discussion and debate, the student member may only vote in the second year of their term. According to the author, ex officio trustees are often not able to participate in meeting due to scheduling conflicts and the first-year student trustee is unable to vote in the second-year student trustee's absence. The author asserts that AB 1965, sponsored by the California Faculty Association, will facilitate increased representation of the public and constituents to ensure more responsive and transparent decision-making by the board. 2)Related Legislation . SB 1515 (Yee), pending in Senate Appropriations, changes the board composition by increasing the number of faculty, student, and represented staff. 3)Prior Legislation . AB 690 (Ammiano) of 2009, AB 1413 (Portantino) of 2007, and AB 2339 (McLeod) of 2004, which were all substantially similar to this bill, were vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who argued that the bills created a disincentive for ex officio members to attend trustee meetings and diminished the value of an ex officio member's contribution to the public discourse. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081