BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 2350 (Bonilla) - Prevention of Pregnancy Discrimination
Amended: June 18, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No. See staff comments.
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill may meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense
File.
Bill Summary: AB 2350 establishes various requirements for
postsecondary education institutions that are intended to
prevent pregnancy discrimination, including the the prohibition
of requiring a graduate student to take a leave of absence,
withdraw, or limit the student's studies due to pregnancy
related issues, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
Graduate student policies: Minor and absorbable, if any,
costs to the University of California (UC) and California
State University (CSU) campuses; these requirements are
generally consistent with existing policies of the UC and
CSU.
Pregnancy discrimination policies and procedures: Unknown,
but potentially significant costs to community college
districts (CCDs) to develop written policies on pregnancy
discrimination and procedures for addressing pregnancy
discrimination complaints.
Background: Federal law (Title IX) provides that, in part, "no
person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be
excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be
subjected to discrimination under any educational program of
activity receiving Federal financial assistance." State law
establishes standards virtually identical to those of Federal
Title IX. (Education Code § 230)
Each school district and county office of education, or a local
public or private agency that receives funding from the state or
federal government, is required to designate a person to serve
as the Title IX compliance coordinator to enforce compliance at
the local level, including coordinating any complaints of
AB 2350 (Bonilla)
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non-compliance. (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
to the 1964 Civil Rights Act; California Code of Regulations,
Title 5, Section 4910)
Existing state law requires that each postsecondary educational
institution in the State of California have a written policy on
sexual harassment, and that the policy include information on
where to obtain the specific rules and procedures for reporting
charges of sexual harassment and for pursuing available
remedies. Existing law further requires that a copy of the
postsecondary educational institution's written policy on sexual
harassment, as it pertains to students, be provided as part of
any orientation program conducted for new students, and that a
copy of the policy on sexual harassment appear in any
publication of the institution that sets forth the comprehensive
rules, regulations, procedures, and standards of conduct for the
institution. (EC § 66281.5)
Proposed Law: This bill provides that it is the policy of the
State of California, pursuant to Section 66251, that all
persons, regardless of their sex, should enjoy freedom from
discrimination of any kind, including, but not limited to,
pregnancy discrimination as described in Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972 (U.S.C. Sec. 1681, et seq.), in the
postsecondary educational institutions of the state. With regard
to a postsecondary educational institution in California, this
bill also provides that:
1) A postsecondary educational institution shall not
require a graduate student to take a leave of absence,
withdraw from the graduate program, or limit his or her
graduate studies solely due to pregnancy or
pregnancy-related issues.
2) A postsecondary educational institution shall reasonably
accommodate pregnant graduate students so they may complete
their graduate courses of study and research, as specified.
3) A graduate student who chooses to take a leave of
absence because she is pregnant or has recently given birth
shall be allowed a period consistent with the policies of
the postsecondary educational institution, or a period of
12 additional months, whichever period is longer, to
prepare for and take preliminary and qualifying
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examinations and an extension of at least 12 months toward
normative time to degree while in candidacy for a graduate
degree, unless a longer extension is medically necessary.
4) A graduate student who is not the birth parent and who
chooses to take a leave of absence because of the birth of
his or her child shall be allowed a period consistent with
the policies of the postsecondary educational institution,
or a period of one month, whichever period is longer, to
prepare for and take preliminary and qualifying
examinations, and an extension of at least one month toward
normative time to degree while in candidacy for a graduate
degree, unless a longer period of extension is medically
necessary to care for his or her partner or their child.
5) An enrolled graduate student in good academic standing
who chooses to take a leave of absence because she is
pregnant or has recently given birth shall return to her
program in good academic standing following a leave period
consistent with the policies of the postsecondary
educational institution, as specified.
6) An enrolled graduate student in good academic standing
who is not the birth parent and who chooses to take a leave
of absence because of the birth of his or her child shall
return to his or her program in good academic standing
following a leave period consistent with the policies of
the postsecondary educational institution, as specified.
7) Each postsecondary educational institution shall have a
written policy on pregnancy discrimination and procedures
for addressing pregnancy discrimination complaints under
Title IX or this section. A copy of this policy shall be
made available to faculty, staff, and employees in their
required training. This policy shall be made available to
all students attending orientation sessions at a
postsecondary educational institution.
Staff Comments: Of the seven requirements enacted by this bill,
and described on the previous page, six of them only apply to
institutions with graduate students; the UC, CSU, and private
postsecondary institutions. Those requirements are generally
consistent with CSU and UC policies; implementing minor
differences would have little cost to the CSU and UC.
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The 7th requirement applies to CCDs, as well. It requires each
postsecondary educational institution to, as part of its sex
discrimination policy, to (1) have a written policy on pregnancy
discrimination and (2) to have procedures in place for
addressing pregnancy discrimination complaints. This specific
requirement on CCDs could be deemed by the Commission on State
Mandates to be a higher level of service than the the
requirements in current law governing a CCD's sex discrimination
and sexual harassment policies and, thus, a reimbursable state
mandate on CCDs. The degree to which CCDs already have written
policies on pregnancy discrimination and procedures in place for
addressing pregnancy discrimination complaints is unclear; if
they already do, they are unlikely to file a mandate claim. If
CCDs develop new policies and procedures in order to comply with
this bill, however, they are likely to seek reimbursement for
staff time to do so. CCDs may also incur minor costs to update
orientation materials to reflect their pregnancy discrimination
policies. It is unclear whether those costs would be
reimbursable, because CCDs already get Student Success and
Support Program categorical funding that is supposed to be used
for (among other things) student orientation.