Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 15

Introduced by Senator Yee

(Coauthor: Senator Cannella)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Gray and Nestande)

July 10, 2013

Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 15—A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 9 of Article IX thereof, relating to the University of California.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCA 15, as introduced, Yee. University of California: retirement benefits.

The California Constitution establishes the University of California as a public trust with full powers of organization and government, as provided, and administered by the Regents of the University of California, subject only to the legislative control necessary to ensure the security of its funds and compliance with the terms of the endowments of the university.

The California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), on and after January 1, 2013, requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act and, among other provisions, establishes new retirement formulas that may not be exceeded by a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan, setting the maximum benefit allowable for employees hired on or after January 1, 2013.

This measure would, for an officer or employee of the University of California first hired on or after the effective date of this measure, make any retirement plan of the University of California subject to the provisions of PEPRA and any subsequent statutory enactment amending that act or enacting or amending a successor act.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2013-14 Regular
Session commencing on the third day of December 2012,
two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring, hereby
proposes to the people of the State of California, that the
Constitution of the State be amended as follows:

  

That Section 9 of Article IX thereof is amended to read:

SEC. 9.  

(a)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The University of California shall constitute
a public trust, to be administered by the existing corporation known
as “The Regents of the University of California,” with full powers
of organization and government, subject only to such legislative
control as may be necessary to insure the security of its funds and
compliance with the terms of the endowments of the university
and such competitive bidding procedures as may be made
applicable to the university by statute for the letting of construction
contracts, sales of real property, and purchasing of materials, goods,
and services. Said corporation shall be in form a board composed
of seven ex officio members, which shall be: the Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the president and the vice
president of the alumni association of the university and the acting
president of the university, and 18 appointive members appointed
by the Governor and approved by the Senate, a majority of the
membership concurring; provided, however that the present
appointive members shall hold office until the expiration of their
present terms.

begin insert

(2) For those officers and employees first hired on or after the
effective date of this subdivision, any retirement plan of the
University of California shall be subject to the California Public
Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (Article 4 (commencing
with Section 7522) of Chapter 21 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code) and any subsequent statutory enactment
amending that act or enacting or amending any successor act.

end insert

(b) The terms of the members appointed prior to November 5,
1974, shall be 16 years; the terms of two appointive members to
expire as heretofore on March 1st of every even-numbered calendar
year, and two members shall be appointed for terms commencing
on March 1, 1976, and on March 1 of each year thereafter; provided
that no such appointments shall be made for terms to commence
on March 1, 1979, or on March 1 of each fourth year thereafter,
to the end that no appointment to the regents for a newly
commencing term shall be made during the first year of any
gubernatorial term of office. The terms of the members appointed
for terms commencing on and after March 1, 1976, shall be 12
years. During the period of transition until the time when the
appointive membership is comprised exclusively of persons serving
for terms of 12 years, the total number of appointive members may
exceed the numbers specified in the begin delete preceeding end delete begin insert preceding end insert
paragraph.

In case of any vacancy, the term of office of the appointee to fill
such vacancy, who shall be appointed by the Governor and
approved by the Senate, a majority of the membership concurring,
shall be for the balance of the term for which such vacancy exists.

(c) The members of the board may, in their discretion, following
procedures established by them and after consultation with
representatives of faculty and students of the university, including
appropriate officers of the academic senate and student
governments, appoint to the board either or both of the following
persons as members with all rights of participation: a member of
the faculty at a campus of the university or of another institution
of higher education; a person enrolled as a student at a campus of
the university for each regular academic term during his service
as a member of the board. Any person so appointed shall serve for
not less than one year commencing on July 1.

(d) Regents shall be able persons broadly reflective of the
economic, cultural, and social diversity of the State, including
ethnic minorities and women. However, it is not intended that
formulas or specific ratios be applied in the selection of regents.

(e) In the selection of the Regents, the Governor shall consult
an advisory committee composed as follows: The Speaker of the
Assembly and two public members appointed by the Speaker, the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate and two public members
appointed by the Rules Committee of the Senate, two public
members appointed by the Governor, the chairman of the regents
of the university, an alumnus of the university chosen by the alumni
association of the university, a student of the university chosen by
the Council of Student Body Presidents, and a member of the
faculty of the university chosen by the academic senate of the
university. Public members shall serve for four years, except that
one each of the initially appointed members selected by the Speaker
of the Assembly, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and
the Governor shall be appointed to serve for two years; student,
alumni, and faculty members shall serve for one year and may not
be regents of the university at the time of their service on the
advisory committee.

(f) The Regents of the University of California shall be vested
with the legal title and the management and disposition of the
property of the university and of property held for its benefit and
shall have the power to take and hold, either by purchase or by
donation, or gift, testamentary or otherwise, or in any other manner,
without restriction, all real and personal property for the benefit
of the university or incidentally to its conduct; provided, however,
that sales of university real property shall be subject to such
competitive bidding procedures as may be provided by statute.
Said corporation shall also have all the powers necessary or
convenient for the effective administration of its trust, including
the power to sue and to be sued, to use a seal, and to delegate to
its committees or to the faculty of the university, or to others, such
authority or functions as it may deem wise. The Regents shall
receive all funds derived from the sale of lands pursuant to the act
of Congress of July 2, 1862, and any subsequent acts amendatory
thereof. The university shall be entirely independent of all political
or sectarian influence and kept free therefrom in the appointment
of its regents and in the administration of its affairs, and no person
shall be debarred admission to any department of the university
on account of race, religion, ethnic heritage, or sex.

(g) Meetings of the Regents of the University of California shall
be public, with exceptions and notice requirements as may be
provided by statute.