BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SCA 1
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|Author: |Lara and Cannella |
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|Version: |March 10, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: April 20, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: University of California: terms of regents
NOTE: This measure has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Elections and Constitutional Amendments. A "do
pass" motion should include referral to the Elections and
Constitutional Amendments Committee.
SUMMARY
This measure proposes to modify Article IX of the State
Constitution to reduce the term of an appointment as a Regent of
the University of California from 12 years to four years and to
cap the term of such an appointment at 16 years beginning March
1, 2017, as specified.
BACKGROUND
The California Constitution establishes the University of
California (UC), a public trust to be administered by the
Regents of the UC and grants the Regents full powers of
organization and government, subject only to such legislative
control as may be necessary to insure security of its funds,
compliance with the terms of its endowments, statutory
requirements around competitive bidding and contracts, sales of
property and the purchase of materials, goods and services.
(Article IX, Section (9)(a) of the California Constitution)
The California Constitution establishes the requirements for
appointment and terms to be served by a member of the Regents of
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the UC. The Constitution specifically requires that members
appointed prior to November 5, 1974 serve a 16 year term and
that members appointed on and after March 1, 1976 be appointed
for a term of 12 years. The Constitution also provides that the
Senate, a majority of the membership concurring, approve any
Regent appointee made by the Governor.
(Article IX, Section (9)(b) of the California Constitution)
ANALYSIS
This constitutional amendment proposes to place before the
voters a change to the California Constitution to modify the
terms of an appointment as Regent of the University of
California. It:
1) Establishes new restrictions on the terms to be served by
an appointed member of the Regents. It:
a) Requires that the terms of a Regent
appointed for terms commencing on or after March 1,
2017 be four years.
b) Beginning November 9, 2016, prohibits
appointment of a person as a Regent if the appointment
would result in the individual serving a total of more
than 16 years as a Regent (except for the appointment
of a faculty member or a student Regent).
2) Makes the following exceptions to the new restrictions for
existing Regents appointed prior to November 9, 2016:
a) Authorizes a Regent who has served for
15 years or more to serve until the expiration of
their term or until January 1, 2018, whichever is
sooner.
b) Authorizes a Regent who, as of January
1, 2017, has served for more than four years but less
than 15 years to serve until the expiration of their
term or until the total term of service is 16 years,
whichever is sooner.
3) Makes a number of technical changes and corrections.
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STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, the Senate's
confirmation process of the UC Regents is one of the few
oversight mechanisms the public and the Legislature have to
hold the UC accountable. Because the Regent's terms are so
long, the author opines that the public, students, and
legislators are unable to hold them accountable to the
commitments and promises they make during their
confirmation hearings. The author is concerned that in the
last decade the UC has increased its out of state and
international students, while ignoring the diverse pool of
potential applicants in its own backyard, and proposed
tuition increases despite opposition from the public,
students, and elected officials. According to the author,
shorter terms and term limits will provide the Legislature
and the public greater oversight of the UC's powerful and
autonomous body and ensure accountability to the public.
This measure will allow voters to decide whether to shorten
the terms and establish term limits for the Regents.
2) Clarifications. Currently, UC Regents are appointed by the
Governor, and confirmed by the Senate, for a 12 year term.
Appointments for less than 12 years can be made in order to
fill a vacancy in which case the appointee serves for the
remainder of the term. This bill reduces the term of an
appointment as a Regent to 4 years. It also caps the total
years of allowable service as a Regent at 16 years, and
makes provision for the transition to these new
requirements for existing Regents. No cap on the total
terms of service as a Regent currently exists.
The California Constitution provides for 18 Regents to be
appointed by the Governor, and approved by the Senate, via
majority vote, as well as a student member. In addition,
the Constitution provides for seven ex officio members to
include the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Assembly
Speaker, Superintendent of Public Instruction, the
President and Vice-president of the University's alumni
association, and the acting President of the University.
3) Effect on existing Regents. This bill establishes 4 year
terms and overall term limits of 16 years for Regents
appointed on or after March 1, 2017. In addition, it makes
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provision for the "phasing out" of existing Regents based
upon the amount of time which has already been served as a
Regent.
If the bill's provisions were enacted, the existing Regents
would be affected as follows:
a) Four of the current Regents were newly appointed
less than four years ago by Governor Brown. These
Regents would serve the remainder of their terms and
all could be reappointed for an additional four year
term without exceeding 16 years of service as a
Regent. In addition, two of the Regents had terms that
expired in March 2016 and the subsequent appointees to
these positions would be subject to the 4-year and
16-year terms of the bill.
b) Four of the current Regents, (three of which were
re-appointed by Governor Brown in 2014) were initially
appointed prior to November 2016 and have served for
15 or more years. Regents Pattiz, Lozano, Lansing
and Blum would be compelled to step down on January 1,
2018, prior to the expiration of their terms. Regents
Pattiz and Blum are serving terms currently set to
expire in 2026, and the terms of Regents Lozano and
Lansing are set to expire in 2022. If allowed to
serve their full terms, these individuals will have
served as Regents for 21-25 years.
c) Eight of the current Regents will have served
more than four years but less than 15 years as of
January 2107. These Regents would serve until the
expiration of their term or until total service equals
16 years, whichever is sooner. All would have served
a total of 12 years by the expiration of their terms
and could be reappointed for an additional four year
term without exceeding 16 years of service as a
Regent.
4) Other University Board terms? According to information
provided by the University of California (UC), several
other Universities have governing board terms that range
from 6-8 years. These include the University of Texas,
University of New Mexico, University of Washington,
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University of Georgia, University of Wisconsin, and the
University of Michigan. The University of Virginia and the
University of Florida set 4 and 5 year terms for board
members, respectively.
The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees
members are appointed for 8 year terms. However, CSU
Trustee terms are established via statue. It is unclear
whether the board terms of other national universities are
constitutionally prescribed, although, according to the UC,
Michigan, Georgia, New Mexico, and Florida are
constitutionally autonomous. It is also unclear whether
there are caps on the number of years that may be served as
a board member.
5) Balancing autonomy and accountability? This bill reduces
the terms of the Regents from 12 years to four years.
Serving the full 16 years would require "re-confirmation"
every four years. Arguably, the autonomy established in
the constitution was intended to limit legislative efforts
to regulate issues related to teaching, learning and
scholarship and to limit governmental interference in
institutional operations.
The Committee may wish to consider:
Would the potential to be denied
"reappointment" every four years compromise the
ability of a Regent to administer the University of
California independent of state political influence?
Is a 12 year term necessary to ensure such
independence?
1) Constitutional amendment requirements. As a proposed
Constitutional
amendment this measure would not go into effect unless
approved by the majority of voters at a statewide election.
This proposal requires a 2/3 vote of each house in order
to be submitted to the voters. It does not require approval
by the Governor.
2) Conflicting Legislation? Legislative counsel has noted a
potential conflict between this bill, and SCA 12 (Runner),
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also on the Committee's agenda today, as both propose
changes to Section 9, Article IX of the California
Constitution. While the provisions of each proposed
constitutional amendment do not appear to be in conflict,
this bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on
Elections and Constitutional Amendments which has
jurisdiction over bills to amend the constitution and can
appropriately determine any necessary amendments to address
a conflict.
SUPPORT
None received on this version.
OPPOSITION
None received.
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