BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 690|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 690
Author: Ammiano (D)
Amended: 8/17/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 5-1, 7/15/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Padilla, Simitian
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Maldonado, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-28, 5/21/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Higher education: meetings
SOURCE : American Federation of State, County and
Municipal
Employees, Local 3299
DIGEST : This bill authorizes ex officio trustees of the
California State University Board of Trustees, except the
Chancellor of the California State University, to designate
individuals to attend Trustee meetings in their absence and
expresses the intent of the Legislature that ex officio
members of the Regents of the University of California
designate individuals to attend meetings of the Regents in
the member's absence.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the California State
University (CSU) administered by a Board of Trustees
comprised of:
CONTINUED
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1. Sixteen Governor appointees, each serving an eight-year
term, confirmed by two-thirds of the Senate.
2. One alumni association representative appointed by the
Governor serving a two-year term.
3. One CSU faculty representative appointed by the
Governor, serving a two-year term.
4. Two student members, appointed by the Governor, serving
staggered two-year terms. One student Trustee has full
voting powers. The second, non-voting student Trustee
succeeds to the voting position upon the expiration of
the term of the first.
5. Five voting ex officio members, including four elected
state officials: the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor,
the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Superintendent of
Public Instruction. The CSU Chancellor is the fifth ex
officio member.
Article IX, Section 9 of the California Constitution
establishes the University of California (UC) as a public
trust administered by the Regents of the University of
California. The Constitution grants the Regents full
powers of organization and government, subject only to such
legislative control as may be necessary to insure the
security of its funds, compliance with the terms of
University endowments, other procedures as specified:
1. Eighteen Governor appointees, each serving a 12-year
term, confirmed by a majority of the Senate.
2. One student appointed by the Regents to a one-year term.
3. Seven voting ex officio members -- the Governor,
Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the Assembly,
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the president and
vice president of the Alumni Association of UC and the
UC president.
4. Two faculty members - the chair and vice chair of the
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Academic Council - sit on the board as non-voting
members.
This bill:
1. Authorizes ex officio members of the CSU Board of
Trustees, except the Chancellor, to designate an officer
or member of the same office or elective body of the
member to attend CSU Trustee meetings in the ex officio
member's absence.
2. Specifies who may be designated to represent ex officio
members of the CSU Trustees as follows:
A. Governor: A secretary of an executive agency
appointed by the Governor.
B. Lieutenant Governor: A member of the California
Senate.
C. Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI): A
county superintendent of schools.
D. Speaker of the Assembly: An elected member of the
California Assembly.
3. Prohibits a designated representative from voting on
behalf of an ex officio member of the CSU Trustees and
prohibits a designee from being counted as a member of
the board for purposes of establishing a quorum.
4. Specifies that an ex officio member of the CSU Trustees
may designate only one person in a calendar year to
attend a meeting or meetings in the ex officio's
absence.
5. States legislative intent that each ex officio member of
the Regents designate a person to attend a meeting or
meetings of the regents in the member's absence.
Background
Meeting schedules . The UC and CSU governing boards have
six standing meetings per year. The UC and CSU have worked
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together in recent years to coordinate meeting schedules to
ensure that regular meetings are not held on the same day.
In 2009, only the November meetings of both governing
boards conflict, and in 2010, only the first day of the
July Regents' meeting conflicts with meeting of the
Trustees.
Prior legislation . AB 1413 (Portantino) 2007-08 Session,
would have allowed ex officio members to designate a staff
person to attend Trustee meetings in his/her absence. The
bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In his veto
message, the Governor addressed the provision by noting:
"CSU Board of Trustees meetings are already open to the
public and therefore it is unnecessary to statutorily
authorize a staff person to attend in a member's absence."
Related legislation . SCA 21 (Yee) repeals the
constitutional provisions relating to the UC and the
Regents and requires the University and the Regents to be
subject to legislative control.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/09)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, Local 3299 (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Faculty Association
California State Employees Association
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/17/09)
California State University
University of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
conflicts in meeting schedules for the CSU Board of
Trustees and the UC Regents make it difficult for ex
officio members who serve on both boards to attend both
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meetings. The bill's sponsor, AFSCME, Local 3299,
maintains that the absence of the ex officio members
compromises the integrity of both boards and argues that
allowing ex officio members to appoint representatives to
attend for them will provide better oversight of these
institutions.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents state that "Allowing
absent ex-officio members to send designees to attend in
their place would negate the importance of having ex
officio members in the first place. The reason these
members are on the BOT [Board of Trustees] is so that we
have the benefit of their input and vote on significant
issues of university governance. Allowing an alternate to
attend in their place would seem to be directly in
contradiction to the reason they are statutorily named as
BOT trustees."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harkey, Saldana
DLW:mw 8/17/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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