BILL NUMBER: SB 195 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Florez
(Principal coauthor: Senator Romero)
(Coauthor: Senator Alquist)
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
An act to amend Section 66290 of the Education Code, relating to
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 195, as amended, Florez. Equity in Higher Education Act.
(1) Existing law, the Equity in Higher Education Act, provides
that it is the policy of the state to afford all persons, regardless
of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion,
sexual orientation, or other specified bases, equal rights and
opportunities in the postsecondary institutions of the state. The act
requires a postsecondary educational institution, as defined, prior
to the receipt of any state financial assistance or state student
financial aid, to provide assurance to the agency administering the
funds that each program or activity conducted by the institution will
be conducted in compliance with the act and all other applicable
provisions of state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
sex. The act permits a postsecondary educational institution to
provide a single assurance, not more than one page in length and
signed by an appropriate responsible official of the institution, for
all programs and activities conducted by the institution.
This bill would additionally require a postsecondary educational
institution to provide assurance that each program and activity
conducted by the institution will be conducted in compliance with
applicable provisions of federal law prohibiting discrimination on
the basis of sex. The bill would require the assurance provided by
the postsecondary educational institution to be signed by specified
officers of the institution, would require the assurance to apply to
all programs and activities, including, but not limited to, academic
and athletic programs, and would delete the one-page limit on the
assurance. The bill would require that assurance to include specified
information regarding compliance with the act. The bill would
require that information to be available for public inspection, upon
request. The bill would provide for a civil penalty for a false
declaration of specified matters required by these provisions.
The bill would authorize any person to bring a civil action in the
public interest to recover the civil penalty. The bill would require
50% of a civil penalty collected pursuant to these provisions to be
deposited in the General Fund and 50% of the penalty to be paid to
the person who brought the civil action. Because this bill
would impose new requirements on community college districts under
the act, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 66290 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66290. (a) Prior to receipt of any state financial assistance or
state student financial aid, a postsecondary educational institution
shall provide assurance to the agency administering the funds, in the
manner required by the funding agency, that each program or activity
conducted by the postsecondary educational institution will be
conducted in compliance with this chapter and all other applicable
provisions of state law and federal law prohibiting discrimination on
the basis of sex. A single assurance, which shall be signed by the
Title IX compliance officer of the applicable campus or location of
the postsecondary educational institution, if any, and the chief
administrative official of the postsecondary educational institution,
shall be provided for all the programs and activities conducted by a
postsecondary educational institution, including, but not limited
to, academic and athletic programs. The assurance shall include
information regarding compliance with this chapter for each campus or
location of the postsecondary educational institution which, at a
minimum, shall include:
(1) The annual number of complaints of prohibited discrimination
filed pursuant to Section 66292.3, including the number of written
complaints received by each campus or location of the postsecondary
educational institution.
(2) The annual number of civil actions filed against the
institution pursuant to Section 66292.4.
(3) A description of any information against discrimination, as
described in Section 66271.8 106.9 of Title
34 of the Code of Federal Regulations , provided to students by
the postsecondary educational institution.
(b) The information described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive,
of subdivision (a), as it pertains to a campus or a location of the
postsecondary educational institution, shall be available for public
inspection at that campus or location, upon request.
(c) (1) A person identified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (d)
who declares as true any material matter required by this section
that he or she knows or knows, or after
conducting due diligence reasonably should have known ,
to be false shall be subject to a civil penalty not exceeding
fifty thousand dollars($50,000).
(2) The civil penalty provided for in this subdivision may be
assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in any court of
competent jurisdiction.
(3) Actions pursuant to this subdivision may be brought by any
person in the public interest.
(4) A civil penalty collected pursuant to this subdivision shall
be distributed as follows:
(A) Fifty percent of the civil penalty shall be paid to the person
that brought the action pursuant to paragraph (3).
(B) Fifty percent of the civil penalty shall be deposited in the
General Fund.
(d) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Chief administrative official" means one of the following,
as applicable:
(A) The President of the University of California.
(B) The Chancellor of the California State University.
(C) The president of a campus of the California Community
Colleges.
(D) The president or highest ranking official of the private
postsecondary educational institution.
(2) "Title IX compliance officer" means the employee designated
by the postsecondary educational institution to coordinate compliance
with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Sec.
1681 et seq.) pursuant to the federal regulations implementing that
law.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.