BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 46
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 10, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                      AB 46 (Pan) - As Amended:  March 12, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              Higher  
          EducationVote:9-3

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill allows a designee to attend meetings of the California  
          State University (CSU) Board of Trustees (BOT) and act on behalf  
          of an ex-officio board member. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Allows an ex-officio member of the board, except the CSU  
            Chancellor, to designate a person to represent them at a  
            trustees' meeting in their absence. A designee cannot attend  
            closed sessions, and only one person may be designated by an  
            ex-officio member in any calendar year.

          2)Requires the ex-officio member, pursuant to (1), to notify the  
            board secretary in writing (a) with the name and contact  
            information of a designee for that calendar year by January  
            10, and at least (b) 10 business days prior to a meeting if  
            the ex-officio member will be sending their designee to that  
            meeting.

          3)Allows the student board member, during the first year of  
            their term, to vote at a board meeting if the other student  
            board member is absent.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . The BOT includes the following ex-officio members:  
            the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the Assembly,  
            Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the CSU Chancellor.  








                                                                  AB 46
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            In addition, there are two student members appointed by the  
            Governor for overlapping two-year terms. While they can fully  
            participate in board discussion and debate, the student member  
            may only vote in the second year of their term.

            According to the author, ex-officio trustees are often not  
            able to participate in board meetings due to scheduling  
            conflicts and the first-year student trustee is unable to vote  
            in the second-year student trustee's absence. The author  
            asserts that this bill, AB 1965, sponsored by the California  
            Faculty Association, will facilitate increased representation  
            of the public and constituents to ensure more responsive and  
            transparent decision-making by the board.

           2)Opposition  . CSU is opposed to the bill's provision regarding  
            ex-officio members, arguing that allowing the substitution of  
            designees would "negate the importance of having ex-officio  
            members serve on the BOT in the first place?and "?would seem  
            to directly contradict the reason they are statutorily named  
            as BOT members and would undermine the benefit of their unique  
            perspectives?" 

           3)Prior Legislation  . In 2012, an identical bill (AB 1965, Pan)  
            passed the Assembly, but was amended in the Senate to address  
            an unrelated subject. AB 690 (Ammiano) of 2009, AB 1413  
            (Portantino) of 2007, and AB 2339 (McLeod) of 2004, which were  
            all substantially similar to this bill, were vetoed by  
            Governor Schwarzenegger, who argued that the bills created a  
            disincentive for ex officio members to attend trustee meetings  
            and diminished the value of an ex officio member's  
            contribution to the public discourse.

           Analysis Prepared by :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081