BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2168
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 30, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                AB 2168 (Campos) - As Introduced:  February 20, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              Higher  
          EducationVote:10-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes a 17-member task force, as specified, to  
          examine and make recommendations on steps that can be taken to  
          reduce incidents of discrimination, hate crime, and campus  
          violence at the state's postsecondary education institutions.  
          The task force is to report its recommendations to the Governor  
          and Legislature by January 1, 2016.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          The bill does not specify what entity is responsible for  
          providing administrative support to the task force, nor is it  
          clear how much of the work would be done by task force members,  
          but it is assumed the task force would require at least the  
          equivalent of two full-time staff for six to nine months, with  
          additional costs for travel, meetings, etc. Estimated one-time  
          General Fund costs would be in the range of $100,000 to  
          $125,000.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "There is nothing in  
            existing law that requires all the higher education segments  
            to work together to identify best practices [as it relates to  
            campus climate] that can be replicated at all campuses  
            throughout the state. Existing law simply requests the UC  
            Regents, the CSU Trustees, and the governing boards of CCD  
            [community college districts], adopt and publish policies on  
            harassment, intimidation, and bullying."  The author argues  
            that by creating an intersegmental task force to provide  
            recommendations on campus hate, bias, discrimination, and  








                                                                  AB 2168
                                                                  Page  2

            violence prevention, the Governor and the Legislature will  
            have the benefit of input from the UC, CSU, CCC and private  
            postsecondary institutions in order to develop statewide  
            policies that would apply to higher education institutions.

            The task force will include seven members appointed by the  
            Governor,  three each appointed by the Assembly Speaker and by  
            Senate Rules, one each appointed by the governing boards of  
            UC, CSU, and the CCC, and one representative of the  
            independent institutions.

           2)Select Committee  . Recent incidents at the UC and CSU,  
            including the targeting students of color and the LGBT  
            community, investigations of racial and ethnic discrimination,  
            and how sexual assaults and violence have been handled, have  
            brought more attention to the need for UC and CSU to address  
            campus climate issues. Out of concern regarding such issues,  
            the Speaker recently created the Assembly Select Committee on  
            Campus Climate, which will continue holding hearings on this  
            topic throughout this year.
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081