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1. Finally a President! The following is an array of thoughts on the hopes and concerns for the future, as quoted in a variety of print media:
"I think the American people will rally behind
the new president. They typically do."
(U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell - R, Kentucky)
"Black voters, if I may speak for them, I don't
see them supporting George Bush in any way. I will respect him and I will
work with him, but I don't think that [extends] to my constituents."
(U.S. Rep. Carrie P. Meek - D, Florida)
"There's no doubt that Gov. Bush is coming in
under difficult circumstances. It will be a test of his leadership to see
if he can unite the country."
(U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald - R, Illinois)
"This decision in Florida and the Supreme Court
has torn our nation apart....[Bush] has a tremendous job to reach out to
Democrats and to put out a bipartisan agenda."
(U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel - D, New York)
"It's going to be difficult to rally a strong
level of support for a new administration. Typically, there is a honeymoon
period for a new president. I think the circumstances of this election
will give Bush less initial leeway than most presidents have."
(U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy - D, North Dakota)
"We need to stop and take a deep breath. A very
long political year is now behind us. It would be really nice to spend
the next year or more governing before we get back to politics."
(U.S. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon - R, California--CSUN's
congressman)
"[I would urge Bush] to practice real bipartisanship
by working with the mainstream of the Democratic Party on compromises that
make sense."
(U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman - D, California--representing
a district adjacent to CSUN)
"The willingness of President-elect Bush to work
with all legislators [in Texas], and his proven ability to bring people
together to accomplish common goals, are exactly what is needed to end
the partisan stalemate in Washington."
(U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis - R, California--Redlands)
"Republicans, led by President-elect Bush, are
ready and willing to work with the Democrats on the important issues facing
the nation, like education, health care and tax fairness. Now is the time
for Democrats to join us and pull together for the good of the country."
(U.S. Rep. David Dreier - R, California--Covina)
"This is the first time since 1954 that we have
had a Republican Congress and a Republican president. But no one knows
whether the GOP can maintain the House in two years. So it's best for the
GOP to get as much as it can now."
(U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox - R, California--Newport
Beach)
2. With the election settled, the focus now is on who President-elect Bush will select for his Cabinet. Names that have been bandied about for U.S. Secretary of Education include Lynne Cheney, the wife of the Vice-President-elect; Gerhard Casper, retired president of Stanford University; Rep. Roy Blunt (R - Missouri), and former president of Southwest Baptist University; Thomas Kean, former governor of New Jersey and the current president of Drew University. A member of CSU's Governmental Affairs Office in Sacramento indicated he had read that Ward Connerly had been mentioned. Connerly is a UC Regent and the architect behind Prop. 209, which eliminated affirmative action in public employment, public education, and public contracting.
Retired General Colin Powell seems a shoo-in for Secretary of State. No other names have even been suggested.
Only one name has been proffered for Secretary of Commerce, as well: Oilman and Bush campaign chair, Don Evans.
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Gail Wilensky, the former head of the Health Care Finance Administration (and the individual most responsible for developing Bush's prescription drug proposal); and Governor of Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson.
Rep. James Talent (R - Missouri), and Linda Chavez, former director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, have been suggested as choices to head the Department of Labor. Talent is a former labor lawyer, who narrowly lost his bid for Governor of Missouri earlier this year. Chavez is currently president of the Washington-based Center for Equal Opportunity, which has been outspoken in its criticism of bilingual education and affirmative action.
For Attorney-General, Frank Keating, Governor of Oklahoma, Marc Racicot, Governor of Montana, and Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri (who lost his re-election bid), are the main contenders.
Secretary of Treasury: Former Federal Reserve Governor and Bush campaign economic adviser, Larry Lindsey, is the name most frequently mentioned.
The list for Secretary of Defense includes U.S. Senator Dan Coats (R - Indiana), Paul Wolfowitz, a veteran from the Reagan administration, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, and former U.S. Senator, Sam Nunn (D - Georgia).
3. Two of the nation's preeminent higher education technology institutions announced this week that they will join forces to develop a better voting system. As quoted in Capitol Hill Bulletin, David Baltimore, President of CalTech, and Charles M. Vest, President of MIT, said their goal was "to develop a national voting system which will be easy to use, reliable, secure and moderately priced."
Calling the current technology "unacceptably unreliable," the two presidents said that the Voting Technology Project would focus on developing new technology that would "minimize possible confusion on how to vote, prevent miscounts and be tamper resistant."
The Carnegie Corporation of New York has agreed to provide $250,000 to fund the first six-month phase of the project, which will involve studying existing technology, including voting on the Internet and touchscreen voting, the latter of which was tested in Los Angeles County in the November 7 election.
4. Former Assembly Member Kerry Mazzoni has been appointed Education Secretary by Governor Davis. Mazzoni, a Democrat representing Novato (Sonoma County) until she was termed out of office this year, had been rumored to be the Governor's preference for the job. She comes to the position with solid knowledge of the key issues in K-12 education, having chaired the Assembly Education Committee for a number of years. She also served two terms on the Novato Unified School District Board. She shepherded several of the education reform bills, and authored several on teacher training.
Mazzoni, 51, has a BA degree in Child Development from the University of California at Davis.
5. Newly elected state Assembly Member Keith Richman (R - Northridge) has been named as Republican Caucus Whip by Assembly GOP Leader, Bill Campbell (R - Orange County). The Caucus Whip helps plan and marshal support for party strategies, encourages party discipline, and advises the leader on how members of the caucus intend to vote on a measure.
This appointment, which would have been exceedingly rare before term limits were enacted, underscores the need to "hit the ground running." The six year maximum term in the lower house leaves little time for moving deliberately up the ladder of influence. "Learn fast and learn smart" is the mantra for accomplishing any goals.
6. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled Cleveland's school voucher program unconstitutional because it uses taxpayer's money to send students to religious schools, thus violating the constitutional separation of church and state.
Voucher supporters vowed to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which let stand a similar voucher program in Milwaukee last year. In recent decisions the high court has expressed more willingness to allow public money to support textbooks, transportation and teachers' aides in parochial schools.
Speaking in favor of the Court of Appeals' decision, Robert H. Chanin, general counsel for the National Education Association, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times, "The message is, let's focus on improving the public schools and stop playing around with vouchers as a panacea."
Speaking against the ruling, Clint Bolick, an attorney for the Institute for Justice, which argued for the voucher program, was quoted in the same paper, "This decision is a disaster for every schoolchild in America, but it will be short-lived. The day of reckoning is drawing closer [referring to the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court]."
7. In another important court decision, U.S. District Court Judge John C. Shabaz struck down the University of Wisconsin's mandatory student fee system on the basis that it allows bias in how funds are distributed to campus groups. The issue of use of mandatory student fees has long been the subject of debate and conflicting court decisions. In a 1993 case involving mandatory fees at the University of California, the state Supreme Court issued a decision prohibiting the use of student fees for political and ideological purposes. That decision was later overturned by the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, which ruled that the use of student fees for lobbying ideological issues cannot be prohibited as long as the University provides refunds to those who object to having their money used for those purposes.
The Wisconsin case dates back to 1998, when several self-described conservative Christian students challenged the University's mandatory fee policy, arguing that they should not be forced to pay student body fees which are used to fund student organizations involved with controversial issues, such as abortion, gay rights, and far left or far right political agendas.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit agreed with the students and ruled the fee policy unconstitutional. That decision was subsequently overturned last March by the U.S. Supreme Court. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the decision, stated that, "The First Amendment permits a public university to charge its students an activity fee used to fund a program to facilitate extracurricular student speech if the program is viewpoint neutral." [Emphasis added.]
Lawyers for the student plaintiffs then filed a new lawsuit, challenging the viewpoint neutrality of the University of Wisconsin fee system. Rather than disputing specific funding decisions, they questioned the manner in which the funds are distributed, arguing that the student government had too much discretion in deciding which groups receive money.
In ruling for the plaintiffs, Judge Shabaz gave the University of Wisconsin 60 days to make changes in the fee allocation system to assure viewpoint neutrality--or abolish the mandatory fee system. Currently, the system of distributing funds at the University is similar to that used at CSUN. Campus groups submit requests for funding and the elected student government votes on them. However, there are no formal guidelines or criteria in place to assist students in making those decisions. CSUN, on the other hand, does have written guidelines.
8. This issue of Legislative Update
will be the last one published this year. I wish you all a happy--and
safe, if you are traveling--holiday. May the new year exceed all of our
expectations for it.
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1. Analysis of contributions to candidates nationwide yields unexpected results. According to the summary of campaign cash contributed to candidates and political parties prior to the November 7 General Election, contributions to Republican candidates far outweighed contributions to Democrats in every state but five (Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and West Virginia). One state, New Jersey, reported an even split--50% each to Republican and Democratic candidates.
California ranked first in the amount of money contributed--$120.6 million--no surprise there. But given that the Democrats virtually swept the state, the destination of these dollars was surprising: 47% went to Democrats and 52% to Republicans.
2. Late election results. The last of the absentee votes has been counted in the U.S. Senate race in the state of Washington. The result was a razor thin victory of 1,953 votes for Democrat Maria Cantwell over Republican incumbent Slade Gorton--bringing the Senate chamber to an even 50/50 split between the parties. Prior to November 7, Republicans constituted a 54 to 46 majority in the upper house. (The Republicans will still have the edge in the new Congress, however, since the Vice President--Republican Dick Cheney--votes in the case of a tie.)
Cantwell's victory brings the number of female senators in the U.S. Senate to an unprecedented 13--four more than last year, and the largest number in the history of the nation.
Gorton's loss makes him the 5th Republican incumbent to be turned out of office in the November 7 General Election.
3. CSU, Channel Islands received approval to become the 23rd campus in The California State University system by the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) at its November 3 meeting. The last official step before students can formally enroll at the campus is accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. WASC accreditation is a prerequisite for student financial aid, teacher credentials, and individual program accreditation.
It's anticipated that the campus will begin admitting students by fall 2002. CSUN - Ventura Campus students are currently attending classes at the Camarillo site. According to CSU projections, the new campus will enroll about 1300 students during the first year of its independence from CSUN. The campus is master-planned to grow to about 15,000 students.
The currently proposed 10-year budget for the new campus is $112.4 million.
4. The California Institute, in its recently released report on California's balance of payments with the federal treasury, stated that California's taxpayers, for the 13th straight year, sent more money in taxes to Washington than it received back from the federal government. Specifically, the report declared, "In 1999, California housed 12.2% of the nation's residents, but it paid 12.6% of federal taxes and received back just 11.1% of federal payments and expenditures."
The report also points out that Californians pay proportionately far higher taxes than the average state because the average income is so much higher. However, less disposable income is available to California wage earners than those living in a lower-taxed state, because of the high housing prices, gasoline and other living costs. "An annual salary of $60,000 in Arkansas or South Dakota affords a vastly different buying power and standard of living compared to the same salary in Santa Clara or Orange Counties, yet federal income rules treat them identically."
The full report is available on the California Institute's website at the following address:
http://www.calinst.org/pubs/bop2000.htm
5. CSU Executive Vice Chancellor David Spence addressed the system's Board of Trustees at its November meeting on the issue of anticipated enrollment over the next 5 years. He projected an increase of 30%--from 369,000 students in the fall of 2000 to 479,000 students by 2010--and described the measures being pursued to address the increased demand: (1) converting existing government facilities into new campuses (as with Camarillo State Hospital, which became CSU, Channel Islands, and with Fort Ord, a portion of which became CSU, Monterey Bay); (2) offering more night and weekend classes; (3) converting to a Year Round operation; (4) expanding off-campus centers; (5) utilizing more distance education programs; and (6) pursuing joint use of community college facilities.
6. Cal Poly, Pomona President Bob Suzuki has been appointed by the Governor to the Student Aid Commission. The Commission, created by the Legislature in 1955, has 15 members, one representative from each of the 3 segments of higher education, one each from the Independent Colleges, Proprietary Schools, and the Secondary School systems, 2 students and 7 representatives from the General Public.
The Governor appoints 11 members. The Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Rules Committee each appoint 2 of the General Public representatives. Terms are 4 years in length.
President Suzuki replaces Rosemary Papalewis (who was formerly with Barry Munitz' administration in the CSU Chancellor's Office).
7. On a very sad note: California Congressman Julian Dixon (D - West Los Angeles) died suddenly of an apparent heart attack this morning. He was 66 years old. Dixon represented his Culver City district for 22 years. He was the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and was also a member of the Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and State (which determines the defense budget).
Dixon chaired the Congressional Black Congress, was active in civil rights, and was a key mover behind the bill to establish a memorial to Martin Luther King in Washington. He also served in the California State Assembly, 1973-79, and prior to that served as an aide to Mervyn Dymally, who was a state Senator at the time.
A CSU alum, Dixon received his bachelor's degree from Cal State Los Angeles in 1962. He is survived by his wife and one son.
8. The Legislature officially convened its new two-year session on Monday, December 4--for one day in order to swear in the new members and make speeches--and then adjourned until January 2. However, the State Printer's office is open for business, so members can begin introducing bills. On the first day of session, 117 bills were introduced--a record I believe. Those bills of interest to public higher education are described below.
AB 16 (Hertzberg) K-University Facilities Bond Act
This bill seeks to enact a K-University Facilities Bond Act of 2002, for an unspecified amount, to become operative only if approved by the voters at the March 5, 2002 direct primary election.
[Note: Sums as high as $15 billion have been mentioned, but it is unlikely voters would support a Bond Act at that level. Republican leaders, citing the urgent need for constructing additional schools, proposed earmarking $1 billion of the state surplus for K-12 school construction, to be expended now rather than waiting to float a bond act in two years. Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D - San Francisco), while supportive of the idea, described the level of funding, when compared to the need, as a "pimple on an elephant's butt." ]
Introduced: December 4, 2000
SB 43 (Murray) Release of Student Information
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to provide students in postsecondary educational institutions with protection of their personal information.
The bill would prohibit each public, private, vocational, professional, or postsecondary educational institution in the state from disclosing to anyone not employed by these respective institutions, any directory information concerning current or former students without disclosing to them the purposes for which the information will be used.
Further, the bill would require the students' written permission before any of their information can be disclosed.
For the purposes of this bill, "directory information" is defined as "the student's name (or former name), address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous public or private school attended."
[Note: Current law authorizes--with permission of the student--the release of the following information: name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major, dates of attendance, degrees and awards, work in progress and work completed, and prior institutions attended. All other information on the student is considered private and may not be disclosed.]
Introduced: December 5, 2000
SB 44 (Alpert) Scholarshare Trust: Tax Credits
This bill would allow a tax credit in an amount equal to 10% of the amount of any contribution made by a taxpayer to a Scholarshare trust (established for taxpayers to fund the higher education expenses of their children or other qualified beneficiaries).
The bill specifies that the credit be provided on contributions up to $5,000 per taxable year on adjusted gross income not exceeding $200,000 for married couples or $100,000 for individuals. Further, the amount of the credit cannot exceed $500 for contributions made on behalf of each qualified beneficiary during each taxable year.
Introduced: December 7, 2000
SCR 2 (Alpert) College Awareness Month
This Senate Concurrent Resolution proclaims February 2001 as "College Awareness Month," and "urges California residents to encourage elementary and secondary school pupils to succeed in their academic endeavors so they may earn a college education and contribute to the economic, social, and political future of California."
Introduced: December 4, 2000
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1. America awaits. Nearly two weeks have gone by and the country still doesn't know who will be inaugurated on January 20. What started out as awe over history being made, has now devolved into serious concern. The stock market, which likes neither the uncertainty of who will be the next president, nor the certain gridlock that would follow from a highly partisan, evenly divided Congress, has been bouncing like a yo-yo. Internationally, the country is looking flat-footed and muddled.
Despite the growing polarization in the country, there are two conclusions resulting from the Florida debacle with which all parties would probably agree:
(a) The voting process needs to be overhauled and updated. Los Angeles County experimented with touchscreen voting at nine different locations, and from all accounts, it was an unqualified success: fast, easy, and with little room for error. It should be implemented statewide--then emulated nationwide.
(b) Everyone's vote counts! As of this writing, the question of which presidential candidate will represent the 275 million people living in this country may be determined by less than 300 votes.
2. Voter turnout in California was not as high as predicted by Secretary of State Bill Jones. One week before election day, he was estimating voter turnout at 76%. Despite reports of long lines at some precincts--I waited for 40 minutes, for example, at my polling place--the actual turnout appears to be closer to 72%, the second lowest since 1972, when 82.1% of the electorate voted.
Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, Conny McCormack, reported the countywide voter turnout at 70%.
Reports of crowded polls were commonplace across many of the other states, with Missouri Secretary of State, Rebecca McDowell Cook, describing lines "stretched around city blocks" and one-and-a-half hour waits. A circuit judge in the state ordered polls to remain open until 10 p.m. to accommodate the crush of last minute voters. Precinct workers in Alabama were reportedly concerned they would run short of ballots.
Missouri was also the site of a bizarre U.S. Senate race, where the winner, the state's governor, Mel Carnahan, was elected despite having died in a tragic plane crash 10 days before the election. (His wife will be appointed to take his seat.)
3. Local Measures. The City and the County of Los Angeles each proposed one measure, and both were decided with lopsided votes. Los Angeles City Proposition F, relating to replacement and refurbishment of firestations and animal shelters, won 75.4% to 24.6%, despite stiff vocal opposition from several leaders of Valley VOTE, the group promoting Valley Secession.
L.A. County Measure A, which sought to increase the Board of Supervisors from 5 to 9 members, was trounced 64% to 36%. Measure A represents the sixth time voters have been faced with this issue. The last vote occurred in 1992, when voters rejected expansion by nearly an identical margin: 65% to 35%. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a vigorous opponent, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times declaring, "The people have spoken.... Sacramento politicians should get the message that the public does not want board expansion." According to the Times account, however, proponents of expanding the Board are still not convinced.
The strongest proponent of expansion was state Senator Richard Polanco (D - East Los Angeles), who threatened to place a constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot, if the Board of Supervisors did not put the issue before county voters. Some political observers saw Polanco's advocacy of Measure A as self-serving, since term limits force him out in 2002, and additional seats on the Board of Supervisors would give him a place to land. However, Polanco's Chief of Staff, Bill Mabie, discounted that interpretation, telling the Times that the Senator's sole motive was "to improve constituent services and create a more ethnically diverse board."
4. Statewide Propositions. Of the eight proposed to voters, three were settled decisively:
. Prop. 32, the Veteran's Bond Act, won by 67.2% to 32.8%;
. Prop. 33, which sought to allow state legislators to participate in the Public Employees Retirement System, was rejected 61.1% to 38.9%, and
. Prop. 38, the school voucher initiative, lost by a lopsided 70.7 to 29.3% vote. (Voters rejected an earlier school voucher initiative, Prop. 174 in 1993, on a nearly identical vote: 70% to 30%.)
Three others were settled with fairly comfortable margins:
. Prop. 34, which related to campaign finance reform, was approved 59.9% to 40.1%;
. Prop. 35, which would allow state and local governments more latitude in hiring qualified private firms for architectural and engineering services on public works projects, was approved 54.8% to 45.2%; and
. Prop. 36, which would send first-time non-violent drug offenders to treatment programs rather than to prison, was also approved 60.8% to 39.2%.
The two nail biters were Prop. 37, a measure which sought to treat government imposed fees as taxes requiring a two-thirds vote, and Prop. 39, which proposed changing the voter approval requirement for local school bond initiatives from a two-thirds to 55% vote. The former lost 52% to 48%; and the latter was approved by 53% to 47%.
5. Both parties solidified their majorities--depending on where one looks. In California, the Democrats increased their margins in the Assembly and Senate, and in the state's Congressional Delegation:
| Before November 7 | After November 7 | |
| Assembly: | 46 D, 32 R, 1 Independent | 50 D, 30 R |
| Senate: | 25 D, 15 R | 25 D*, 14 R, 1 vacancy** |
| U.S. House: | 27 D, 25 R | 31 D, 21 R |
*The 5th Senate race is still too close to call; as of this writing, Democrat Mike Machado was leading by 129 votes.
**The vacancy in the state Senate was created when state Senator Hilda Solis (D - East L.A.) was elected to Congress last week. The 24th Senate District that she represented is predominantly Democratic, so it is probable a Democrat will be elected in the special election that will be conducted to fill the vacancy. If that happens--and Machado wins the 5th District election--the Democrats will be just one vote shy of a super majority (2/3) in the upper house.
While the Democrats added to their numbers in the Assembly, they are far from a super majority (2/3 or 67 members).
On the national level, the Republicans appear to have retained their majority in both houses. On the Senate side, with one race yet to be decided (Washington), the current count is 50 R and 49 D. If Gore becomes President, the vice presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman (D - Connecticut) would have to vacate his Senate seat--which the state's Republican Governor, John Rowland, would most likely fill with a Republican. In that event--and if the Washington state race is won by a Republican--the count would move to 52/48. On the other hand, if Bush becomes President, Lieberman would remain in the Senate--and if the winner in the Washington state race is a Democrat, the count would move to an even 50/50.
In the House of Representatives--where Democrats hoped to regain the majority, but didn't--the count stands at 220 R, 210 D, with 2 independents. Two races are pending, but regardless of the outcome, the Republicans would still maintain their majority.
6. The face of the new state Legislature looks more representative of the state's diverse population. When the 120-member state Legislature convenes on December 4, the distribution by race and gender will be as follows:
| Assembly | Senate | Total | Total a decade ago (1990) | |
| Men: | 55 | 30 | 85 | 102 |
| Women: | 25 | 10 | 35 | 18 |
| Latinos: | 20 | 7 | 27 | 7 |
| African-Americans: | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Asian-Americans: | 3 | 0* | 3 | 0 |
| Openly Gay: | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
*The 5th District Senate race is still too close to call. As of this writing, Democrat Mike Machado was leading Republican Alan Nakanishi by just 129 votes. Should the latter eke out a victory, there will be a total of 4 Asian-Americans in the state Legislature, 3 in the Assembly and 1 in the Senate.
Because of term limits, the Assembly will see 32 new faces on December 4, when the new legislators are sworn in. The Senate will welcome 10.
7. Although the dust hasn't settled on the November 7 election yet, eyes are already focused on the 2002 statewide primary and general elections. Two open seats in statewide offices will be available, since state Controller Kathleen Connell and Secretary of State Bill Jones will both be termed out of office in two years. Four early contenders for state Controller include:
Steve Westley, one of the founders of eBay, a very successful Internet auction site, said to be worth in excess of $400 million. Westley served as Vice Chair of the state Democratic Party in the 1980s, and he is a member of the Democratic National Committee. He has hosted several fundraisers for such Democrats as Gov. Gray Davis, Senator Dianne Feinstein--and U.S. Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Johan Klehs, currently a member of the state Board of Equalization, and a former state Assembly Member (1982 - 1994), a Democrat representing the Hayward area.
Rusty Areias, currently the Director of the state Department of Parks and Recreation, and a former state Assembly Member (1982 - 1994), a Democrat representing the Salinas Valley.
Dean Andal, another current member of the state Board of Equalization, is the sole Republican to announce thus far. Andal is a former Congressional aide (to former Rep. Norman Shumway), and also served in the state Assembly (1991 - 1994).
Two aspirants for Secretary of State are:
Steve Peace, Democratic state Senator representing a district in the San Diego area, who will be termed out in 2002.
Keith Olberg, Republican state Assembly Member representing the Victorville area, who was just termed out of office this year.
Two other state legislators who have indicated an interest in running for a statewide office (without specifying which) are state Senator Bruce McPherson (R - Santa Cruz), scheduled to be termed out in 2002, and Congressman Gary Condit (D - Modesto). Condit also served in the state Assembly (1982 - 1989), gaining fame as a member of the "Gang of Five," a group of moderate-to-conservative Democrats who, chafing under former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown's strict rule, launched an unsuccessful effort to unseat him.
8. Term limits will force two powerful Valley representatives out of office in 2002. Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D - Van Nuys), and Assembly Member Tony Cardenas (D - Panorama City), who will serve as the new chair of the Assembly Budget Committee next year, will both be looking at future political options. The number of opportunities available to them may be widened after reapportionment, since the Democrats, who control all three branches of state government, will have a strong influence on the outcome. The Valley will likely see additional congressional seats in the northeast area, for example--and Cardenas has already signaled an interest in running for one of them.
Hertzberg, at one time, had contemplated running for a city office (City Attorney), but decided instead to pursue the Assembly Speaker's job. He has not provided any clues as to what his plans may be in two years, but the prospect of a statewide office--including eventually the Governor's job- has been suggested in some quarters.
9. Voter Registration Profile, State and Local: At the close of voter registration on October 10, the Secretary of State reported party affiliation in the state as follows:
| Democratic | 45.4% |
| Republican | 34.9% |
| Decline to State | 14.4% |
| Amer. Independent | 2.0% |
| Green | .9% |
| Libertarian | .6% |
| Reform | .5% |
| Natural Law | .4% |
| Misc/non-qualified* | .9% [Registration completed with no recognizable party.] |
| Total eligible voters: | 21,461,274 |
| Total registered voters: | 15,707,259 |
The numbers of registered Democrats and Republicans
in the state have fallen slightly since 1996:
Four years ago Democratic registration in California
stood at 47.4%, and Republicans at 36.82%.
The Los Angeles Times recently reported the following figures on registered voters in the San Fernando Valley:
| Democrats: | 49.3% |
| Republicans: | 31.6% |
| Third Party/Decline to State: | 19.1% |
10. President Clinton has signed H.R. 5362 (David Dreier - CA, Covina), a bill that doubles the application fee employers must pay for each H-1B visa application. The additional $200 million expected to be produced annually by the $500 to $1000 increase will fund education and training programs, as follows:
. 55% for Department of Labor Training Programs;
. 22% for low-income scholarships, to be administered
by the National Science Foundation (NSF);
and
. 15% for competitive grants for K-12 math, science,
and technology education, also to be administered by the NSF.
Earlier legislation passed by Congress and approved by President Clinton, which raised the cap on the number of H-1B visas that can be issued in any one year, contained a caveat requiring education and training programs to help develop a "home-grown" pool of high tech workers.
The H-1B visa is a temporary visa that allows non-immigrant foreign workers, with college degrees, to be employed in the United States for up to three years (renewable for an additional 3 years) in a skilled high tech profession.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Barring any breaking news, the next issue of
Legislative
Update will be in January, after the Legislature formally convenes
the 2001 Session, and the Governor has delivered his State of the State
Address.
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1. When the clock struck midnight on Saturday, September 30, the Constitutional deadline, Governor Davis had made decisions on 1,454 bills. He signed 1,088, vetoed 362, and allowed 4 bills to become law without his signature. Many bills were left until the last minute, which may account for some of his inexplicable decisions, a few of which were conveyed in last week's Legislative Update.
After signing the last of the bills, the Governor issued a statement saying, "With all due respect to our athletes in Sydney, this session's achievements were Olympian. Above all else, we kept the faith of the people who elected us. The people of California have told us time and time again that they want us to be partners, not partisans. We heard them loud and clear."
Final actions on the remainder of bills followed in Legislative Update this past year are reported below.
2. Voter Registration. A reminder that in order to vote in the November 7 General Election, citizens must be registered by October 10. Voter registration forms are available in my office, and may also be downloaded from the Secretary of State's website (but must be mailed through the post office; the site doesn't allow on-line submissions). One other significant deadline: October 31 is the last day to apply for Absentee ballots. Request forms for Absentee ballots are included in the Sample Ballots which will be mailed shortly to all registered voters. They may also be requested by writing the County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office, Absent Voter Section, P.O. Box 30450, Los Angeles, CA 90030-0450.
The Sample Ballot will also include the location of your polling place. That information may also be obtained by phoning 1-800-815-2666.
Voting is a right, a privilege, and a responsibility. If you don't think your vote counts, recall the 1998 state Senate race in the 20th District, which was decided by just 29 votes.
3. Good News: The compromise disaster mitigation bill emerged from the Senate this week without the requirement that state and local government entities self-insure against natural disasters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been pushing to promulgate a proposed regulation requiring the insurance, and had successfully persuaded the Senate to include a provision in the bill that would have given the status of law to the proposed rule. By contrast, the House version called for a study by the General Accounting Office on the availability of such insurance before FEMA would be allowed to impose the requirement.
Background notes: According to an account in the Sacramento Bee, opportunities where Senators Dianne Feinstein and/or Barbara Boxer could have headed off the inclusion of the requirement in the Senate version of the bill were missed "through a series of missteps." Both Senators did, however, join the 52-member California Congressional Delegation in signing a letter of opposition to the proposed requirement.
The two Republican Senators who carried the ball for FEMA, Christopher Bond of Missouri and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, are from states where hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and snowstorms have caused relatively minimal destruction to publicly owned buildings. In states such as California and Florida, however, the effects of Mother Nature's bad temper can wreak breathtaking devastation to public schools, county hospitals and libraries, state universities, and other critical public entities.
FEMA reported that of the 291 comments the agency had received opposing its proposed regulation, 63% were from California. The argument was successfully made that money spent on insurance- providing it was even available--would significantly drain money away from efforts to retrofit buildings and implement other preventative measures.
After the compromise bill emerged from the Conference Committee, FEMA announced it would pull back from its efforts to impose the requirement and would conduct further analyses, including a fiscal impact study. However, the agency declared that the issue is far from dead, so the state's sighs of relief could only be temporary.
4. More Good News: Both the Senate and the House approved the bill containing a major expansion of the H-1B visa program. The H-1B visa is a temporary visa that allows non-immigrant foreign workers, with college degrees, to be employed in the United States for up to three years (renewable for an additional 3 years) in a skilled profession.
Currently, H-1B visas are capped at 115,000 per year for each year through 2002, before dropping back to 65,000, the level established when the H-1B program was first created in 1990. Even with recent year increases in the cap, the need far exceeds the number of visas allowed. American colleges and universities have not been able to produce sufficient numbers of graduates to fill the estimated 340,000 vacant jobs in the information technology, science and engineering industries.
The information technology industry in California accounts for 814,000 jobs, or 18% of the state's employment base. According to the California Chamber of Commerce, 18 of the top 100 companies in the country that use H-1B workers are located in California.
The bill just approved by Congress would accomplish the following:
. Raise the cap to 195,000 each year through 2003.The exemption granted to universities is especially important since the cap has usually been exhausted by March, while they typically hire in the spring and early summer.. Exempt foreign workers employed by universities from the cap.
. Create a variety of programs to improve the education and training of U.S. workers, especially in mathematics, engineering and computer science. [The bill also includes a $20 million grant to the Boys and Girls Clubs to fund after-school technology programs.]
. Retain the current $500 fee paid by employers for each H-1B application, and require the money to be used for scholarships for low-income students and training for U.S. workers. [Note: Separate legislation has been introduced to raise this fee to $1000 to provide more funds for the education and training programs.]
. Require the INS to improve its operations so that applications for H-1B and other non-immigrant visas are processed within 30 days. [As reported in Capitol Hill Bulletin, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced this amendment requiring the INS "to eliminate its backlog and reduce an application process which has become a 3-to-4 year ordeal."]
The bill--which the House approved on a voice vote, and the Senate approved with one dissenter (Senator Ernest F. Hollings - D, S.C.)--was sent to President Clinton on Tuesday (October 2), and he is expected to sign it.
5. The U.S. Senate approved an appropriations bill this week that increases the 2001 budgets for the National Endowment of Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. H.R. 4578 increases the NEH budget by $5 million to $120 million, and the NEA budget by $7 million to $105 million. President Clinton had requested $150 million for each of the agencies.
While the increases may seem modest, it was only four years ago that conservative lawmakers threatened to kill the NEA altogether, reacting to some of the allegedly pornographic art exhibits that had been funded by the agency.
Both agencies survived, but funding has been flat for both in the succeeding years.
6. The U.S. Census Bureau has released briefs on two of its more interesting reports: "Coming to America: A Profile of the Nation's Foreign Born," and "Women in the United States: A Profile.
According to the first report, "The number of foreign-born U.S. residents now exceeds the population of all but 36 of the world's nations and each of our country's states, except California." One-half of this population is from Latin America, the largest percentage coming from Mexico, followed by Cuba, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador. More than a quarter of the foreign born population is from Asia, with the highest concentrations emanating from the Philippines, China, Vietnam and India.
Most of the foreign-born population in the United States is concentrated in six states--California ranking as the highest, with 25% of its residents being foreign-born. (The national average is 10%.) The other five states are New York (20%), Hawaii (18%), Florida (16%), New Jersey (15%), Arizona (14%) and Texas (11%).
In terms of numbers of foreign-born residents in metropolitan areas, Los Angeles, not surprisingly, ranks at the top with 4.8 million. New York ranks second with 4.6 million, followed by Miami (1.4 million), San Francisco (1.4 million) and Chicago (1.1 million). In terms of proportion of foreign-born to total population, Miami ranks first with 39%.
The second report, profiling women, states that a little more than half of the country's approximately 272 million population is female (139 million). The report also indicates that women and men both have made significant strides in education attainment:
. In 1999: 27.5% of the men obtained a bachelor's degree, as opposed to 23.1% of the women.Progress in earnings equality is less impressive: In 1998, the median earnings of women 25 years and over who worked fulltime, year-round was $26,711, or 73% of their male counterparts. Level of education did not change the ratio--which drops significantly for women with professional degrees:. In 1980: 20.9% of men and 13.6 of women graduated from college.
. In 1970: 14.1 percent of men and 8.2% of women completed 4 years of college.
. Median earnings of women with a high school diploma: $21, 963 vs. $30,868 for men (71%)Both briefs can be accessed on the Census Bureau's website at the following address:. Median earnings of women with a bachelor's degree: $35,408 vs. $49,982 for men (71%)
. Median earnings of women with a professional degree: $55,460 vs. $90,653 (61%)
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/briefs.html7. Correction. Last week's Legislative Update reported that former state Treasurer and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown had moved to Idaho--an item that had appeared in CalPeek and other political newsletters. Ms. Brown contacted CalPeek to say she had not moved to Idaho, only that she and husband Van Gordon Sauter had taken a long vacation at their Idaho home. (But she did apparently resign her position at the Bank of America.)
8. With the Governor's actions concluded,
Legislative
Update now moves to an intermittent schedule, publishing only if there's
news of interest, until the Legislature convenes its next Regular Biennial
Session on January 3, 2001.
AB 632 (Romero) Emergency Permit Teachers:
Exemption from Nonresident Tuition
TRUSTEE BILL
CalState TEACH is an alternative learning program within the CSU system aimed at the thousands of emergency permit elementary teachers currently teaching in California schools.
This bill, which targets prospective CalState TEACH students, grants an exemption from nonresident tuition for students enrolled in teacher preparation programs at the CSU, provided each student meets all of the following criteria: (1) Holds an emergency teaching credential; (2) is employed by a school district in a position which requires certification; and (3) has resided in California less than the minimum amount of time necessary to be deemed a "resident" for purposes of assessing in-state tuition.
The bill contains an Urgency Clause, meaning it takes effect upon the Governor's signature, rather than on January 1, 2001. [3/3/00, 6/23/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: APPROVED by the Governor on
September 30, 2000. [Chapter # 00-949]
AB 2384 (Committee on Higher Ed) Omnibus Higher Education Legislation TRUSTEE BILL
This bill includes several important provisions for the CSU, including, among other things, authorization for auxiliary organization boards to meet in closed session to protect donor confidentiality. The bill also streamlines and centralizes the CSU's procurement authority. [3/3/00, 4/27/00, 5/12/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 30.
In his veto message, the Governor stated that while he had no issues with the parts of the bill relating to the CSU, he did have problems with the provision exempting the Community Colleges from existing competitive bidding requirements regarding procurement.
The Governor stated, "I am unable to find a compelling
rationale to exempt the California Community Colleges from the competitive
bidding provisions of the Public Contract Code. To do so could result
in higher procurement costs that would have to be supported from Proposition
98 resources."
AB 2497 (Romero) CSU: Labor Relations
This bill sought to make the CSU subject to the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. [3/10/00, 5/19/00, 6/30/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
[Note: The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) regulates such matters as overtime compensation and defines a covered "public agency" to include the government or any agency of a state. The U.S. Supreme Court has held, however, that the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents bringing suit to enforce the FLSA against a nonconsenting state in federal court, and further, that Congress also lacks the power to subject nonconsenting states to private suits in state courts.
If AB 2497 had been enacted, such suits would be permitted.]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 28.
In his veto message, the Governor stated that
the bill was not necessary nor in the best interests of the public. "Individual
employees who believe that their rights under the federal FLSA have been
violated may pursue their claims through the federal Department of Labor
(DOL). The DOL is an effective advocate for employees with legitimate claims
and a much more cost-effective alternative for the State employer."
AB 2519 (Shelley) Pilot Program: Voting on the Internet
This bill sought to implement a pilot program whereby a county may enable voters who reside in the county to register to vote and vote on the Internet. [3/3/00 Legislative Update]
[Note: Currently in California, voters may downlink a Voter Registration form from the website of the Secretary of State, but must return it through the U.S. mail. Voting via the Internet has been suggested numerous times, but this bill represented the first effort to actually implement such a proposal.]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 28.
In his veto message, the Governor indicated strong
support for increasing voter registration and voter participation in elections--but
said this bill is premature: "Before Internet voting can be successfully
implemented, security measures to protect against fraud and abuse must
be more fully developed. Other states are experimenting with online voting
with varying degrees of success. I am not convinced the necessary safeguards
are in place to begin this experiment in California."
SB 1737 (Hayden) Postsecondary Education: Service Learning Opportunities
As originally introduced, this bill sought to establish a community service learning center in state government, with an accompanying grant program to fund centers on campuses of the CSU.
This bill was substantially amended in late June to delete all references to service learning and to the CSU. The new content pertains only to the University of California, requiring the system "to assemble a colloquium of scholars to draft a research proposal to analyze the economic benefits of slavery that accrued to owners and the businesses, including insurance companies and their subsidiaries, that received those benefits."
The bill requires the State Library to participate in this effort, if its resources allow. Finally, the bill requests the UC to make recom mendations to the Legislature regarding the colloquium's findings by January 1, 2002. [3/3/00, 4/14/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/00, 6/30/00 Legislative Updates]
[Note: Senator Hayden will not be in the Legislature to review this report, since term limits force him from the Senate at the end of this year.]
Status: SIGNED by the Governor on September
30. [Chapter # 00-1038]
SB 1822 (Bowen) Privacy: E-mail
This bill sought to prohibit California employers from secretly monitoring the electronic mail or other computer records generated by employees without first advising them of the firm's privacy and monitoring policy.
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 30.
In his lengthy veto message, the Governor essentially
said that employers own the computers and therefore have a right to monitor
their use.
SB 2047 (Polanco) Civil Rights: Outreach
This bill sought to make a legislative finding that the prohibition of preferential treatment on the basis of race or sex in public employment, public education, and public contracting, does not prevent governmental agencies from engaging in public sector outreach programs that may include focused outreach and recruitment of minority groups and women if any group is underrepresented in entry level positions or in an educational institution. [3/3/00, 4/27/00, 6/9/00, 6/30/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 29.
The Governor stated in his veto message that while he was not personally opposed to the forms of outreach proposed by this bill, he felt that it may violate the provisions of Prop. 209, passed by voters in 1996, which prohibit race-based programs created to achieve diversity.
However, the Governor also observed that "the California Supreme Court [may] rule on the subject matter raised by this legislation within the next two months, and thus any legislation attempting to address this issue presently would be premature."
The Governor also mentioned the Task Force on
Diversity and Outreach he established in September 1999, whose final report
was just recently submitted to him. "I am awaiting the Court's decision,
after which I will complete my review of [the Task Force's] recommendations
and move forward with policy that is clear, concise, constitutionally permissible
and not subject to interpretation."
Return to Archive List
1. FEMA's proposed rule requiring public entities to self-insure against natural disasters received additional negative comment this week from members of the California-DC Alliance. Capitol Hill Bulletin reports that the Alliance, which includes a mixed group of educators, school boards, administrators and advocacy groups across the state, was in Washington advocating on a number of issues. In adding its collective voice to protest FEMA's proposed rule, the Alliance stated that "the plan would force one large school district to increase its annual budget by 27%. School district insurance costs could be as high as $125 million."
Alliance spokesperson, Don Iglesias, from the Santa Cruz City School District, also noted that the Northridge Earthquake forced nine insurance companies to go bankrupt--calling into question the availability of insurance coverage, irrespective of affordability.
2. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a survey conducted by Fortune magazine reveals that not all of America's "under 40" wealthiest citizens went to prestigious institutions: "A surprising number attended less notable colleges and universities, dropped out, or never even set foot on a campus." All but one obtained their wealth in a high-tech company; all are men--although there is one married couple, listed as "one" of the wealthy, on the list.
Included in the list of institutions from which the top 40, "under 40," wealthy young Americans graduated was a very fine university--a CSU entry: Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
3. Los Angeles County is launching a new "technologically advanced method of voting." Effective with the November 7 election, "touchscreen" voting will be available at nine locations throughout the County. One of the nine locations is in Van Nuys--at the Office of the Registrar-Recorder/ County Clerk, at 14340 W. Sylvan Street.
Registered voters may go to any of the nine locations; touchscreen voting will be available in 7 languages three weeks prior to Election Day, beginning on October 16, between the hours of 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, plus the two Saturdays and Sundays before Election Day. Registered voters need only provide their name and address (with verifying ID), in order to cast their vote on the "touch screen" computers.
Alameda and Riverside Counties are also introducing electronic voting on a trial basis. Alameda will have sites up and running on October 10, while Riverside County will have touchscreen voting available on Election Day and in three shopping malls on the weekend prior to the election. More limited electronic voting will be offered in Marin, Monterey, San Mateo, Trinity and Tulare Counties. Readers in those areas should contact their county Registrar of Voters office for more information.
4. Speaking of elections. Effective January 1, 2001, citizens will be allowed to register to vote 15 days prior to an election, rather than the current 29, thanks to a bill authored by Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D - Van Nuys), which the Governor signed on September 28. Since the bill did not contain an Urgency Clause, the new registration deadline will not be in effect for the November 7 election.
5. Capitol Hill Bulletin reports on two publications issued this week from the U.S. Census Bureau, "Poverty in the United States, 1999," and "Money Income in the United States, 1999." California emerges as one of only 4 states where the poverty rates decreased, while the median income increased. Both publications are available on the Census Bureau's website, at the following addresses:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html and http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income.html6. Capitol Hill Bulletin also describes a very interesting briefing held this week in Washington, D.C., on "California 2000: The Changing Social and Political Landscape." The briefing was sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of California. Among the research findings reported:
. "California's growth rate far exceeds that of the rest of the United States, with net migration into the state outpacing growth by natural increase.
. Latino population will become the single largest ethnic group in the state by about the year 2020, with a little over 40% of the population Latino and a little under 40% white.
. [The growing Latino] population is not necessarily concentrated all in the Los Angeles area anymore.... In 1998, only 5 counties in the state had less than a 5% Latino population, and 14 counties had over a 30% Latino population.
. Although the majority of Latinos in California do not have health insurance and access to standard health care, as a group they have a high life expectancy rate, a low infant mortality rate, and a lower incidence of HIV infection or AIDS than other groups.
. The Latino vote in the state has increased from 4% to 12% in the past 10 years, with this group having a tendency to be more liberal on fiscal matters, but more conservative on social issues."
For more information on the briefing, the Public Policy Institute of California has a website, which also includes access to its publications. The address is: http://www.ppic.org
7. From the "What ever happened to...." file:
Former State Treasurer Kathleen Brown has resigned from her Executive Vice
President position at Bank of America, and moved to Idaho with her husband,
Van Gordon Sauter, former head of CBS-TV news. Brown also served as the
Bank's chief spokesperson for its initiative to educate women on managing
their financial investments. The daughter of former Governor Edmund G.
"Pat" Brown, she was herself a candidate for Governor in 1994, a race she
ultimately lost to Pete Wilson.
AB 172 (Firebaugh) CSU: International Study Program TRUSTEE BILL
This bill sought to appropriate $126,500 to the CSU for the establishment of the International Higher Education Scholarship Program, under the administration of the CSU. The program would make it possible for up to 50 CSU students each year to attend universities in countries defined by the bill as "California's global strategic trading partners, including Mexico, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom."
The bill also would have provided for up to 50 students from these nations to attend the CSU each year. [3/3/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 26.
In his veto message, the Governor indicated that while he supported expanding student exchanges with the state's trading partners, "the purposes of this bill can be achieved under existing law. Presently, the CSU sponsors a number of student and faculty exchanges within their existing administrative budget."
The Governor's veto of this bill is somewhat surprising,
given its impetus. In 1999, Governor Davis and legislative leaders established
as a priority the enhancement of economic and educational relations between
California and Mexico. The Governor was accompanied on one trip to Mexico
by CSU leaders, and one result of these joint efforts was a proposal for
CSU students and students at Mexican universities to participate in an
educational program in each other's country. AB 172 is an outgrowth of
that proposal.
AB 1747 (Kaloogian) Public Schools: Patriotic Exercises
Existing law requires that appropriate patriotic exercises be conducted in every K-12 public school each day, and provides that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America satisfies this requirement.
In its final version, this bill sought to include recitation of an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence as meeting the state requirement. The bill further specified, however, that if that option were selected, the school district must "provide a discussion of the social contract established in the Declaration of Independence," and the discussion must "address, but is not limited to, questions such as whether all 'men' includes all people." [1/14/00, 4/14/00, 6/9/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September
26. In his veto message, the Governor stated that "for generations,
American schoolchildren have started their day with the Pledge of Allegiance
to the United States of America.... Pledging allegiance to the flag is
a tradition worthy of this great nation. I see no reason to depart from
that time-honored tradition."
AB 1773 (Romero) Intellectual Property: Ownership
This bill requires the CSU to develop, in consultation with faculty, policies to prohibit the unauthorized recording, dissemination, and publication of academic presentations for commercial purposes. The bill also specifies that nothing in its provisions is intended to change existing law as it pertains to the ownership of academic presentations.
Further, the bill specifies that nothing in its provisions "shall be construed to interfere with the rights of disabled students under the law." [1/21/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/0, 7/13/00, 8/25/00, 9/1/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: APPROVED by the Governor on
September 23. [Chapter #00-574]
AB 1861 (Runner) UC, CSU, CCC: Transferability of Courses
This bill, in its final version, sought to request the UC and require the CSU to develop and maintain prescribed articulation agreements with all campuses of the California Community Colleges prior to the 2005-06 academic year. [Note: Articulation agreements standardize transferability of courses from one system of higher education to another.]
The bill would also have required the California Community Colleges to negotiate with the UC and the CSU when developing these articulation agreements. [2/11/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/00, 7/13/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September
26. In his veto message, the Governor stated that while he supports
the development of articulation agreements, "requiring California Community
Colleges to participate in the articulation process as specified in this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program with annual reimbursable
Prop. 98 General Fund costs of up to $12 million. Because of these additional
unbudgeted costs, I am unable to sign this bill."
AB 1935 (Wildman) CSU: Labor Relations
This bill sought to require the CSU to prepare a report containing prescribed information relating to employees of auxiliary organizations. The CSU would be required to consult with interested parties in the preparation of this report, which was mandated to be submitted to the Governor, the chairs of the Assembly Higher Education and Senate Education Committees, the employee organization that is the exclusive representative of CSU employees, and to the Auxiliary Organizations Association--by February 1, 2001. [2/25/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00, 8/25/00, 9/1/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor, September
15. In his veto message, the Governor stated that since the CSU had
already agreed to provide the requested report, there was no need for legislation
to require it.
SB 796 (Dunn) Credit Card Marketing Practices: Public Postsecondary Education
This bill sought to request the UC, the CSU, the California Community Colleges, and various private and independent colleges and universities to adopt polices to regulate the marketing practices used on their respective campuses by credit card companies. [3/5/99, 4/20/99, 6/18/99, 8/20/99, 9/1/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 18. In his veto message, the Governor stated that "personal responsibility can not be mandated by government. The answer lies first and foremost with parental guidance."
The Governor also stated that the majority of
California's public and private higher education institutions currently
limit credit card marketing practices on their campuses, and, "in addition,
all colleges and universities are required by federal law to provide debt
education and counseling to students who participate in the federal loan
program."
SB 1547 (Costa) CSU: Real Property Transactions TRUSTEE BILL
As initially written, this bill would have provided authorization to the CSU to sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of real property and use the proceeds received from these transactions for the acquisition or improvement of property for the CSU campus affected by the transaction.
In the final version sent to the Governor, the blanket authorization was eliminated, and replaced with authorization for specific sales/exchanges of property at four CSU campuses: Channel Islands, Fresno, Northridge and San Luis Obispo.
The Northridge transaction is CSUN's land swap with the Los Angeles Unified School District to facilitate the creation of the University's proposed Academy School. [2/18/00, 4/27/00, 6/2/00, 6/23/00, 8/25/00, 9/1/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September 25.
In his somewhat strange veto message, the Governor indicated his opposition to the bill rested on 3 reasons: (1) that any disposal of property ought to be viewed in light of projected significant enrollment growth, (2) such land transactions ought to continue to be approved on a case-by-case basis, and (3) proceeds from the sale of any property purchased with General Fund monies should return to the General Fund for reallocation.
Since the University's proposed land swap would result in a net gain of 3.5 acres of property much closer to the campus core, and since the bill had been amended to delete the CSU's request for blanket authority on land transactions and provided instead a request for 4 CSU campus-specific transactions, the Governor's objections seem mysterious.
His third reason is one that was voiced by the Department of Finance as the bill moved through the legislative process. Once the bill had been amended to reference only the 4 specific land transactions, it was the CSU's understanding that the Department's opposition had been removed.
Next step: Current thinking is that the CSU will pursue separate bills carrying these projects, rather than one bill containing all four, when the Legislature convenes next January 3.
To all of you who contacted the Governor in support
of this legislation, we thank you most deeply. We will be back to ask for
your help next year.
SB 1721 (Hayden) CSU: Central American Studies Center
This bill authorizes the establishment of the following entities, with nonpublic funds or with other funds that the specific campuses are authorized to expend, up to $250,000:
--African American Political Institute at CSUNThe bill contains a sunset clause, which repeals the provisions of the bill on January 1, 2010. [3/3/00, 4/14/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00, 6/23/00, 9/1/00 Legislative Updates]
--Institute for Central American Studies at CSUN
--Center for Portuguese Studies at CSU, Stanislaus
Status: APPROVED by the Governor on September 26. [Chapter # 00-752]
[Note: The Budget Act provided no money for
these Centers and Institute, and the appropriation that was initially contained
in Senator Hayden's bill was deleted in order to facilitate its passage
in the Legislature.]
Return to Archive List
1. It's down to the wire on FEMA's proposed rule to require public entities to self-insure against natural disasters. Reps. Jerry Lewis (R - Redlands) and Sam Farr (D - Monterey) are circulating a letter to be signed by the California Congressional Delegation that will be sent to the conferees who are deliberating on the final version of the Disaster Mitigation Act (S. 1691/H.R. 707), which contains the proposed rule.
As reported in this week's Capitol Hill Bulletin, the letter asks the conferees to adopt the House language, which calls for a GAO study of the availability of disaster insurance for public institutions before allowing FEMA to impose its rule. (The Senate language allows FEMA to move forward with its proposed rule without any kind of study.)
The letter is very strongly worded. Excerpts, as reported in Capitol Hill Bulletin: "Mandating public entities to acquire private insurance for disasters is unworkable. In earthquake-prone states such as California, numerous agencies have determined that earthquake coverage is neither readily available, nor affordable.... [FEMA's action] discourages attempts to mitigate damage before it occurs, assumes a fundamental misunderstanding of the insurance market, and merely shifts the costs of disasters from the federal government to states, municipalities, and private non profit hospitals and universities."
In addition to criticizing the proposed regulation, the letter also asks the conferees to include language that would require a national panel of insurance and public safety experts to assess the full impact of implementing pre-disaster insurance requirements.
The California State University, University of California, City and County of Los Angeles, the California League of Cities, California public school districts--and a myriad of other public entities--have all weighed in on this issue, both with James Lee Witt, who heads FEMA, and with members of Congress.
CSU's Federal Relations Office is currently working with Reps. Jerry Lewis and Sam Farr--as well as with California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer--on the wording calling for the national panel, and on the strategy for persuading the conferees to adopt the House language over the Senate's with respect to FEMA's proposed rule.
The 5.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the Napa Valley area on September 3 is a fresh reminder of the cost impact natural disasters have on private businesses and homeowners (approximately $50 million to date) and public facilities (about $5 million).
2. Assembly Member Tony Cardenas' bill (AB 8), which sought to require the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees to be elected by area, rather than "at large" was vetoed by Governor Davis this week. The Governor vetoed a similar bill, also authored by Cardenas, last year.
In his veto message the Governor offered the same view as before: "The decision to create single member trustee areas is best made at the local level, not by the state. Furthermore, current law allows registered voters residing in the Los Angeles Community College District to petition for the creation of trustee areas."
3. New Senate Education Committee Chair named. Senator John Vasconcellos (D - San Jose) has been appointed Chair of the Senate Education Committee for the 2001-02 Legislative Session, replacing Senator Dede Alpert (D - San Diego), who will be chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee. [The current Chair, Patrick Johnston (D - Stockton), is termed out of office this year.]
Vasconcellos, while completing his first term in the Senate, is no neophyte to the Legislature. He served 30 years in the state Assembly (1966 - 1996), where he chaired the powerful Assembly Ways and Means Committee (later split into the Budget and Appropriations Committees), and served as an influential member of both the Assembly Education and Higher Education Committees. In 1988 89, Vasconcellos chaired the Joint Committee for Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education (one of many such reviews conducted during that time period).
Vasconcellos also attained some notoriety with his 1986 bill creating the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility, which was the butt of more than a few bipartisan jokes, and which was lampooned in the Doonesbury comic strip. However, the idea caught the attention of the public, and Vasconcellos ended up prevailing over the critics. He has been called a "pragmatic idealist and conscience of the Legislature," by Who's Who in the California Legislature.
Senator Alpert, in addition to her duties as Chair
of the Appropriations Committee, will remain Chair of the Joint committee
to Develop a Master Plan for Education Committee [K through the University].
That committee, which was to conclude its work this year won an extension
for another year in which to produce its final report.
4. In the waning hours of the legislative Session, the state Senate unanimously confirmed the three CSU Trustees appointed within the past year by Governor Davis: Roberta Achtenberg, Murray Galinson, and Shailesh Mehta.
Achtenberg, 49, a former San Francisco county supervisor and city council member, currently holds the position of Senior VP for Public Policy, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
Mehta, 50, who also hails from the Bay area, is the Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Providian Financial Corporation, the sixth largest bankcard issuer in the nation.
Galinson, 62, is the Chairman of the Board of the San Diego National Bank and the Galinson Groups of La Jolla. Both Mehta and Galinson were appointed in April to their 8-year terms. Achtenberg was appointed last November. The Governor also appointed the two student members, one voting and one non-voting, to the Board this past year: Neel I. Murarka [voting], a computer science student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and Daniel N. Cartwright [non-voting], a social science and criminal justice major at CSU, Stanislaus. Student members serve two-year terms and do not require Senate confirmation.
5. Senator Tom Hayden has decided not to leave the world of elected office after all: He announced this week he will run for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council next year. Several possibilities presented themselves, since the City Council, like the state Legislature, is subject to term limits, and several sitting council members will be termed out next year. Senator Hayden set his sights on the 5th district, currently represented by City Council Member Mike Feuer, who is vacating his seat to run for City Attorney.
Running for this office will entail another move for the Senator, who needs to reside in the 5th district in order to represent it. (When he was termed out of the Assembly and ran for the Senate, his Santa Monica residence lay just outside the district, requiring him to move to Los Angeles.)
The 5th district encompasses the Southeast San Fernando Valley, Beverly Glen and the Fairfax area, most of which is contained in the 23rd Senate District, which Hayden has represented for the last 8 years. Senator Hayden has until December 11 to relocate.
Other candidates crowding the field for the 5th
City Council District include Jill Barad, of Barad & Associates,
a public relations firm; Nate Bernstein, an attorney in the Fairfax area;
Joseph
Patrick Connolly, a former carpet salesman, also from the Fairfax area;
Ken Gerston, CEO of Continental Coin & Jewelry Corporation in
Van Nuys; Laura Lake, from Westwood, a former president of the National
Council of Jewish Women in Los Angeles, who has faced Hayden in other races;
Stephen
A. Saltzman, a businessman from West L.A., who once served as deputy
mayor to former Mayor Tom Bradley; Robyn Ritter Simon, a Beverlywood
businesswoman; Victor Viereck, a North Hollywood accountant; and
Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor, from Los Angeles.
AB 1857 (Romero) CSU: Student Organizations
This bill, which is sponsored by the California State Student Association, would establish the Gloria Romero Open Meetings Act of 2000. It would modify open meeting requirements for student body organizations to include greater flexibility and protection. It covers several issues identified as problems resulting from existing open meeting laws, including the inability to conduct a meeting by teleconference and the lack of a provision to protect the rights of the public and students to address a governing board.
The bill also creates a new misdemeanor crime applicable to any member of the [student] legislative body who attends a meeting of that body where (1) an action is taken in violation of any provision of the bill, and (2) the individual knows the meeting is in violation of a provision of the bill. [2/11/00, 4/27/00, 5/19/00, 6/23/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: APPROVED by Governor Davis on
September 6. [Chapter #330]
AB 1958 (Romero) UC, CSU: Deferred Enrollment
This bill would request the UC and require the CSU to allow any person who is admitted to full-time undergraduate status at any of their respective campuses to request a deferment of enrollment for up to one academic year.
In essence, this bill would allow an applicant who has been admitted to a UC or CSU campus to defer enrolling for a year while not losing his/her "place in line," and would also preclude the individual from having to go through the application process a second time.
The final version of the bill specifies that the deferment be granted on a case-by-case basis, within the discretion of the university, in response to criteria cited by the student, including, but not limited to any of the following: (1) financial need, (2) family commitment or obligation (especially a situation caused by the death or serious illness of a family member), (3) medical condition, and (4) the student's desire to enroll in a foreign study program that is offered at another institution of higher education. [2/25/00, 7/13/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: APPROVED by the Governor on
September 7. [Chapter #355]
AB 2409 (Migden) UC, CSU: Year-Round Programs
As finally amended, this bill prohibits summer session fees at the UC and CSU from exceeding the fees charged for any other academic term, if the state provides funding to offset any revenue losses. The bill also provides that the UC and CSU retain the flexibility to implement year-round operations differently on individual campuses. [3/10/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00, 6/30/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: APPROVED by the Governor on
September 11. [Chapter #383]
SB 338 (Wright) Intercollegiate Athletics: Prior Public Notice
This bill requests campuses of the UC and requires the campuses of the CSU that maintain an intercollegiate athletic program as of January 1, 2001, to provide public notice of the proposed discontinuation of any intercollegiate athletic team (without specifying a time period). The bill includes a provision requiring that written notice be made to those students who have been offered admission to the University in the year during which the proposed discontinuation of a sport is to occur.
The bill also requires that any scholarship student athlete whose sport is suspended or eliminated be notified and his/her scholarship be honored. In addition, the campus would be required to make every reasonable effort to place the affected student athletes in the same athletic program located at another university. [2/12/99, 4/1/99, 5/18/99, 7/13/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: VETOED by the Governor on September
6. In his veto message, the Governor stated that the bill would reduce
the flexibility of campuses to make decisions regarding continuation, expansion,
or elimination of academic and athletic programs, and since the UC and
the CSU "have already committed to honoring scholarships for affected students
and to helping place those students in similar athletic programs in other
institutions, it is not necessary to codify these practices."
SB 1779 (Johnston) CSU: Consolidated Campus Enterprise Debt Program TRUSTEE BILL
This bill would permit revenues of projects funded by bonds issued pursuant to the State University Revenue Bond Act of 1947 to be shared with other self supporting revenue funded projects (e.g.: student unions, parking, housing). [3/3/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00, 6/23/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: APPROVED by Governor Davis on August 31. [Chapter #285]
[Note: This proposal would combine the campus self-supported enterprise programs--student unions, parking, student housing--into a single new debt program. Combining the individual debt programs into a campus-based blended debt program would increase debt capacity, reduce future borrowing costs, and promote more flexible financing based on campus priority decisions.
The consolidated debt proposal would not permit one program to use the fee revenue collected from another. University Student Union fee revenue, for example, still must be used for USU programs.
The CSU projects a savings of $890,000 over
the course of a $25 million, 30 year revenue bond, as a result of the approval
of this legislation.]
SCR 83 (Polanco) Higher Education: Capital Outlay Funding
This Senate Concurrent Resolution sought to modify the way in which revenue deriving from voter approved facilities bond acts is divided among the three segments of public higher education. The current practice of distributing the revenue equally between the UC, CSU and Community Colleges systems would be replaced with a new approach based on enrollment growth. [5/12/00, 7/13/00, 9/1/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: Died in the Assembly, when the Assembly leadership refused to let the measure come to a hearing.
[Note: The action needed was for the Assembly to concur in the Senate's amendments, which held compromise language on which the three segments had reached consensus.
That compromise consisted of two elements: (1) creation of a special reserve that essentially would have guaranteed the community colleges their one-third, which they currently and have always received via a "gentleman's agreement"; and (2) creation of a commission comprised of legislative staff, and representatives of the California Postsecondary Education Commission, the Legislative Analyst's Office, the Department of Finance, the Office of the Secretary for Education, and the three segments, to reach consensus on "the principles that should guide the allocation of future bond proceeds during the annual budget process."
As initially written, both the UC and CSU vigorously
opposed SCR 83 because the distribution it proposed would have significantly
reduced the amount of money going to these two systems for their respective
capital outlay needs--which could not be recovered through local bond revenue
initiatives, an option available to the community colleges.]
Return to Archive List
1. California Secretary of State Bill Jones has designated the week of October 2 - 10 as Voter Registration Week. The deadline for registering to vote in the November 7 General Election is October 9. Those entitled to vote must be California residents for 29 days before the election.
Reasons to register or re-register:
. If you have never registered to vote;
. If you have moved since the last election;
. If you have changed your name; or
. If you want to change your party affiliation.
Voter registration forms are available in my office, as well as at most post offices, libraries, fire stations, chambers of commerce, Department of Motor Vehicles offices, city halls, and senior citizen centers.
The forms are available in several languages by calling the numbers specified: Spanish [1-800 232-VOTA]; Chinese [1-800-339-2857]; Vietnamese [1-800-339-8163]; Tagalog [1-800-339-2957]; Japanese [1-800-339-2865]; and Korean [1-800-481-8683].
About 3 weeks before the election, registered voters will receive a Sample Ballot in the mail which will indicate their precinct and the address of their polling place.
If you know any individuals who are not registered to vote, please encourage them to do so by referring them to me or to one of the locations listed above.
2. Legislation recognizing the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed this week by the Legislature. SCR 100 was introduced on August 25 by Senator Wesley Chesbro (D - Humboldt) and flew through both houses of the Legislature in just 4 days. The Senate Concurrent Resolution acknowledges "those who have made contributions to ensure equal access and opportunity to all citizens of this state." Once the measure is signed, copies of it will be transmitted to Senator Chesbro for distribution. (I have requested a copy on behalf of the University's Center on Disabilities.)
3. Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D - Van Nuys) has already announced his committee chairs for the 2001 Legislative Session, scheduled to begin next January 2. Assembly Member Elaine Alquist (D - Santa Clara), wife of former Senator Al Alquist, who retired from the Senate after 34 years in the state Legislature, will head the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, while Assembly Member Virginia Strom-Martin (D - Santa Rosa) will preside over the Assembly Education [K -12] Committee. (Note: All of Hertzberg's appointments are dependent on the Democrats retaining control in the lower house.)
4. Millionaire venture capitalist, Tim Draper, who single-handedly funded the drive to place the school voucher initiative (Prop. 38) on the November ballot, has announced an interest in running for Governor in 2002 as the Republican candidate. Education Beat reports that although his name had been raised during the Republican National Convention in early August, Draper had actually mentioned the possibility of running for Governor three years earlier.
Draper's personal wealth--and the name recognition the school voucher initiative is giving him- will make his run against incumbent Gray Davis an interesting race to watch.
Other names mentioned recently as possible GOP gubernatorial candidates in 2002: Secretary of State Bill Jones, Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte--and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
5. The Legislature officially adjourned at
midnight on August 31, with bills either dying or being sent forward to
the Governor--who will have 30 days to act on them (to September 30).
AB 1773 (Romero) Intellectual Property: Ownership
This CFA-sponsored bill seeks to protect the lectures and other forms of instruction of faculty members at campuses of the UC, the CSU, and the California Community Colleges from unauthorized use.
The bill would prohibit any business, agency, or person from preparing, causing to be prepared, giving, selling, transferring, or otherwise distributing or publishing any contemporaneous recording of an academic presentation of an instructor employed by the UC, the CSU or the California Community Colleges. (The prohibition includes tape recordings and handwritten or typewritten class notes.)
The bill also seeks to require the UC, the CSU and the California Community Colleges, in consultation with faculty, to develop policies to prohibit the unauthorized recording, dissemination, and publication of academic presentations for commercial purposes; to adopt specific regulations governing a violation of these policies by students; and to adopt procedures to inform all students of these regulations.
In addition, the bill establishes civil penalties for anyone who seeks to obtain financial or economic gain from the unauthorized dissemination of the academic presentation.
Finally, the bill specifies that nothing in these provisions "shall be construed to interfere with the rights of disabled students under the law." [1/21/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/0, 7/13/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [22 - 13] by the
Senate on August 29; the Assembly concurred in the Senate's amendments
on August 30, and the bill was enrolled on the same date. The bill is on
its way to the Governor's desk.
AB 1935 (Wildman) CSU: Labor Relations
This bill would require the CSU to prepare a report that contains prescribed information relating to employees of auxiliary organizations. CSU would be required to consult with interested parties in the preparation of this report, which is mandated to be submitted to the Governor, the chairs of the Assembly Higher Education and Senate Education Committees, the employee organization that is the exclusive representative of CSU employees, and to the Auxiliary Organizations Association--by February 1, 2001. [2/25/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [22 - 11] by the
Senate on August 29; the Assembly concurred in the Senate's amendments
on August 30, and the bill was enrolled on the same day.
SB 796 (Dunn) Credit Card Marketing Practices: Public Postsecondary Education
After lying dormant for nearly a year, Senator Dunn's bill was resurrected and has been on a fast track through the Legislature--culminating in its being enrolled and sent to the Governor last Friday (8/25).
As finally amended and approved, this bill requests the UC, the CSU, the California Community Colleges, and various private and independent colleges and universities to adopt polices to regulate the marketing practices used on their respective campuses by credit card companies.
In adopting these policies, legislative intent is expressed that these entities consider including all of the following requirements:
--Sites where credit cards are marketed should be limited and be registered with campus administration;
--Credit card marketers should be prohibited from offering gifts to students in return for filling out credit card applications--unless the student has first read a "credit card education brochure" prepared either by the university or by a nonprofit credit card/debt education organization. Legislative intent is expressed that campuses utilize existing materials prepared by the nonprofit entities and thus not incur the expense of preparing new materials;
--Credit card and debt education materials should be included in brochures inserted in shopping bags at campus bookstores; and
--Credit card and debt education and counseling sessions should become a regular part of campus programs--including those relating to new student orientation. [3/5/99, 4/20/99, 6/18/99, 8/20/99Legislative Updates]
Status: Governor's Desk. [Note:
Since this bill does not contain an Urgency Clause, it would take effect
on January 1, 2001, if the Governor signs it.]
SB 1547 (Costa) CSU: Real Property Transactions TRUSTEE BILL
As initially written, this bill would have provided authorization to the CSU to sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of real property and use the proceeds received from this transactions for the acquisition or improvement of property for the CSU campus affected by the transaction.
The bill was amended on August 25 to delete the blanket authorization and instead authorize the specific transactions needed at 4 CSU campuses--one of which is CSUN's land swap with the Los Angeles Unified School District to facilitate the creation of the University's proposed Academy School. [2/18/00, 4/27/00, 6/2/00, 6/23/00, 8/25/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [20 - 0] by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee on August 24;
PASSED [76 - 0] by the Assembly;
the Senate concurred in the Assembly's amendments on August 31, and the
bill was enrolled on the same date. The bill is now in the Governor's hands.
SB 1721 (Hayden) CSU: Central American Studies Center
This bill authorizes the CSU to establish a Central American Studies Center at California State University, Northridge. As most recently amended, the bill stated legislative intent to provide one year of start-up costs.
The bill was subsequently amended to provide that the Institute be established "with nonpublic funds or with other funds that California State University, Northridge, is authorized to expend for, and makes available for, this purpose."
As amended on August 25, the bill additionally authorizes the establishment of an African American Political Institute at CSUN, and a Center for Portuguese Studies at CSU, Stanislaus. The bill specifies that each campus can spend up to $250,000 from its regularly appropriated budgets for each of these Centers.
The bill contains a sunset clause, which repeals the provisions of the bill on January 1, 2010. [3/3/00, 4/14/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [15 - 5] by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee on August 25;
PASSED [45 - 21] by the Assembly
on August 30. The Senate concurred in the Assembly's amendments on August
31, and the bill was enrolled on the same date. The bill's fate now rests
with the Governor.
SCR 83 (Polanco) Higher Education: Capital Outlay Funding
Currently when voters approve statewide bonds for the construction of facilities at higher education institutions, the revenue from the sale of these bonds is split equally between the three segments: The University of California, The California State University, and The California Community Colleges systems.
As initially introduced, this Senate Concurrent Resolution sought to change this method of distribution to one based on enrollment growth. Given the large number of community colleges--106--the division of bond revenue would have disproportionately advantaged that system over the other two systems of public higher education.
As amended on August 25, the measure now expresses the intent of the Legislature to reserve for the community college system one-third of the revenue deriving from any statewide bond act measure approved by the voters.
As amended, the Resolution also calls upon the President pro Tempore of the Senate and the Assembly Speaker to appoint a legislator to convene one or more meetings with the 11 representatives listed below, to reach a consensus regarding the principles used to guide the allocation process of future bond acts, and to report to the Legislature and the Governor not later than December 1, 2000:
--Representatives from all three segments of
higher education
--Staff members from the Senate Education
& Assembly Higher Education Committees
--Staff members from the Senate & Assembly
Appropriations Committees
--Staff members from the Senate & Assembly
Budget Committees
--Representative from the Department of Finance
--Representative from the Office of the Secretary
of Education
[5/12/00, 7/13/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [32 - 2] by the Senate on August 28, and sent back to the Assembly for concurrence in the amendments.
[Notes: The two dissenting votes were cast by Senators Dick Monteith (R - Fresno) and Bill Morrow (R - Oceanside, San Diego County).
The above amendments represent compromise language
agreed
to by all three segments of higher education. With opposition now removed,
the Governor is expected to sign the Resolution when it reaches his desk.]
Return to Archive List
1. The big news in Sacramento this week is the announcement by Governor Gray Davis of an agreement with state legislators on significant changes in the Cal Grant program. The new program, which lawmakers estimate could cost as much as $1.2 billion, would change the emphasis of the awards from merit-based to need-based. Students who maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point-average (GPA) would be eligible for Cal Grant A awards--amounting to $1,428 for CSU students and $3,429 for UC students. Students at private institutions could receive up to a maximum of $9,700 toward their fees. The qualifying family income maximum for these awards is $64,100 (for a family of 4).
Students who earn a minimum of a 2.0 GPA (or "C" average), would be eligible for Cal Grant B awards. The qualifying family income (again for a family of 4) is $33,700, and students would receive $1,500 to cover living costs and books for their first year in college. Those students who go on for a second and additional years would qualify for a full package of financial aid.
California ranks 39th among the 50 states in the percentage of high school graduates going on to college. (Massachusetts, New York and North Dakota rank first, second, and third, respectively.) The motivation behind the changes in the Cal Grant program is to increase that ranking and number.
2. A novel suspension of the state sales tax was reported this week in StateNet. The newsletter reports that Florida, for the third consecutive year, is suspending the sales tax on clothing for the nine days before school starts. While the state stands to lose about $42 million in revenue, the shopping malls expect to ring up record sales--if the past two years' experience is repeated.
StateNet reports that Iowa is trying the "sales tax holiday" for the first time this year. Lawmakers included golf clothing, clerical vestments and bridal apparel in the exemption, along with clothing and footwear--but not backpacks or school supplies.
3. The Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees may soon be elected by area if a bill authored by Assembly Member Tony Cardenas is approved by the Governor. His bill, AB 8, survived legislative hurdles this week and was sent forward to the Governor on August 23.
Currently, trustees are elected "at large." AB 8 would instead require the Board to be elected by and from 7 separate trustee areas--which must be established by the Board no later than July 1, 2001. Implementation would be phased in over a two-year period, between 2003 and 2005.
Although Governor Davis vetoed a similar bill last year, Cardenas believes he will sign it the second time around because the bill enjoys broader support than it did a year ago.
4. Honoring Cesar Chavez. Governor Davis signed legislation authored by Senator Richard Polanco (D - Los Angeles) last Friday, declaring March 31 "Cesar Chavez Day." Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union and led a nationwide boycott of grapes during the 1960s. Chavez' advocacy on behalf of the farmworkers resulted in passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, signed into law by former Governor Jerry Brown. Chavez died in 1993 at the age of 66.
Although Senator Polanco said the Governor's action created the first American holiday honoring a Latino leader, both Texas and Arizona earlier created state holidays to honor the famed farm worker and civil rights leader. However, the Texas holiday is optional and the Arizona day is not a paid holiday.
Polanco's efforts to have his bill signed into law on Chavez' March 31 birthday were derailed, when several lawmakers complained that the bill didn't celebrate Chavez' life or work in any meaning ful way. (As initially written, it simply established a statewide holiday in Chavez' name.)
As rewritten and approved by the Governor, the new law establishes the holiday and additionally requires a "day of service and learning" in public schools, with students studying Chavez' legacy and participating in public service projects.
Although the final version of the bill won bipartisan support, reaction was mixed elsewhere in the state. The Los Angeles Daily News, for example, editorialized that a better way to honor Chavez might have been to give farm workers a paid day off, rather than state employees.
That view, however, did not deter Los Angeles City Attorney and mayoral candidate, Jim Hahn, from asking the City Council this week to declare a paid holiday for city employees in honor of Cesar Chavez.
5. Finally, courtesy of this week's Chronicle of Higher Education, comes this report from Beloit College which publishes an annual "mindset list" to put into perspective for its faculty what incoming freshmen know and don't know. Included in the 50-item list for the class of 2004 (most of whom were born in 1982) are these mind-jolts:
"The Kennedy tragedy was a plane crash, not an
assassination;
A 45 is a gun, not a record with a large hole
in the center;
They have never heard a phone 'ring';
They have never referred to Russia and China
as 'the Reds;'
Women sailors have always been stationed on U.S.
Navy ships;
They have never used a bottle of White Out;
'Spam' and 'cookies' are not necessarily foods."
AB 172 (Firebaugh) CSU: International Study Program TRUSTEE BILL
As initially written, this bill sought to establish a scholarship program, under the administration of the CSU, for the purpose of making it possible for 50 students of the CSU to attend universities in Mexico for one academic year, and for 50 Mexican students to attend the CSU for one academic year.
As amended on June 29, the bill now seeks to create the International Higher Education Scholarship Program, under the administration of the CSU, for the purpose of making it possible for up to 100 CSU students each year to attend universities in nations defined by the bill as "California's global strategic trading partners, including Mexico, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom."
The bill also provides for up to 100 students from these nations to attend the CSU each year. [3/3/00 Legislative Update]
Status: PASSED [Vote not yet available]
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 24.
AB 632 (Romero) Emergency Permit Teachers:
Exemption from Nonresident Tuition
TRUSTEE BILL
CalState TEACH is an alternative learning program within the CSU system aimed at the thousands of emergency permit elementary teachers currently teaching in California schools. Using the latest technology, including the Internet, video, audio, and print materials, CalState TEACH will deliver high quality teacher education directly to these intern teachers, enabling them to become fully credentialed in just 18 months.
Existing law already exempts students holding a valid teaching credential from paying non-resident tuition at CSU campuses under certain circumstances. AB 632 would add an additional exemption for holders of an emergency permit--the group targeted by the CalState TEACH program--who are employed in a school district.
The bill contains an Urgency Clause, meaning it would take effect upon the Governor's signature, rather than on January 1, 2001. [3/3/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED (with Urgency Clause
added) [38 - 0] by the full Senate on August 18; the Assembly concurred
in the Senate amendments on August 22, and the bill was enrolled on the
same date. It now awaits action by the Governor.
AB 1773 (Romero) Intellectual Property: Ownership
This CFA-sponsored bill seeks to protect the lectures and other forms of instruction of faculty members at campuses of the UC, the CSU, and the California Community Colleges from unauthorized use.
The bill would prohibit any business, agency, or person from preparing, causing to be prepared, giving, selling, transferring, or otherwise distributing or publishing any contemporaneous recording of an academic presentation of an instructor employed by the UC, the CSU or the California Community Colleges. (The prohibition includes tape recordings and handwritten or typewritten class notes.)
As amended on June 15, the bill requires the UC, the CSU and the California Community Colleges, in consultation with faculty, to develop policies to prohibit the unauthorized recording, dissemination, and publication of academic presentations for commercial purposes; to adopt specific regulations governing a violation of these policies by students; and to adopt procedures to inform all students of these regulations.
The bill also establishes civil penalties for anyone who seeks to obtain financial or economic gain from the unauthorized dissemination of the academic presentation.
Finally, the bill specifies that nothing in these provisions "shall be construed to interfere with the rights of disabled students under the law." [1/21/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/0, 7/13/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [vote not yet available]
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 24.
AB 1857 (Romero) CSU: Student Organizations
This bill, which is sponsored by the California State Student Association, would establish the Gloria Romero Open Meetings Act of 2000. It would modify open meeting requirements for student body organizations to include greater flexibility and protection. It covers several issues identified as problems resulting from existing open meeting laws, including the inability to conduct a meeting by teleconference and the lack of a provision to protect the rights of the public and students to address a governing board.
As amended on June 7, the bill creates a new misdemeanor crime applicable to any member of the [student] legislative body who attends a meeting of that body where (1) an action is taken in violation of any provision of the bill, and (2) the individual knows the meeting is in violation of a provision of the bill. [2/11/00, 4/27/00, 5/19/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [35 - 1] by the Senate
on August 18. [Note: The sole dissenting vote was cast by Senator Debra
Bowen (D - Marina del Rey).] The Assembly concurred in the Senate's
amendments on August 23, and the bill was enrolled on the same date. It
awaits action by the Governor.
AB 1861 (Runner) UC, CSU, CCC: Transferability of Courses
As initially written, this bill sought to request the UC, and require the CSU and the California Community Colleges, to develop a standardized system of eligibility for transferring courses. Under this system, credits from equivalent courses that are eligible for transfer would be uniformly transferable, irrespective of the community college campus where the credits are earned.
The bill required that this system be in place no later than June 30, 2000. In addition, the bill sought to require the UC, the CSU, and the California Community Colleges to jointly develop, maintain, and disseminate a common lower division undergraduate curriculum by January 1, 2007.
As amended on June 29, all of the above provisions were deleted, and the bill now requests the UC and requires the CSU to develop and maintain prescribed articulation agreements with all campuses of the California Community Colleges prior to the 2005-06 academic year.
As amended on August 8, the bill would require the California Community Colleges to negotiate with the UC and the CSU when developing these articulation agreements. [2/11/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/00, 7/13/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [vote not yet available]
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 24.
AB 1935 (Wildman) CSU: Labor Relations
As initially written, this bill would have included all foundations, extension operations, or other organizational entities controlled by the CSU Board of Trustees among the defined employers who must collectively bargain with employees under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act.
As amended on August 18, this bill would require instead that the CSU prepare a report including prescribed information relating to employees of auxiliary organizations. CSU would be required to consult with interested parties in the preparation of this report, which is mandated to be submitted to the Governor, the chairs of the Assembly Higher Education and Senate Education Committees, the employee organization that is the exclusive representative of CSU employees, and to the Auxiliary Organizations Association--by February 1, 2001. [2/25/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [9 - 2] by the Senate
Education Committee on August 18, and referred to the Senate Appropriations
Committee on the same date.
AB 1958 (Romero) UC, CSU: Deferred Enrollment
This bill would request the UC and require the CSU to allow any person who is admitted to full-time undergraduate status at any of their respective campuses to request a deferment of enrollment for up to one academic year.
In essence, this bill would allow an applicant who has been admitted to a UC or CSU campus to defer enrolling for a year while not losing his/her "place in line," and would also preclude the individual from having to go through the application process a second time.
As amended on June 21, the bill now specifies that the deferment be granted on a case-by-case basis, within the discretion of the university, in response to criteria cited by the student, including, but not limited to any of the following: (1) financial need, (2) family commitment or obligation (especially a situation caused by the death or serious illness of a family member), (3) medical condition, and (4) the student's desire to enroll in a foreign study program that is offered at another institution of higher education. [2/25/00, 7/13/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [22-14] by the Senate
on August 23. The Assembly concurred in the Senate's amendments on August
24, and the bill was enrolled on the same date. The bill now awaits action
by the Governor.
AB 2384 CSU: Omnibus Legislation TRUSTEE BILL
(Committee on Higher Ed)
During the course of each legislative session, several relatively minor, technical legislative items are brought to the attention of the Chancellor's Office. On several occasions, the CSU has sponsored omnibus legislation which includes all of these items in one bill. AB 2384 is such a bill. Items included in this omnibus legislation:
Student Health Centers: Removes the outdated cap for health center construction, which is the only such cap that currently exists in statute for self-supported programs. Also repeals an outdated section of the Educ. Code.
Currently, Education Code section 89702 requires that all health center capital outlay projects in excess of $65,000 be approved by the Legislature. This approval process is outdated and inconsistent with other non-state funded trustee programs, such as the housing, parking, and/or student union programs. Already, all non-state capital outlay projects must undergo an internal trustee review prior to becoming part of the campus five-year capital outlay program.
Education Code 89702.1, which is proposed to be repealed, referred to a specific set of fiscal years, and is outdated. ALL OF THESE PROVISIONS RELATING TO STUDENT HEALTH CENTERS WERE DELETED BY A 6/28/00 AMENDMENT.
Financial Aid Resources in Local Trust Accounts: Allows deposit of work study and grant funds in local trust accounts. The authority currently exists to allow such deposits for scholarship funds and student loan programs. DELETED BY A 5/15/00 AMENDMENT.
Auxiliary Organizations - Closed Sessions: Allows auxiliary organization boards (such as campus Foundation Boards) to meet in closed session to protect donor or prospective donor confidentiality.
Repeal of Government Code Section 18598: Repeals an outdated reference to the "State Nautical School," now the California Maritime Academy.
CSU Procurement Authority: Clarifies and organizes the CSU's authority for procurement and contracting. Should this legislation be enacted, it will provide the CSU clarity and strengthen legislative intent by providing a central location for procurement policies applicable only to the CSU.
Minor Capital Outlay Limit: The proposed change will automatically adjust the limit of a minor capital outlay project identified in the Public Contract Code to coincide with the limit set in the annual Budget Act, without requiring special legislation.
In addition, the bill was amended on April 10 to add two unrelated provisions: (1) one sponsored by the state Treasurer's Office that changes the reporting requirements associated with the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act (a prepaid tuition program); and (2) one sponsored by the California Community Colleges system which would prohibit community college governing boards from expending state funds to establish and maintain community service classes. [3/3/00, 4/27/00, 5/12/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [39 - 0] by the Senate
on August 22; the Assembly concurred in the Senate's amendments on August
24, and the bill was enrolled on the same date. It now awaits action by
the Governor.
AB 2497 (Romero) CSU: Labor Relations
This bill seeks to make the CSU subject to the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. [3/10/00, 5/19/00, 6/30/00 Legislative Updates]
[Note: The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) regulates such matters as overtime compensation and defines a covered "public agency" to include the government or any agency of a state. The U.S. Supreme Court has held, however, that the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents bringing suit to enforce the FLSA against a nonconsenting state in federal court, and further, that Congress also lacks the power to subject nonconsenting states to private suits in state courts.
If AB 2497 is enacted, such suits would be permitted. However, the chances of this bill being approved in its present form aren't high. It's unlikely that the state would "consent" for one segment of one agency, to the exclusion of all of the other state agencies.]
Status: PASSED [vote not available yet]
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 24.
SB 338 (Wright) Intercollegiate Athletics: Prior Public Notice
This bill requests campuses of the UC and requires the campuses of the CSU that maintain an intercollegiate athletic program as of January 1, 2001, to provide public notice of the proposed discontinuation of any intercollegiate athletic team (without specifying a time period). The bill includes a provision requiring that written notice be made to those students who have been offered admission to the University in the year during which the proposed discontinuation of a sport is to occur.
The bill also requires that any scholarship student athlete whose sport is suspended or eliminated be notified and his/her scholarship be honored. In addition, the campus would be required to make every reasonable effort to place the affected student athletes in the same athletic program located at another university. [2/12/99, 4/1/99, 5/18/99, 7/13/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [68 - 8] by the Assembly
on August 21, and sent to the Senate for concurrence in the amendments
on the same date.
SB 1547 (Costa) CSU: Real Property Transactions TRUSTEE BILL
This bill authorizes the CSU to sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of real property (except in certain prescribed circumstances involving property received as a gift). The bill provides that the money received from these transactions would be appropriated to the Trustees for the acquisition or improvement of property for the particular state university campus affected by the transaction.
The bill would additionally authorize the CSU to lease any personal or real property belonging to the university if the Trustees determine that the transaction is in the best interests of the university or if the property is for the use of the university.
The bill contains a January 1, 2006 sunset clause. The bill also contains an Urgency Clause, meaning that the bill will take effect upon the Governor's signature, rather than on January 1, 2001. [2/18/00, 4/27/00, 6/2/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
[Note: Under current law, the CSU is authorized to sell any property if it was received as a gift, bequest or donation, or acquired with private funds. In the case of property purchased with state funds, legislative authority is required to make the sale and retain the proceeds.
Several campuses have wanted to exchange or sell parcels of land, retaining the proceeds in the latter instance to apply to campus-specific needs. The Education Code is replete with special provisions governing the disposal of university property. The process for obtaining legislative authorization to sell or exchange property on a case-by-case basis is tedious and time-consuming, and can hinder proactive asset management and long-term capital planning.
SB 1547 would provide the CSU with statutory authority to dispose of real property systemwide without legislative approval, and to deposit the proceeds in local trust funds for campus-specific needs.
SB 1547 is of particular interest to Cal State Northridge, since it would enable the land swap the University needs to move ahead with the Los Angeles Unified School District in creating the new Academy School that is envisioned to be sited on the campus.]
Status: PASSED [vote not available yet]
by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 24.
SB 1604 (O'Connell) CSU: Board of Trustees
This bill seeks to increase the membership of the CSU Board of Trustees by requiring the Governor to appoint a non-faculty employee of the university for a 2-year term.
The bill specifies that the non-faculty employee member of the Board appointed by the Governor shall not participate on any subcommittee of the board that is responsible for collective bargaining negotiations. [2/25/00, 4/7/00, 5/19/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: This bill was withdrawn from
Enrollment on August 14, and ordered back to the Senate. [Note:
The Governor determined that he did not want additional appointments to
the Board over which he did not have full discretion. SB 1604 specifies
that the Governor make his appointment "from a list of at least two persons
furnished by an employee organization consisting of representatives of
all of the exclusive representatives of employees of the CSU." As it is
not likely that the Senate will amend the bill to delete this provision,
this bill is dead for all intents and purposes.]
SB 1779 (Johnston) CSU: Consolidated Campus Enterprise Debt Program TRUSTEE BILL
This bill would permit revenues of projects funded by bonds issued pursuant to the State University Revenue Bond Act of 1947 to be shared with other self supporting revenue funded projects (e.g.: student unions, parking, housing). [3/3/00, 5/12/00, 6/2/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [62 - 0] by the Assembly on August 18; the Senate concurred in the Assembly's amendments on August 22, and the bill was enrolled on the same date. It now awaits action by the Governor.
[Note: This proposal would combine the campus self-supported enterprise programs--student unions, parking, student housing--into a single new debt program. Combining the individual debt programs into a campus-based blended debt program would increase debt capacity, reduce future borrowing costs, and promote more flexible financing based on campus priority decisions.
The consolidated debt proposal would not permit
one program to use the fee revenue collected from another. University Student
Union fee revenue, for example, still must be used for USU programs.]
SB 2047 (Polanco) Civil Rights: Outreach
This bill would make a legislative finding that the prohibition on preferential treatment on the basis of race or sex in public employment, public education, and public contracting, does not prevent governmental agencies from engaging in public sector outreach programs that may include focused outreach and recruitment of minority groups and women if any group is underrepresented in entry level positions or in an educational institution. [3/3/00, 4/27/00, 6/9/00, 6/30/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [47 - 23] by the
Assembly on August 21, and sent to the Senate for concurrence on the amendments
on the same date.
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1. Governor Davis signed the 2000-2001 budget on time, despite receiving it several days late from the state Legislature. As reported by Chancellor Charles Reed, the General Fund increase totals $329.7 million, the highest increase ever to the system. All of the CSU budget items included in the Trustees' Budget request, submitted to the Governor last October, were funded. Of particular interest to CSUN and the CSU, the Budget provides for the following:
--4.5% enrollment growth (12,577 FTEs systemwide).
--6% compensation pool for faculty and staff (with specific percentages subject to collective bargaining).
--$10 million for instructional equipment needs in high cost programs (agriculture, biological and computer sciences, engineering, and nursing programs). [Note: CSU's request was for $15 million, which the Governor reduced to $10 million and specified be used for one-time expenditures, as opposed to on-going. Internal discussions are currently underway within the CSU's Budget and Academic Affairs offices on the funding methodology to be used in distributing these funds to the campuses. It will be mid-August at the earliest before the determination on the level of allocations is made.]
--$10 million in planning money for CSU, Channel Islands. [Note: In the Governor's budget message last January, he stated that he was "fully committed" to providing this funding for the Channel Islands campus, but wanted CSU to address first the long-term needs of the Multi-Campus Regional Center in Stockton. CSU subsequently committed to working with both the CSU Stanislaus campus and the community to meet the student demand in this region, and the Governor subsequently restored the funding, as originally requested by the Board of Trustees.]
--$33.7 million to reduce summer fees at UC and CSU to the same level as the fees for regular academic terms--the first step in moving toward year-round operations.
--$98.9 million to expand the Cal Grant Program to fund 22,000 new Cal Grant A, B, and C awards for financially needy students.
--Deletion of a $200,000 augmentation for CSU San Jose to plan an Education Collaborative. [Note: In his veto message, the Governor stated that, "Although this additional augmentation may be meritorious, I believe the University can redirect resources for this project if it is a high priority."]
--Deletion of a $300,000 augmentation for CSUN to establish a Central American Studies Research Institute. [Note: The Governor's message, mirroring the one above, provided that, "Although this additional augmentation may be meritorious, I believe the University can redirect resources for this purpose if it is a high priority."]
--Reduced from $5 million to $4 million a legislative augmentation to fund the CSU Los Angeles Performing Arts Center--formerly St. Vibiana's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles. This appropriation will renovate the facility and transform it into a performing arts center. [Note: The Governor stated, "The sustained $4 million will provide the state share of this project. Any additional funding needed must be provided by local entities that would benefit from the use of this facility."]
Other appropriations of note: An increase of $12 million was appropriated for the California Arts Council, the largest annual increase in the agency's 24-year history. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the increase includes $10 million--nearly double the current amount-- for an arts in-education initiative that pulls into collaboration artists, educators, arts organizations and the public schools. The appropriation for the agency also includes an additional $2 million for a new multicultural arts development program.
The Times reported that the final Budget also included substantial funds for a number of Southern California museums: $2.5 million for the Los Angeles Children's Museum, $2 million each for the Skirball Museum and the El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and $1 million for the Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture. On the other hand, the Governor vetoed funds for the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum and the Hollywood Entertainment Museum ($1 million deleted for each).
In sum, the Governor actually wielded his blue pencil lightly, deleting only $1.4 billion from the $100.8 billion spending plan sent to him by the state Legislature. The final Budget provides $3.2 billion in tax breaks, $30.8 billion for public schools (an increase of 11.6%), and a reserve of $2.3 billion ($700 million more than the Legislature had set aside).
Governor Davis' June 30 signature on the Budget was a milestone of sorts: It's only the seventh time in 33 years that the Budget has been signed by the July 1 Constitutional deadline.
2. At one time 38 initiatives were circulating for signatures, promising to make the November 7 ballot one of the heaviest in history. As of the July 7 deadline, only 8 had qualified--no doubt a source of relief to a forest of trees. Those 8 qualifying initiatives include the following:
--School Facilities: Lowers the threshold needed to approve local school bonds from a 2/3 requirement to 55%.
--School Vouchers: Authorizes annual state payments of at least $4000 per pupil for qualifying private and religious schools as grants for new enrollees.
--"Stop the Hidden Taxes Initiative": Seeks to treat mandatory fees as taxes, thereby subjecting them to a 2/3 vote.
--Public Works Projects: Allows use of private contractors for engineering and architectural services on public works projects, subject to competitive bidding and compliance with state rules.
--Veterans' Bond Act of 2000: Authorizes the sale of $500 million in General Obligation Bonds, the revenue from which would assist veterans to purchase farms, homes, or mobile homes.
--Legislature: Retirement: Amends the state Constitution to permit legislators elected or serving after November 1, 1990, the option of participating in the Public Employees' Retirement System. [Existing law provides for legislators to participate only in the federal Social Security System.]
--Drug Treatment Diversion Program: Requires a drug treatment program and probation for certain non-violent drug possession offenses and similar parole violations (not including sale, production or manufacture).
--Campaign Spending Limits: Caps donations from individuals to state Senate and Assembly candidates at $3,000; to candidates for statewide offices at $5,000, and to the Governor at $20,000. The initiative also contains incentives for candidates to agree to voluntary spending limits. [Note: If approved by voters, this initiative would repeal Prop. 208, the campaign finance reform initiative approved in 1996 that called for much more restrictive limits. That initiative is currently tied up in the courts.]
On the local level, there will likely be two bond issues put forward for city voters to decide:
--$378.5 million for the Fire Department to build 19 new fire stations and to replace the Department's Air Operations and Helicopter Maintenance Facility at Van Nuys Airport. [Seven of the new fire stations would be built in the Valley: Arleta, Encino, North Hollywood, Northridge, Studio City, Sun Valley and Woodland Hills.]
--$154.1 million for the Animal Services Department to replace or repair facilities at each of the Department's six shelters, and to build a new facility in South Central Los Angeles (to alleviate the severe overcrowding in the current one.)
Finally, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a county measure to place before county residents: Whether to increase the size of the current Board from five to nine members.
3. The U.S. Supreme Court adjourned, declining to hear a case involving a Title IX Appeal, filed by former Illinois State University students. Student athletes at the campus alleged that the University had violated their rights when it dropped their sports--men's soccer and wrestling--in an effort to bring the university into compliance with Title IX gender equity requirements. The student athletes argued that they were victims of reverse discrimination and had also been denied their right of equal protection under the law.
As reported in an earlier Legislative Update [2/4/00], after a lower court had dismissed the athletes' suit, an appeal to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals resulted in a ruling in favor of the University.
Two other cases involving similar challenges to Title IX are still moving through the lower court system. One involves Miami University in Ohio, and the other one of our sister campuses, Cal State Bakersfield.
4. The state Legislature adjourned on July
7 to begin a month-long Summer Recess. Legislative Update will
suspend publication until after the body reconvenes on August 7.
AB 1773 (Romero) Intellectual Property: Ownership
This CFA-sponsored bill seeks to protect the lectures and other forms of instruction of faculty members at campuses of the UC, the CSU, and the California Community Colleges from unauthorized use.
The bill would prohibit any business, agency, or person from preparing, causing to be prepared, giving, selling, transferring, or otherwise distributing or publishing any contemporaneous recording of an academic presentation of an instructor employed by the UC, the CSU or the California Community Colleges. (The prohibition includes tape recordings and handwritten or typewritten class notes.)
As amended on June 15, the bill requires the UC, the CSU and the California Community Colleges, in consultation with faculty, to develop policies to prohibit the unauthorized recording, dissemination, and publication of academic presentations for commercial purposes.
The bill also establishes civil penalties for anyone who seeks to obtain financial or economic gain from the unauthorized dissemination of the academic presentation.
Finally, the bill specifies that nothing in these provisions "shall be construed to interfere with the rights of disabled students under the law." [1/21/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [7 - 0] by the Senate
Judiciary Committee on June 29, and by the Senate Education Committee (8
- 1) on July 5. The bill will be heard next in the Senate Appropriations
Committee, although a specific hearing date has not yet been scheduled.
[Note: The sole dissenting vote cast in the Senate Education Committee
was by Senator Dick Monteith - R, Modesto.]
AB 1861 (Runner) UC, CSU, CCC: Transferability of Courses
As initially written, this bill sought to request the UC, and require the CSU and the California Community Colleges, to develop a standardized system of eligibility for transferring courses. Under this system, credits from equivalent courses that are eligible for transfer would be uniformly transferable, irrespective of the community college campus where the credits are earned.
The bill required that this system be in place no later than June 30, 2000. In addition, the bill sought to require the UC, the CSU, and the California Community Colleges to jointly develop, maintain, and disseminate a common lower division undergraduate curriculum by January 1, 2007.
As amended on June 29, all of the above provisions were deleted, and the bill now requests the UC and requires the CSU to develop and maintain prescribed articulation agreements with all campuses of the California Community Colleges prior to the 2005-06 academic year. [2/11/00, 5/19/00, 6/2/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [12 - 0] by the Senate
Education Com. on July 5, and referred to the Senate Appropriations Com.
on the same date.
AB 1918 (Romero) Community Colleges: Transfer of Course Credits
This bill would enact the Access to Transfer Information for Community College Students Act. More than just a change of semantics, the bill, as amended on April 24, acknowledges the progress made by the UC and the CSU, in particular, in providing community college students with the information they need to transfer successfully to one of the four-year campuses of the two systems.
Rather than mandating "universal articulation agreements," the bill now directs community college campuses to provide students with copies of the transfer core curriculum--i.e., the lower-division, general education transfer curriculum that is fully articulated between the three systems of public higher education. The bill also directs that this information be included in the published class schedule of each community college. [2/18/00, 4/27/00, 5/19/00, 6/23/00 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [11 - 0] by the Senate
Appropriations Committee on June 26, and by the full Senate [39 - 0] on
July 6. The bill now goes to the Governor for approval.
AB 1958 (Romero) UC, CSU: Deferred Enrollment
This bill would request the UC and require the CSU to allow any person who is admitted to full-time undergraduate status at any of their respective campuses to request a deferment of enrollment for up to one academic year.
In essence, this bill would allow an applicant who has been admitted to a UC or CSU campus to defer enrolling for a year while not losing his/her "place in line," and would also preclude the individual from having to go through the application process a second time.
As amended on June 21, the bill now specifies that the deferment be granted on a case-by-case basis, within the discretion of the university, in response to criteria cited by the student, including, but not limited to any of the following: (1) financial need, (2) family commitment or obligation (especially a situation caused by the death or serious illness of a family member), (3) medical condition, and (4) the student's desire to enroll in a foreign study program that is offered at another institution of higher education. [2/25/00 Legislative Update]
Status: PASSED [12 - 0] by the Senate
Education Com. on July 5, and referred to the Senate Appropriations Com.
on the same date.
SB 338 (Wright) Intercollegiate Athletics: Prior Public Notice
As initially written, this bill sought to request the UC and require the California Community Colleges and the CSU to provide public notice at least one year prior to the discontinuation of any sport. The bill also specified that the notice be written and include an account of the purpose served by the proposed discontinuation. Finally, the bill prescribed an extensive, if not onerous written notification procedure.
After lying dormant for a year, the bill was resurrected and amended on June 28 to request campuses of the UC and require the campuses of the CSU that maintain an intercollegiate athletic program as of January 1, 2001, to provide public notice of the proposed discontinuation of any intercollegiate athletic team (without specifying a time period). The bill includes a provision requiring written notice be made to those students who have been offered admission to the University in the year during which the proposed discontinuation of a sport is to occur.
The bill also now requires that any scholarship student athlete, whose sport is suspended or eliminated, be notified and his/her scholarship be honored. In addition, the campus would be required to make every reasonable effort to place the affected student athletes in the same athletic program located at another university. [2/12/99, 4/1/99, 5/18/99 Legislative Updates]
Status: PASSED [8 - 1] by the Assembly
Higher Education Committee on June 20, and referred to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee on the same date. The bill is scheduled to be heard in that committee
on August 9. [Note: The dissenting vote was cast by Assembly Member
Steve Baldwin - R, El Cajon.]
SCR 83 (Polanco) Higher Education: Capital Outlay Funding
Currently when voters approve statewide bonds for the construction of facilities at higher education institutions, the revenue from the sale of these bonds is split equally between the three segments: The University of California, The California State University, and The California Community Colleges systems.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution expresses the intent of the Legislature to replace that method with an allocation system based on each segment's share of the projected undergraduate enrollment increases in higher education over the next 10 years, with some consideration for graduate enrollment. The Resolution also states legislative intent to assess the need for facilities at these campuses on the assumption that they will operate on a year-round basis. [5/12/00 Legislative Update]
Status: ADOPTED [10 - 1] in the Senate Education Committee on July 5. SCR 83 will be heard by the full Senate after the summer recess. [Note: The sole dissenting vote was cast by Senator Dick Monteith - R, Modesto.]
[Note: Both the University of California and The California State University system oppose this measure because it would result in significant underfunding of both UC and CSU's needs. Senator Polanco, author of this measure, proposed his alternative distribution plan after reviewing enrollment projections contained in a recent report compiled by the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC).
CPEC estimates that 696,622 additional undergraduate students will seek admission to the three systems by 2010, and that 76% of these new students will go to a community college, 17% to a CSU campus, and 7% to a UC.
CPEC also notes that California can currently afford bond sales of $4.5 billion. Assuming voter approval of a bond act at this level, the three systems could expect to receive about $1 billion per year over the next decade--or $333 million each--for capital projects under the existing formula.
Under Senator Polanco's plan, the community colleges would receive $760 million, the CSU $170 million, and the UC, $70 million. The community colleges would receive 144% in excess of their need, as estimated by CPEC, while the CSU would be underfunded by 53% and the UC by 89%.
The imbalance is magnified by the fact that whenever a local bond act is passed, the community colleges receive a portion of those revenues as well. (Because the UC and the CSU are statewide systems, they cannot initiate local bond acts as an additional source of revenue.) If Proposition 39 is approved by voters next November--reducing the approval threshold from 2/3 to 55% for local bond acts--the community colleges will have an enhanced opportunity to obtain the additional funding they need for capital projects.
The UC and the CSU believe this resolution
is inequitable and will seriously jeopardize their ability to accommodate
the tremendous enrollment growth expected in their respective systems.
Moreover, SCR 83 is divisive and harmful to the current collaborative spirit
that prevails among the three segments.]
SCR 88 (Alpert) Education Master Plan
This Senate Concurrent Resolution seeks to continue the existing Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Education (Kindergarten through University) until November 30, 2002.
[Note: The Joint Committee was created by SCR 29 on May 27, 1999, and authorized to act until November 30, 2000. SCR 88 extends the committee's work for an additional two years. In the initial year of its existence, the committee has focused on examining topical strands and themes as they relate to all segments of education. For example: curriculum/instruction, assessment, teacher/faculty/administrator, workforce preparation, finance (including state money, fees, and financial aid), and governance. This committee marks the first time that any legislative body has looked at the full spectrum of education in the state, focusing on segmental interrelationships. Prior Master Plan efforts were directed to Higher Education only.]
Introduced: July 5, 2000.
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