BILL NUMBER: SCA 21 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senators Yee and Ashburn
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Nestande and Portantino)
(Coauthor: Senator Romero)
MAY 26, 2009
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending,
repealing, and adding Section 9 of Article IX thereof, relating to
the University of California.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCA 21, as introduced, Yee. University of California.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution provide that
the University of California constitutes a public trust and requires
the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of
California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers
of organization and government, subject to legislative control only
for specified purposes. These provisions require that corporation to
have all powers necessary or convenient for the effective
administration of its trust.
This measure would repeal on January 1, 2011, the constitutional
provisions relating to the university and the regents and would
require the university and the regents to be continued in existence
subject to legislative control as may be provided by statute. The
measure would require the Legislature to enact legislation to
implement these provisions.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2009-10 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2008, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California, that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
First-- That Section 9 of Article IX thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 9. (a) The University of California shall constitute a
public trust, to be administered by the existing corporation known as
"The Regents of the University of California," with full powers of
organization and government, subject only to such
that legislative control as may be necessary to
insure ensure the security of its funds and
compliance with the terms of the endowments of the university and
such competitive bidding procedures as may be made
applicable to the university by statute for the letting of
construction contracts, sales of real property, and purchasing of
materials, goods, and services. Said The
corporation shall be in form a board composed of seven ex
officio members, which shall be: the Governor, the Lieutenant
Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the president and the vice president of the alumni
association of the university and the acting president of the
university, and 18 appointive members appointed by the Governor and
approved by the Senate, a majority of the membership concurring
; provided, however that the present appointive members shall
hold office until the expiration of their present terms .
(b) The terms of the members appointed prior to November 5, 1974,
shall be 16 years; the terms of two appointive members to expire as
heretofore on March 1st 1 of every
even-numbered calendar year, and two members shall be appointed for
terms commencing on March 1, 1976, and on March 1 of each year
thereafter; provided that no such appointments shall be made for
terms to commence on March 1, 1979, or on March 1 of each fourth year
thereafter, to the end that no appointment to the regents for a
newly commencing term shall be made during the first year of any
gubernatorial term of office. The terms of the members appointed for
terms commencing on and after March 1, 1976, shall be 12 years.
During the period of transition until the time when the
appointive membership is comprised exclusively of persons serving for
terms of 12 years, the total number of appointive members may exceed
the numbers specified in the preceeding paragraph.
In case of any vacancy, the term of office of the appointee to
fill such vacancy, who shall be appointed by the Governor and
approved by the Senate, a majority of the membership concurring,
shall be for the balance of the term for which such
that vacancy exists.
(c) The members of the board may, in their discretion, following
procedures established by them and after consultation with
representatives of faculty and students of the university, including
appropriate officers of the academic senate and student governments,
appoint to the board either or both of the following persons as
members with all rights of participation: a member of the faculty at
a campus of the university or of another institution of higher
education; a person enrolled as a student at a campus of the
university for each regular academic term during his or her
service as a member of the board. Any person so appointed shall
serve for not less than one year commencing on July 1.
(d) Regents shall be able persons broadly reflective of the
economic, cultural, and social diversity of the State, including
ethnic minorities and women. However, it is not intended that
formulas or specific ratios be applied in the selection of regents.
(e) In the selection of the Regents
regents , the Governor shall consult an advisory committee
composed as follows: The Speaker of the Assembly and two public
members appointed by the Speaker, the President Pro
pro Tempore of the Senate and two public members
appointed by the Rules Committee of the Senate
Committee on Rules , two public members appointed by the
Governor, the chairman chairperson of
the regents of the university, an alumnus of the university chosen by
the alumni association of the university, a student of the
university chosen by the Council of Student Body Presidents, and a
member of the faculty of the university chosen by the academic senate
of the university. Public members shall serve for four years, except
that one each of the initially appointed members selected by the
Speaker of the Assembly, the President Pro
pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Governor shall be appointed
to serve for two years; student, alumni, and faculty members shall
serve for one year and may not be regents of the university at the
time of their service on the advisory committee.
(f) The Regents of the University of California shall be vested
with the legal title and the management and disposition of the
property of the university and of property held for its benefit and
shall have the power to take and hold, either by purchase or by
donation, or gift, testamentary or otherwise, or in any other manner,
without restriction, all real and personal property for the benefit
of the university or incidentally to its conduct ; provided,
however, that .
However, sales of university real property shall be subject to
such competitive bidding procedures as may be
provided by statute. Said The
corporation shall also have all the powers necessary or convenient
for the effective administration of its trust, including the power to
sue and to be sued, to use a seal, and to delegate to its committees
or to the faculty of the university, or to others, such
the authority or functions as it may deem wise.
The Regents regents shall receive all
funds derived from the sale of lands pursuant to the act of Congress
of July 2, 1862, and any subsequent acts amendatory thereof. The
university shall be entirely independent of all political or
sectarian influence and kept free therefrom in the appointment of its
regents and in the administration of its affairs, and no person
shall be debarred admission to any department of the university on
account of race, religion, ethnic heritage, or sex.
(g) Meetings of the Regents of the University of California shall
be public, with exceptions and notice requirements as may be provided
by statute.
(h) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2011, and
as of that date is repealed.
Second-- That Section 9 is added to Article IX thereof, to read:
SEC. 9. (a) The University of California is hereby continued
in existence in the state government, and is subject to legislative
control as may be provided by statute.
(b) The University of California shall be administered by the
existing corporation known as "The Regents of the University of
California," which is hereby continued in existence in the state
government, and is subject to legislative control as may be provided
by statute.
(c) The Legislature shall enact legislation to implement this
section.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2011.