Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 2991

Introduced by Assembly Member Cervantes

February 16, 2018

An act to amend Section 66010 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education. An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 92165) to Chapter 2 of Part 57 of Division 9 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2991, as amended, Cervantes. Postsecondary education: segments. University of California: law school.
The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust 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.
This bill would appropriate an unspecified sum of moneys from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California each fiscal year, commencing with the 2019–20 fiscal year, to be expended only for the creation, construction, and establishment of a public law school in the County of Riverside administered by the University of California.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, the California State University, the University of California, independent institutions of higher education as defined, and private postsecondary educational institutions as defined as the segments of postsecondary education in this state. The missions and functions of these segments are set forth in the Donahoe Higher Education Act.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes in a provision that, for purposes of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, designates the segments of public postsecondary education as the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, as specified, and defines independent institutions of higher education for these purposes.

Vote: MAJORITY2/3   Appropriation: NOYES   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Article 7 (commencing with Section 92165) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 57 of Division 9 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
Article  7. Construction of a University of California School of Law in the County of Riverside

92165.
 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) A robust and functioning legal system is an essential element to a free and democratic society.
(2) Schools of law are not only invaluable institutions of legal education, but also as centers of regional legal systems and communities. These schools of law serve as hubs for the sharing of legal ideas and as drivers of local legal economies.
(3) The last school of law established by the University of California was at the University of California, Irvine, in 2008. The only other school of law operated by the University of California in southern California is located at the University of California, Los Angeles.
(4) The Inland Empire, with a population of more than 4.2 million people, is one of the most populous regions of the state. The unique needs and concerns of the Inland Empire are distinct and different from those even in other parts of southern California, including the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange.
(5) The geographical distance between many Inland Empire communities and Westwood or Irvine, especially with traffic congestion factored in, makes attendance at the schools of law at the University of California, Los Angeles, or the University of California, Irvine, logistically difficult for prospective law students in the Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino.
(6) There is currently no school of law in the Inland Empire operated by the University of California. Indeed, there is only one school of law in the entire region that is accredited either by the American Bar Association or by the Committee of Bar Examiners.
(7) The lack of a public school of law in the Inland Empire is detrimental not only to prospective law students, but to the health of the legal community in the region.
(b) The sum of ____ dollars ($____) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California each fiscal year, commencing with the 2019–20 fiscal year, to be expended only for the creation, construction, and establishment of a public law school in the County of Riverside administered by the University of California.

SECTION 1.Section 66010 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66010.

(a)Public higher education consists of all of the following: (1) the California Community Colleges; (2) the California State University, and each campus, branch, and function thereof; and (3) each campus, branch, and function of the University of California.

(b)As used in this part, “independent institutions of higher education” are those nonpublic higher education institutions that grant undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, or both, and that are formed as nonprofit corporations in this state and are accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

(c)No provision of this part is intended to regulate, subsidize, or intrude upon private education, including, but not necessarily limited to, independent educational institutions and religious schools, nor to vary existing state law or state constitutional provisions relating to private education.