An act to
repeal Section 66010.6
add and repeal Chapter 11.1 (commencing with Section 66910) of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3
of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

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


SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) More universal participation in postsecondary education in California is of vital public interest to ensure an informed citizenry, a functional democracy, a vibrant workforce, and a leading 21st century economy.
(b) Communities of color now comprise the new majority of California high school pupils. As cited by the University of California in an amicus brief filed in Fisher v. University of Texas, in 2012 high school graduates were 46.2 percent Latino, 30.5 percent white, 13.6 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.7 percent African American, and 0.7 percent Native American.
(c) Despite outreach programs and other efforts, historically disadvantaged groups remain underrepresented. These groups include communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ students, individuals from low-income and working class communities,access to higher education. This latter goal made California unique among the states and led to the creation of the most prominent higher education system in the nation and the world, a model that was replicated and revered. Undergirding this system and essential to its success was the commitment of California’s investment. Today, that commitment has changed as state resources that could have been made available for higher education have increasingly been dedicated to incarceration. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, from 2003 to 2010, inclusive, California’s prison population grew only 1 percent, while general fund expenditures on corrections increased by 26 percent.
(g) The Public Policy Institute of California projects that the state will fall short about 1,100,000 college graduates who will be in economic demand by 2030 if enrollment and graduation rates do not increase, and that highly educated workers from outside California are unlikely to fill this gap.
(h) Since 2012, when the California Postsecondary Education Commission was defunded, California has lacked a coordinating body for postsecondary education. The absence of such a body has reduced the ability of the state to effectively develop long-term plans for public postsecondary education and to fully engage with the public in the development of such plans.
(i) The Governor has acknowledged the well-established need for coordinating and guiding state higher education policy and has encouraged higher education stakeholders to explore alternative ways to more effectively improve coordination and development of higher education policy.
(j) Given this, and to ensure full and equitable accessibility to higher and postsecondary education, California must create and fund a Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education to develop a written plan to ensure that public universities and colleges in California are tuition-free and affordable to all students, including low-income and underrepresented students, and have the capacity to provide universal participation for all high school graduates by the year 2030.
SEC. 2.
Chapter 11.1 (commencing with Section 66910) is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER  11.1. Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education
66910.
(a) There is hereby created the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education. The purpose of the commission is to make recommendations on improving access to and affordability in postsecondary education for Californians.
(b) (1) There shall be nine public members of the commission, who shall be California residents who are community leaders, business leaders, and others knowledgeable in the area of postsecondary education. The nine public members shall be representative of the cultural, ethnic, racial, and geographic diversity of the state. The members are as follows:
(A) Three members from the public appointed by the Governor.
(B) Three members from the public appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(C) Three members from the public appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(2) The Governor may designate any one of the nine members appointed to the commission to serve as temporary chairperson of the commission for its first meeting. The first order of business of the commission shall be to elect a permanent chairperson.
(c) Commission meetings are subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(d) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with the performance of their duties as members.
(e) No person who is employed or retained by any public or private postsecondary educational institution shall be appointed to or serve on the commission. No person who is a spouse or domestic partner of an employee, an officer, or retained by a public or private postsecondary educational institution shall be appointed to serve on the commission.
(f) (1) There shall be an office titled the Office of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education. The office shall do all of the following:
(A) Implement the duties and directives of the commission.
(B) Consult with the higher education segments and stakeholders, as appropriate, in the conduct of its duties and responsibilities.
(2) The office may request and receive information necessary to conduct its business, from the higher education segments, the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, and the Student Aid Commission.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, “higher education segments” means the segments described in Section 66010.95. Higher education stakeholders include, but are not necessarily limited to, postsecondary faculty, staff, and students, K–12 representatives, representatives of the business community, representatives of labor, representatives of community-based organizations, and nonprofit organizations.
(g) (1) The office shall be established in state government, and shall be under the direct control of an executive director.
(2) The commission shall appoint the executive director at a salary that shall be fixed pursuant to Section 12001 of the Government Code.
(3) The commission shall select and designate a state administrative agency to carry out the personnel, contractual, and all other fiscal services required by the commission.
(h) The duties of the commission shall include, but need not be limited to, the review of relevant reports by the University of California, the California State University, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Student Aid Commission, the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, foundations or nonprofit organizations, the California Postsecondary Education Commission, or any other reports the commission deems appropriate.
(i) The commission shall conduct a series of at least 10 public hearings specifically focused on the needs of and seeking input from African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, boys and men of color, undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ students, and other underserved or underrepresented groups in public postsecondary education. The hearings shall be held in geographically diverse regions of the state to solicit testimony of individuals, public interest groups, alumni organizations, or any other interested private groups and organizations as well as professors, administrators, students, representatives from historically underrepresented groups in public higher education, and others who are directly affected for the purpose of soliciting the input of these groups in the formulations of the commission’s recommendations.
(j) In addition, the commission shall, at a minimum, study, analyze, issue written recommendations, and report to the Legislature and to the Governor on all of the following:
(1) Establishing the need to create a public postsecondary education system that ensures universal access with the capacity to support universal participation of all high school graduates in California.
(2) Identifying the current enrollment capacity in public postsecondary education as compared to the enrollment capacity needed in public postsecondary education to ensure universal access and universal participation for all high school graduates in California.
(3) Identifying the enrollment slots needed to ensure the state’s public postsecondary education system can graduate an additional 1,100,000 California residents by 2030 to meet the economic demands of the state.
(4) Determining the number of additional campuses needed, if any, in each of the public postsecondary education segments to accommodate the additional enrollment demands described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive. The commission shall consider geographic areas of the state where a significant demand for public postsecondary educational services is not being met by current campuses and programs.
(5) Ensuring that enrollments in public postsecondary institutions reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of California high school pupils and high school graduates. The commission shall identify admission criteria, student outreach, student preparation, student retention, and other mechanisms that can promote this diversity.
(6) Ensuring equity for historically disadvantaged and underrepresented groups that include, but are not limited to, communities of color, documented and undocumented immigrants, individuals from low-income and working-class backgrounds, LGBTQ people, and others with unique needs.
(7) Determining the amount of increased investments in public postsecondary education necessary to support a mission of universal access and participation of all Californians. The increased investments shall take into account the additional resources needed to support the recommendations pursuant to paragraphs (2) to (6), inclusive. These recommendations shall identify expenditure requirements to support this objective and recommend additional revenue sources to finance this mission.
(8) The resources required to create an affordable and tuition-free education system in the California public postsecondary environment, with a first priority on supporting those students with the lowest incomes and least financial resources. This task shall include an analysis of not only tuition and fees, but a focus on additional college costs, such as books and supplies, food, housing, transportation, loan fees, child and dependent care, and other costs. The analysis shall incorporate the availability of federal, state, and campus-based financial aid efforts to offset these additional college costs to determine the extra resources needed to support all low-income and underrepresented California resident students.
(k) The commission shall publish its report by March 31, 2018. The report shall be transmitted to the fiscal and education policy committees of the Legislature, the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Director of Finance, and the Governor. Copies of the report shall be posted on the Governor’s Internet Web site.
(l) The office shall close no later than June 30, 2018.
66911.
This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 3.
Upon the repeal of Section 66910 of the Education Code, all of the documents and working papers of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education shall become the property of the State Archives.
SECTION 1.
It is the intent of the Legislature to explore alternative ways to improve affordability, accessibility, coordination, and development of higher education policy that are consistent with the interest of the people and State of California.
SEC. 2.
Section 66010.6 of the
Education Code
is repealed.

Summary: Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of the 4 segments comprising the state’s postsecondary education system. These segments are the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education.
A provision of the act sets forth the missions of specified agencies charged with coordination, administration, or implementation of higher education policies and programs.
This bill would
delete this provision, and would express the intent of the Legislature to explore alternative ways to improve affordability, accessibility, coordination, and development of higher education policy that are consistent with the interest of the people and State of California.
establish the 9-member Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education, and specify its membership and duties. The bill would require the commission to publish a report on designated subjects and submit this report to designated governmental entities by March 31, 2018. The bill would require the Office of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Postsecondary Education to close on June 30, 2018, and would repeal the provisions of the bill on January 1, 2019. The bill would require, upon that repeal, all of the documents and working papers of the commission to become the property of the State Archives.