SB 755

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Bagley-Keene Act) , generally requires, with specified exceptions for authorized closed sessions, that the meetings of state bodies be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend. The Bagley-Keene Act also generally requires that the agenda for meetings provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the body of any item of interest to the public that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the body. Each member of a state body who attends a meeting of that body in violation of any provision of the Bagley-Keene Act, and where the member intends to deprive the public of information to which the member knows or has reason to know the public is entitled under the act, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Under existing law, all meetings of the trustees are subject to the Bagley-Keene Act, except with respect to the compensation of designated executive officers of the university, which is required to be acted upon in an open session. This bill would prohibit the trustees from acting to increase the salary range of any university officer or employee or to increase the tuition or mandatory systemwide fees of university students except in an open public meeting properly noticed pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Act. The bill would prohibit the trustees from awarding a president of a campus compensation, as defined, that exceeds 150% of the compensation of the Chief Justice of California, except if the Governor, by executive order, approves the individual president's compensation. The bill would prohibit the trustees from approving any increase in compensation for a president of a campus if an increase in tuition is scheduled to take effect in that fiscal year or has taken effect in either of the 2 prior fiscal years. The bill would require the trustees, when hiring a president of a campus, to give primary consideration to applicants currently employed by the California State University system and to secondarily give consideration to residents of California who are not employees of the system. The bill would prohibit the trustees from giving consideration to applicants who are neither residents of California nor employees of the system before applicants who are employees of the system or who are residents of California and are not employees of the system.