CALIFORNIA — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed into law
Friday a bill designed to open to public scrutiny the way state universities set
compensation packages for their top officials.
The
Higher Education
Governance Accountability Act, introduced by Senator Leland Yee (D-San
Francisco/San Mateo), will require executive payment packages at the California
State University system and the University of California system to be voted on
in an open session by their respective boards of regents.
Positions that fall under the new legislation will include the president of
the university system, the chancellor of an individual campus, a vice president,
a treasurer, the assistant treasurer, the general counsel or the trustees' secretary.
The bill also carves out time for the public to make comments about
prospective salary changes during the meeting, and it will require that most
task forces, advisory groups, or study groups with one or more trustee members
also be open.
The bill passed unanimously in the California Senate in April and the state
assembly in early September.
“The Legislature and the Governor have now sent a very clear message
to the UC and CSU: it is time to end the culture of secrecy and
arrogance,” Yee said in a statement. “No longer should the student,
faculty and staff — the backbone of our public universities — be
left to bear the burden, while top execs live high on the hog.”
A spokesman from CSU said that the university system did not oppose the
bill and had been working with Sen. Yee to comply with most of the
legislation’s changes.
A University of California spokeswoman said the system is reviewing its
current policies but believes they already comply with most of the new law's
provisions.
The legislation stems from a lawsuit filed by the San Francisco
Chronicle in 2006, in which the newspaper sued to keep the UC Board of
Regents from voting on administrator salaries in a confidential executive
session. In August 2006, a judge ruled for the Chronicle, deciding that
the Board of Regents can debate executive salaries in closed session, but votes
could only be taken in open meetings.
Adam Keigwin, communications director for Yee, said while the court
decision forced the boards to conduct votes in open meetings, Yee’s bill
expands access to the meetings and gives the board a chance to hear the
public’s voice. By creating time for the public to speak before the
board’s vote on executive pay, Keigwin said the bill will make sure
“the issue is fully vetted.”
Keigwin said the bill also will require the boards to disclose their
rationale for any changes in executive pay.
Yee introduced similar legislation in 2006, but it did not gain enough
support to receive a vote from the state assembly. Yee also introduced a
successful bill prohibiting prior review and other forms of censorship in
college newspapers the same year.
The bill will not officially become law until Jan. 1, but Yee called on UC
and CSU to enact the new regulations immediately.
By Casey Wooten, SPLC staff writer
