AB 2047: Ending the Ban on Affirmative Action

VETOED

A bill amending the California state education code to allow the UC and CSU systems to consider gender, race and ethnicity in admissions was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday, maintaining the state constitutional ban on affirmative action.

In the veto letter, Schwarzenegger wrote that while the bill's goal - advancing diversity in the UC and CSU student bodies - was "admirable," the bill was in violation of Proposition 209, a 1996 amendment to the state constitution that prohibits state institutions from discriminating or giving preference based on factors such as race, ethnicity, gender and national origins.

-Aaida Samad

SB 1460 Financial Aid for the Undocumented

VETOED

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also vetoed the state's DREAM Act Thursday, a bill which would have extended state financial aid to college students who entered the United States illegally.

AB 1460 would have allowed undocumented students who attended a California high school for at least three years and graduated to receive state financial aid. In his veto message Schwarzenegger said "it would not be practical to adopt a new policy that could limit the financial aid available to students that are in California legally, in order to provide that benefit to those students who are not."

Of the 1,900 undocumented students number the UC estimates that 650 students would receive aid from the state in the form of a Cal Grant.

-Javier Panzar

SB 330 Public Universities: Donor Transparency

VETOED

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill Thursday that would have placed public institutions' auxiliaries ­­­- specifically UC auxiliaries and CSU foundations - under the authority of the California Public Records Act.

UC officials criticized the bill, saying that it would scare off anonymous donors who are becoming an increasingly vital source of funding in times of decreasing state funding. Schwarzenegger concurred, writing in his veto message, "this bill would require disclosure of private donors, those generous alumni whose giving ... is helping keep our public universities the best in the world."

-Jordan Bach-Lombardo

AB 2133 Memorial Stadium Seismic Exemption

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law Sept. 24 that deletes previously established exemptions to current California state earthquake zoning law, while maintaining UC Berkeley's renovation and retrofit of California Memorial Stadium as the sole exception.

Authored by Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, and sponsored by the UC, AB 2133 eliminates exemptions to the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act, a state law preventing the construction of buildings for human occupancy on top of active faults. The bill maintains an exemption for the stadium construction, which is located atop the Hayward Fault.

-Aaida Samad

Tags: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, STATE LEGISLATURE