A landslide vote from the Assembly on Senate Bill 218 brings the spending and financial practices of California State University auxiliaries and foundations closer to transparency Thursday.
Sen. Leland Yee’s (D-San Francisco) bill was approved in a bipartisan vote, 67-0, and the amended version will return to the Senate, which previously passed the bill in a 35-1 decision. It would then go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk for his signature.
In April, Schwarzenegger launched a Web site to increase government transparency to Californians.
According to the Web site, Schwarzenegger “recognizes the importance of making data available to [California’s] citizens … and also believes these data should be easily accessible and easy to view.”
SB 218 would disclose the finances of private foundations — or auxiliaries within public universities and community colleges to raise and spend money — to taxpayers and the media, said Adam Keigwin, chief of staff for Yee, on Tuesday.
“In light of the Governor’s public commitment to transparency, we hope he will back up his words with action by signing SB 218 into law,” said Lillian Taiz, President of the California Faculty Association, in a press release. “The lack of transparency and accountability around these auxiliaries and foundations has led to scandals and waste of taxpayer dollars that were intended to improve the quality of education in the classroom for California’s students.”
Schwarzenegger has yet to give any indication about signing SB 218.
The foundations range from anything such as on-campus bookstores to event arenas, which “avoid the [California] Public Records Act,” Keigwin said.
At Cal State Long Beach, such entities are the Foundation, Forty-Niner Shops Inc. and Associated Students Inc.