Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to determine whether to sign off on a bill this week that would bring U. California and California State U. foundations under the authority of public record requests, though UC officials say the bill could end up costing the cash-strapped university millions of dollars in anonymous donations.
The bill, authored by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, was unanimously approved by the state Assembly last week and narrowly cleared the state Senate Thursday morning. If approved, the bill would expand the definition of a state agency to include state university auxiliaries, bringing them under the California Public Records Act (CPRA).
UC officials are opposing the bill, saying expanded access to records could mean a loss of anonymous donors at a time when the university is growing more reliant on donor funds. University foundations provided over $500 million to the UC in the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to a UC officials.
“The uncertainty makes it impossible for the UC to make qualified promises of anonymity,” said UC spokesperson Steve Montiel. “It puts us at a competitive disadvantage (compared to) other universities.”
The bill comes in the wake of an incident at Cal State Stanislaus earlier this summer when a campus foundation gave former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin more than $70,000 to speak at a campus fundraising event. The university did not initially disclose the amount Palin would receive, saying the foundation paying Palin was an auxiliary and therefore exempt from a California Public Record’s request.
Yee’s bill would bring such organizations’ records under the authority of a public record’s request, though it would not reveal an anonymous donor’s identity unless the donor received a good or service worth at least $500.
“If somebody is getting something in return for their donation, then the public should know that,” said Yee’s chief of staff, Adam Keigwin.
One program in which donors receive a good or service is UC Berkeley’s Endowment Seating Program, which sells seat licenses at Memorial Stadium to fund the stadium’s seismic retrofitting.
The provision regarding donors’ receipt of goods and services was added after Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill introduced by Yee last year.
“Subjecting the altruistic activities of private donors and volunteers to the CPRA will have a chilling effect on their support and service, if they believe their personal privacy could be compromised,” reads a message attached to last year’s veto. “Hindering private giving of time and resources becomes a detriment to our higher education institutions – at a time when (the UC, CSU and community college systems) are facing significant reductions in state funding during this difficult fiscal situation.”
Even if the bill makes only some donors subject to search, Montiel said it could scare off close to $7.5 million in donations a year. He said an exact number is impossible to determine.
David Blinder, UC Berkeley’s associate vice chancellor for university relations, said the campus could not give a rough estimate of potentially lost funds, though he did say some donors would “undoubtedly” be deterred.
“UC Berkeley has had great success in fundraising in recent years following the model of our private peer institutions,” he said in an e-mail. “Senator Yee’s bill would significantly disadvantage public higher education in California in competing for private philanthropic support.”