AB 2664: University of California: innovation and entrepreneurship expansion.

Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The University of California comprises 10 campuses, which are located at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.

This bill would require the University of California to make one-time expenditures for activities to expand or accelerate economic development in the state in ways that are aligned with other efforts to support innovation and entrepreneurship. The bill would identify a specific funding source in the Budget Act of 2016 appropriated for that purpose and would allocate $2,200,000 under that appropriation to each of 10 campuses of the University of California. The bill would require the regents to designate an external advisory board, as provided, to encourage the effective use of these funds through planning and oversight and would prohibit a campus from expending these funds unless the external advisory body has certified that the chancellor of that campus has made certain demonstrations, including, among others, that funds will only be used for the costs of activities that support the expansion or acceleration of economic development in the state and that private funds that at least match the amount of state funds will also be used on those activities. The bill would require the University of California to report to the Department of Finance and the Legislature on or before November 30, 2017, on the specific activities at each campus supported by these funds.