Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education

Good afternoon, everyone. The Assembly Higher Education Committee is now called to order. We'll establish a role quorum when we have quorum. And thank you so much to all my colleagues for being here on time as well. And welcome to the sixth policy hearing of the Assembly Higher Education Committee in 2026.

This series is the fifth of several hearings on 2026 measures. Whether you're here in person or watching virtually, thank you for your ongoing work in higher education policy making. Please note that a similar to Tasha Burner has been excused from today's hearing. A similar Jose Salaci will serve as her replacement for today's hearing. And we'll give a warm welcome to Assimilars Salace when he's here.

And furthermore, Assemblymember Lashay Sharp Collins has been excused from today's hearing. Assemblymembe Mike Gibson will serve as her replacement for today's hearing. Lastly, please note that someone with Celeste Rodriguez is out on maternity leave, and she will not have a replacement for today's hearing. I'm also pleased to welcome back Michael Erke, who once again is pinch hitting for our community committee secretary. Thank you, mister Erke, and welcome back.

I will now go over some key elements of today's hearing. In order to facilitate the goal of hearing as much from the public within the limits of our time, we will not permit conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the early conduct of legislative proceedings. We'll now accept disruptive behavior or behavior that insights or threatens violence. The rules for today's hearing include no talking or loud noises from the audience.

Public comment may be provided only at the designated time and place as permitted by the Chair.

Public comment must relate to the subject of bills being discussed today. No engaging in conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the early conduct of this hearing. Please be aware that violations of these rules may subject you to removal or other enforcement actions. Furthermore, please note that the guideline for measures heard in the committee is to allow for testimony from two lead witnesses in support and two lead witnesses in opposition to speak for no more than two minutes each.

Stakeholder groups and entities that are neither in support nor in opposition will be allowed to give testimony for no more than two minutes when a call for tweeners.

If a measure has more than two entities in the tweener category, only two would be allowed to speak for two minutes each. Colleagues, for members of committee, members since our hearings are public and some travel far to be here in respect of them and the author, please allow the author to complete their opening remarks regarding the bill before making a motion so the public has an idea of what the bill is about.

If a motion is made during the author's opening remarks, I will simply state that the motion will be recognized at the appropriate time. Additionally, members, if you'd like to respond to a roll call, ask a question, provide a comment, please be sure to activate your microphone and speak into your mic. Each member presented today will have a opportunity to provide an opening statement, a closing statement, and each lead witness is about two minutes for to provide testimony.

And we actually have one item on today's agenda, ACA 18, which will be presented by both authors of Summer's Colosa and Aaron. At this time, we'll have Mister Secretary, roll call to establish quorum, please.

[Roll Call]

Thank you, colleagues. We have quorum. Today, we have one measure on today's agenda, ACA 18, which will be presented by both authors, Assemblymember Caloza and Assemblymember Ahren. I'd like to warmly welcome Assemblymember Caloza and Assemblymember Ahren presenting item number one, ACA 18, and welcome. And you may begin when you're ready.

Good afternoon, chair. We'll just wait a few seconds here to get our witnesses seated. Thank you to our UC students and alumni. But good afternoon again. Thank you, chair and members of the committee, for the opportunity to present ACA 18 this afternoon, also known as the Stewart Student Empowerment Amendment.

And thank you as well to the committee consultants, the staff, and, of course, our student leaders and our sponsors of this bill for their hard work and guidance on this bill. I also want to go ahead and accept the committee's amendments, cleaning up some of the language and the appointment process for the student regents and their nonvoting designates.

Somebody who is a proud graduate of a UC, UC San Diego, somebody who's a proud, first generation college graduate in my family, The student voice, the student experience was so formative for me and my pathway of how I went through public service and am now in the state assembly. And today, there are over 300,000 students in the UC system. And yet, on the 26 member UC Board of Regents, there's only one student, one seat, that can vote.

And that one student vote represents hundreds of thousands of experiences and everyday challenges faced by students in the UC system. And I think that unfortunately for me and so many of us who are here, we just simply don't think that's right. It's something that we tried to change when I was in college almost two decades ago, and fortunately, we're still fighting for for the same thing, today. But hopefully, ACA 18 can change that.

The UC board of regents may make the decisions, but students, as we know, live with those consequences, live with those decisions.

The regents alone do not hear, see, nor understand all the student experiences that they're facing with, and this ACA would change that. Our constitutional amendment doubles the number of student seats on the UC Board of Regents. For the first time ever, the board would include representation from both a UC graduate and undergraduate. That's more perspectives, voices, and power for the hundreds of thousands of students that make the UC what it is today.

Students who come out of the UC system go on to shape not only our great state, but The United States Of America.

They become our doctors, scientists, musicians, athletes, teachers, entrepreneurs, and like me and many of our colleagues, lawmakers. It goes without saying that UC graduates are foundational to our communities. They drive innovation, challenge the status quo, and inspire change across sectors and industries. Their future and our future depends on what we do next. With that, I'm proud to be championing this piece of legislation alongside Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, who is an alum of UCLA and joint coauthor of ACA 18.

Thank you so much, and welcome.

Thank you, mister chair and committee members. As was mentioned, I'm a proud graduate of, some would say, the number one best UC UCLA. CoBrush. And I'm proud to

lose him.

Coauthor ACA 18 with assembly member Colosa because students are the primary stakeholders in our universities, and students need to be the paramount concern of our university leaders. ACA 18 will expand student representation on the board of regents to ensure that UC is meeting the needs of their students today. Having additional students on the UC board of regents will allow for more diverse background of student voices to be heard and ultimately, I believe, improve the decision making coming out of the regents.

Representation, as we know, only works when it reflects the people that it's being served. AC 18 is about people that UC serves, its students.

And AC 18 is about making sure that UC meets the needs of our students. I think it's really imperative that even when assembly member Closa and I were UC students, The demands on the system have changed dramatically. Many universities didn't have food dedicated food pantries and access to students experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. We've come such a long way since then in that short amount of time, and we need to ensure that all of these decision making processes further reflects.

And I and changing the constitution is not something that some of them are close and I take lightly, but we believe it's imperative that when these decision making processes are made, more transparency opening up this process, not less voices, is going to make better policy decisions.

And so respectfully ask for your high vote.

Thank you so much, and

welcome. I'm sorry. Thank you, Assemblymember Aarons. Thank you, chair, if I may, just introduce our two witnesses. My it's my honor to introduce our two student leaders who've been instrumental to this work.

Please join me in welcoming Aditi Hariharan, president of the UC Students Association, and Alexis Saragosa, UC Regent Emerita.

Welcome. Thank

you. Thank you. Hi. My name is Aditi. I'm a current undergraduate at UC Davis, and president of UCSA.

We serve as the official representative of over 235,000 undergraduate UC students across the state. The UC system, bound by constitutional autonomy, is almost entirely regulated by the UC board of regents and office of the president. They're appointed by the governor for twelve year terms and primarily composed of people who graduated college many years ago, have backgrounds in investments, help or policy and donor ties, and who rarely engage with students outside of their direct obligations during regents meetings once every other month.

The student advocate to the regents program, a short thirty minute public comment period and remarks from me and my UC graduate and professional council counterpart offer the only means of engagement, leaving essentially no methods for students to offer feedback on UC policy, budget, and education matters that directly impact them. It's my second year as UCSA president, which means I've been to nearly every regents meetings over the past two years.

And in that time, I've witnessed how decisions have monumental repercussions on current and future UC students, including the crackdown on student and faculty free speech, the reapproval of the UC's cohort tuition model despite attempted negotiation and immense opposition, a struggle to prioritize basic needs and student services, and the alarming increase in total cost of attendance through housing and non resident student tuition fees. Despite these realities, the only student voice heard at the decision making table is the sole student region and their student region designate.

And often, a voting voice has more power and sway than their designate counterpart to actually warrant consultation and tangible bargaining power. ACA 18, through its addition of a second voting student regent, will increase the student voice in the policies and decisions that directly impact them, such as tuition and non tuition costs, housing developments, research partnerships, and more. Students are not a monolith, so more than one student should be consulted in decisions that have vast impacts across the state.

Increasing the number of students at the regents table allows for more non institutional pathways of feedback and information. Students are able to offer perspectives about their current and long term issues, as well as offer insight about the implementation of that university policy and budget that's passed at the UC regents meetings.

A second voting student regent will also allow the UC to have parity with CSU and CC counterparts through two voting student members, will allow the UC to keep better pace with student growth as student enrollment has more than doubled since the first student regent role was created and would codify both an undergraduate and graduate vote.

The UC is the third largest employer in the state of California, which has the fourth largest economy in the world, which speaks to the global impact of the UC, the board of regents, but more importantly, the students, faculty, workers, and staff who actually are a part of that university ecosystem. This ecosystem cannot run without students.

Therefore, we need meaningful power through shared governance. ACA 18 accomplishes this by increasing the number of UC voting student regions and ensures both an undergraduate and graduate voice at that table. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Welcome.

Good afternoon. My name is Alexis Atzielinski Zaragoza, and I serve as the forty seventh student regent of the University of California Board of Regents and previously served on the California Community College's Board of Governors as well, making me the only student to have been on two major higher education system boards in California history. I was the first undergraduate transfer student, and the second ever Native American student to sit on the UC board.

In my college career, I've had the honor of representing over 2,600,000 students in California. It has been over fifty years since the student reach and position was created.

In that time, we have driven UC's greatest accomplishments. Basic needs, housing investigations, campus policing reform. Without us, these topics could be ignored. Some people think that one vote doesn't make a difference. I would argue that they're wrong.

When the regions voted for cohort tuition, I was able to make critical amendments. When students came to us with problems that had been ignored by administration for years, we were able to fix them within days. We are the only individuals on the board of regents that must have a current relationship with the campus community. In the entire history of the UC Board of Regents, only 4% of all governor appointed regents have the have a background in education. The student regents input is essential.

The amendment seeks to add another student, but also to ensure that both undergraduates and graduates are represented. Undergraduates make up roughly 79% of the UC system student population, yet only four undergraduates have served as student regents since 2004. That is four undergraduates in twenty three years. I was the only undergraduate student in the last eleven. ACA 18 ensures that both undergraduates and graduates and professional students have a voice and a vote every single year.

At a time when our Federal Government is actively targeting our democratic structures, we cannot afford symbolic gestures. So I urge this committee to move ACA 18 forward and to send a clear message. California will not wait for Washington to value our students and our democracy. We'll do it ourselves. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Are there witnesses in support in the hearing room?

Good afternoon, chair members. Vincent Rosso, proud UC Riverside alumni and also the director of government relations for the University of California Student Association. We're proud sponsors of the bill. We are your eye vote. Thank you.

Thank you.

Astrid Kacopian, proud UC graduate in support.

Thank you.

Hello. My name is Hendry Haras Sandayo. I'm a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley, and I support the bill.

Thank you.

Hi. My name is Candice. I'm a third year undergraduate student at UC Davis, part of the UC student association and strong support. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello. Bibi Hamida Hashmat, a UC Davis student, and I support this bill. Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Bella Richmond. I'm a third year undergraduate at UC Davis representing the Associated Students of UC Davis, ASUCD, and we urge you to support ACA team. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello. My name is Neely. I'm a UC Santa Barbara student on behalf of the University of California Student Association. We strongly support this bill.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, chair Fong and members. My name is Karina Paredes with Public Advocates in strong support of ACA team. Thank you.

Thank you.

Danny Antonio, UCD alum and former ASUCD Senator in support. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Minor Garcia, a UC Riverside alumni, and I strongly support this bill.

Thank you so much. Are there witnesses in opposition in a herringram? Are there tweeners in a herringram? Colleagues, any questions or comments? Second.

A motion is second. Any questions or comments?

Seeing yes.

time Acevedo Solante, welcome.

It's my first

Thank you, mister chair. It's my

first time on the committee at Sabine, and I was very proud to be here. And what a symbolic day to be part of this committee and support this bill. As a former student leader myself, I get to share a space where, of course, doctor Jackson, was a student trustee himself of the CSU, and that's where our our paths originally crossed. So I I believe in the student voice. I believe in ensuring that our students have an advocacy level.

And who knows? They might be legislators one day. Right? So add more for that reason. So with that, I'm just happy to support the bill today, and happy to be subbed today.

miss Cherry.

Thank you,

Thank you so much. Just so much, and welcome. Doctor Patel.

I'm also happy to join in support for the bill today as a representative for the School of Biological Sciences for the Associated Graduate Students at UC Irvine. I understand deeply how important representation is in decision making and the ability for student voices to be elevated and heard and excited for you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, doctor Patel. Any further questions or comments?

This is to one of the authors, assembly member, Arons. You're up. Assemblymember Aarons, what I've been noticing from your bills is that you are really pushing for accountability and transparency and collaborative work. And I just wanna put it on the record. This is another great example of you looking beyond party and looking for what's right for California, and I wanna thank you for your continued leadership in that.

Thank you. Assemblymember, because all all the credit goes to the UC students who gave this idea to Assemblymember Colosa. I'm just here as muscle and backup.

And, of course, it could be done with Assemblywoman Colozoa. I was just I've seen a lot of his bills lately in his statements. Nothing against you. I've just seen that that pattern that he's been that he's been showing lately, and I I'm I'm thankful for that. And it was a it was a good great choice, Assemblywoman.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Any further questions or comments? Seeing none, assemblers would like to close, please.

Thanks all for your testimony. Appreciate that. I will call doctor Jackson as our witness testimony next time. I think it just shows the reach of the UC system and as already said by Aditi, But I just wanted to reiterate again how the California State University system and the California Community College system already includes two two student voting members, and this would really put the UC at parity with the other systems of higher education that we value so much. And so, respectfully ask for, the committees.

I vote in this and just ensure that we have more student voices at the table. So thank you for your time today hearing ACA 18.

Thank you so much, Assembly Coloz and Assembly Arons, for bringing this very important message forward and for accepting the committee's amendments. I thank you to our student speakers for your testimonies about student voice, student representation. And as somebody who served on the Community College Board, I always value the student voice and working closely with our student trustee.

And so this measure here of state analysis will provide an opportunity for two voting student regents who will align representation on the UC Board of Regents with the student representation of the California Community College Board of Governors and the California State University Board of Trustees. And thank you to the author for or its author consider consider the comments going forward to ensure that ACA is considered for the November ballot.

And with that, I look forward to supporting the measure today. Thank you so much. And mister secretary, roll call, please.

File item number one, ACA 18. The motion is do pass as amended and re refer to the committee on appropriations. Fong. Aye. Fong, a.

De Maio. Aye. De Maio, aye. Solace, aye. Gonzales.

Aye. Gonzales, aye. Jackson. Aye. Jackson, aye.

Marucci Patel. Aye. Patel, aye. Rodriguez Gibson Tangipa. Aye.

Tangipa, aye. Wow.

That measure is seven ayes, and it's out. We'll keep the rope in for additional members. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thanks. Thank you.

For any members I would like to add, and we'll keep the roll open for, five more minutes. Thank you so much. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you so much. We'll entertain add ons at this moment.

Mister secretary, roll call, please.

File item one, ACA 18. Absent members, Marisucci Gibson.

Yes. Here. Aye. Gibson, aye. Thank you so much, mister Gibson, colleagues.

That measure is out eight zero. We'll keep the open open for three more minutes for any additional members that would like to add on. Thank you so much, colleagues. Thank you so much. We'll entertain add ons at this time.

Mister secretary, roll call, please.

File item number one, ACA 18. Absent members, Marucci. Marucci.

Thank you so much. That message is out 90. Thank you so much, colleagues, for an amazing hearing today, and thank you to all our committee staff for the work and efforts with today's hearing and all the past hearings that we've had in the past many months. Really appreciate everyone's hard work and efforts, and thank you to everyone's involvement. Our next hearing's on Tuesday, June 9 at 01:30PM here in State Capital Room 126.

Authors and stakeholders, please make sure that you're engaging early with our committee staff on your measures. Really appreciate all the committee staff again. And with that, the Assembly Higher Education Committee meeting is adjourned.