The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes, including, among others, as may be necessary to ensure the security of its funds.

Existing law prohibits officers or employees of the University of California from engaging in any employment, activity, or enterprise from which the officer or employee receives compensation or has a financial interest if that employment, activity, or enterprise is sponsored or funded by a university department or contract, except as provided.

This bill would prohibit a business entity from bidding on, entering into, renewing, automatically renewing, extending, or expanding the scope of any contract with the University of California if a University of California executive serves or has served the business entity within the previous year, as specified. The bill would also prohibit a business entity from bidding on, entering into, renewing, automatically renewing, extending, or expanding the scope of any contract with the University of California for at least one year after providing or promising any University of California executive, or an immediate family member of the executive, compensation. The bill would declare a contract entered into, renewed, automatically renewed, extended, expanded in scope, or maintained in violation of these prohibitions to be void, a risk to the security of the University of California’s funds, and contrary to public policy. The bill would authorize a California taxpayer or the Attorney General to bring a civil action to enforce these provisions and to recover attorney’s fees if the civil action prevails. If a court finds in such a civil action that a business entity has violated these provisions, the bill would require the court to enjoin the business entity from bidding on, entering into, renewing, automatically renewing, extending, or expanding the scope of a contract with the University of California for a period of 10 years from the date of the finding. The bill would define “business entity,” “compensation,” “contract,” and “University of California executive” for its purposes.