With less than 72 hours remaining to approve or veto bills, on Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law an affirmative consent standard at college campuses, a bill that allows qualifying undocumented students to receive state loans and a pilot program that authorizes some community colleges to confer bachelor’s degrees.
Brown also approved AB 1930, which increases student access to CalFresh, the state food stamp program. In addition, he signed into law SB 850, which establishes a program by which certain community colleges can confer bachelor’s degrees not offered by UC and CSU campuses.
SB 967, the first law of its kind, requires college campuses to implement “victim-centered” policies and protocols, which would ensure community organizations, counseling and legal assistance are available for sexual assault survivors. The legislation states that consent in sexual activity is an “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement” and that intoxicated agreement does not count as consent.
AB 1930, a bill authored by Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, allows some low-income students enrolled in certain educational programs increased access to food assistance.
He also signed into law SB 1210, named the California DREAM Loan Program, which would allow undocumented students to receive loans from the state.
He vetoed another bill that would have required the California State University to make available upon request specific information about students taking online courses to the CSU academic senate and campus academic senates. In his veto message, Brown echoed the CSU Academic Senate’s concerns of student privacy and cost issues.