AB 1730: Community colleges: external resolution services for civil rights compliance: managing entity and civil rights coordinator.
The bill requires the California community colleges to administer external resolution services for civil rights compliance, including developing and recommending a nondiscrimination policy, training programs, and addressing grievances and complaints. The board of governors must enter into a contract with a managing entity to provide these services and approve and update the policy annually. Community college districts must adopt the policy and designate a staff person as a Title IX coordinator, who must respond to complaints and maintain records. A complainant or respondent dissatisfied with an administrative decision can appeal to the chancellor's office. The bill establishes an External Resolution Services Fund to pay for these services, with community college districts contributing their proportional share of the payment based on the number of full-time equivalent students.
| May. 14, 2026 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| May. 06, 2026 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Apr. 27, 2026 | Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Apr. 23, 2026 | Read second time and amended. |
| Apr. 22, 2026 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 21). |
| Amended IN Assembly April 23, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly March 19, 2026 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Fong |
February 05, 2026 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would establish in the State Treasury the External Resolution Services Fund as a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation, for the payment of the above-described services rendered by the managing entity, as provided. The bill would require a community college district to deposit into the fund the district’s proportional share of the payment for the services rendered by the managing entity in the prior fiscal year based on the number of full-time equivalent students in the community college district, as provided. If a community college district does not pay its proportional share into the fund, the bill would require that amount to be withheld from the community college district’s 2nd principal apportionment.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:SEC. 2.
The heading of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 70900) is added to Part 43 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:CHAPTER 1. Walter Stiern Act
SEC. 3.
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 70920) is added to Part 43 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:CHAPTER 2. California Community College External Resolution for Civil Rights Compliance
70920.
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Community College External Resolution for Civil Rights Compliance.70921.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:70922.
(a)(4)Maintaining an up-to-date network of advocacy organizations for complainant and respondent referrals for support services within each county of the state.
(5)
(a)The External Resolution Services Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all moneys in the fund are hereby continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal year to the chancellor’s office to pay for the services rendered by the managing entity pursuant to a contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922.
(b)It is the intent of the Legislature to annually appropriate the sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in the annual Budget Act to be deposited into the External Resolution Services Fund for the chancellor’s office to pay for the services rendered by the managing entity pursuant to the contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922.
(a)On or before September 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, a community college district shall deposit into the External Resolution Services Fund established pursuant to Section 70923, the community college district’s proportional share of the payment for the services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year pursuant to the contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922.
(b)For purposes of this section, “the total cost of the contract for services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year” means the total cost of the services rendered by the managing entity pursuant to the contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922 for the previous fiscal year, less the total amount of moneys in the External Resolution Fund on July 30 of the subsequent fiscal year.
(c)A community college district’s proportional share of the payment for the services rendered by the managing entity pursuant to the contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922 shall be determined as follows:
(1)If a community college district’s full-time equivalent students for the previous fiscal year exceeded 60,000, the community college district’s proportional share is 7 percent of the total cost of the contract for services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year.
(2)If a community college district’s full-time equivalent students for the previous fiscal year was between 25,001 and 60,000, inclusive, the community college district’s proportional share is 5 percent of the total cost of the contract for services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year.
(3)If a community college district’s full-time equivalent students for the previous fiscal year was between 10,001 and 25,000, inclusive, the community college district’s proportional share is 2 percent of the total cost of the contract for services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year.
(4)If a community college district’s full-time equivalent students for the previous fiscal year was between 1,001 and 10,000, inclusive, the community college district’s proportional share is 1 percent of the total cost of the contract for services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year.
(5)If a community college district’s full-time equivalent students for the previous fiscal year was between 151 and 1,000, inclusive, the community college district’s proportional share is 0.09 percent of the total cost of the contract for services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year.
(d)Notwithstanding any other law, a community college district that has not deposited into the External Resolution Services Fund the community college district’s proportional share of the payment, determined pursuant to subdivision (c), for the services rendered by the managing entity pursuant to the contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922, shall have its proportional share of the total cost of the contract for services rendered by the managing entity for the previous fiscal year, as determined pursuant to subdivision (c), withheld from the community college district’s second principal apportionment for the fiscal year.
(a)To
70923.
To comply with Section 66270, a governing board shall, within(b)A governing board that has not adopted the nondiscrimination policy described in subdivision (a) within the 30-day timeframe shall be subject to a fine imposed by the board of governors of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day after those 30 days in which the governing board has not adopted the policy. Notwithstanding any other law, the fine shall be withheld from the apportionments made to the community college district from the State School Fund after April 15 of the fiscal year in which the violation occurred.
(c)Funds withheld by the board of governors pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be deposited into the External Resolution Services Fund established pursuant to Section 70923.
70926.70924.
(a)If the complainant or the respondent is not satisfied with an administrative decision made by the managing entity or a Title IX coordinator regarding the outcome of the complaint, either party may submit, within 10 working days of their notice of the dismissal or the outcome of the complaint, an appeal to the chancellor’s office.
(b)Within 30 days of receiving an appeal pursuant to subdivision (a), the chancellor’s office shall review the original complaint, the investigative report, the administrative decision, and the appeal, and issue a final decision. The managing entity shall work with the chancellor’s office to provide all of the necessary documentation for evaluating the appeal.
(c)(1)The chancellor’s office may only vacate or reverse the dismissal of a complaint upon determining any of the following:
(A)Procedural errors were made that resulted in the incorrect dismissal of the complaint.
(B)New evidence has been provided in the appeal that was not reasonably available at the time of the dismissal and that would affect the outcome of the complaint.
(C)The decision to dismiss the complaint was objectively unreasonable or arbitrary.
(2)The chancellor’s office may only vacate or reverse an appeal after an investigation or a hearing outcome upon determining any of the following:
(A)There was no reasonable basis for the findings or conclusion that resulted in the investigation outcome.
(B)Procedural errors occurred that would have likely changed the outcome of the investigation.
(C)New evidence that was not reasonably available at the time of the investigation would have likely affected the investigation outcome about whether the respondent violated the nondiscrimination policy adopted by the governing board pursuant to Section 70925.
(3)If the chancellor’s office determines, pursuant to paragraph (1), that a complaint should not have been dismissed, the managing entity shall adjudicate the complaint pursuant to the nondiscrimination policy adopted by the governing board pursuant to Section 70925.
(4)If the chancellor’s office determines, pursuant to paragraph (2), that there was no reasonable basis for the findings or conclusion that resulted in the investigation outcome, the chancellor’s office may reverse the outcome of the investigation or hearing outcome, and the managing entity shall notify the Title IX coordinator, the respondent, and the complainant of the new outcome determined by the chancellor’s office. The chancellor’s office’s determination is final and is not subject to further appeal.
(5)If the chancellor’s office determines that an issued raised in the appeal, pursuant to subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2), would have affected the outcome of the complaint, the chancellor’s office shall authorize the managing entity to reopen the investigation to address the new evidence or to rectify procedural errors that may have occurred in the adjudication of the complaint.
70925.
(a) On or before September 1, 2026, and each September 1 thereafter, the board of governors, in consultation with the managing entity, shall provide a budget request to the Legislature, the Governor, and the Department of Finance to fund the external resolution services for civil rights compliance provided pursuant to Section 70922 for the previous year under the contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922. This annual budget request shall comply with policies established by the California Community Colleges for making budgetary requests.SEC. 4.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.SEC. 5.
For the 2026–27 fiscal year, the sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the California Community Colleges to fund, for the first year of the three-year contract entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 70922 of the Education Code, the external resolution services for civil rights compliance provided by the managing entity pursuant to Section 70922 of the Education Code.