AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 11, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

96

Introduced by Assembly Member Elhawary

February 20, 2026

An act to amend and repeal Section 66270.7 of of, and to add and repeal Section 66270.8 of, the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

A portion of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, known as the Equity in Higher Education Act, provides, among other things, that all students have the right to participate fully in the educational process, free from discrimination and harassment, and that postsecondary educational institutions have an affirmative obligation to combat discrimination on the basis of, among other things, disability, gender, race, or ethnicity, and a responsibility to provide equal educational opportunity. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, act to make the provision applicable.

The Equity in Higher Education Act requires the Trustees of the California State University and the Regents of the University of California to have the primary responsibility to prevent and address conduct that either creates a hostile environment for students on campus or results in differential treatment of students on campus, as specified. The act requires the trustees to, among other things, adopt rules and procedures in the student codes of conduct to prohibit violent, harassing, intimidating, or discriminatory conduct that creates a hostile environment on campus, to prohibit conduct that limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the free exchange of ideas or the educational mission of the California State University, and to establish, and require each campus to publish on the campus internet website, reasonable content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions and, if applicable, any advance permitting requirements for protests on campus. The act requires the trustees to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 2 of each year, on the implementation and administration of these provisions, including information on student code of conduct violations. The act requests the University of California to comply with these provisions.

This bill would require the above-described report to also include demographic data about students reported to have violated the student codes of conduct. The bill information on student code of conduct violations that occurred during, or as a result of, a protest on campus and a description of the discipline imposed on the student as a result of the specified student code of conduct violation.

This bill would require each campus of the California State University to establish a committee that would be required to hold at least 2 student hearings before January 1, 2029, University, and request the University of California, to (1) hold an open forum on a selected campus on or before December 31, 2027, to elicit feedback regarding established content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions, as provided. provided, and (2) notify the relevant policy committees of the Legislature of the location and date of the open forum. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2029. 2028.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 66270.7 of the Education Code is amended to read:

66270.7.

(a) As used in this section section, “hostile environment” means unwelcomed conduct based on a person’s actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or disability status, that based on the totality of circumstances, is subjectively and objectively offensive, and is so severe or pervasive that it limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from a campus’s education program or activity.

(b) The Trustees of the California State University and the Regents of the University of California have the primary responsibility to prevent and address conduct that either creates a hostile environment for students on campus, or results in differential treatment of students on campus based on a student’s actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or disability status.

(c) The Trustees of the California State University shall do all of the following:

(1) Adopt rules and procedures in the student codes of conduct to provide all of the following elements:

(A) Prohibit violent, harassing, intimidating, or discriminatory conduct that creates a hostile environment on campus.

(B) Prohibit conduct that limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the free exchange of ideas or the educational mission of the California State University.

(C) Establish reasonable content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions, and, if applicable, any advance permitting requirements for protests on campus.

(2) Adopt rules and procedures to take reasonable steps to respond to each incident described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) that creates a hostile environment on campus.

(3) Require each campus to publish on the campus’s internet website the time, place, and manner restrictions, and any advance permitting requirements for protests on campus.

(4) Develop mandatory training programs to educate students on all of the following:

(A) What constitutes violent, harassing, intimidating, or discriminatory conduct that creates a hostile environment on campus, and the procedures for investigating violations of the student code of conduct.

(B) When and where protests and gatherings may be held, including the difference between public fora, limited public fora, nonpublic fora, and private property, consistent with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.

(C) How to exchange views in an atmosphere of mutual respect and civility.

(5) Require, as a condition of enrollment at a California State University campus, each student attending the campus to acknowledge the campus’s student code of conduct.

(d) The Trustees of the California State University and each California State University campus shall ensure that any policy adopted or enforced pursuant to this section, as applicable, is consistent with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution, and Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000d et seq.).

(e) (1) (A) On or before January 2 of each year, the Trustees of the California State University shall submit a report to the Legislature on the implementation and administration of this section. This report shall include information on student code of conduct violations relating to incidents described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), including demographic data about those students. (c).

(2) A report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(f) The University of California is requested to comply with this section.

(g) This section is intended to be interpreted consistent with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.

(h) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

SEC. 2.

Section 66270.8 is added to the Education Code, to read: