Senate Leader Atkins, Budget Chair Skinner Praise Agreement on Environmental Review of College Campus Plans, Ensure Access to Prospective UC Berkeley Students for 2022-23

SACRAMENTO – Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) and Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Chair Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) released the following statement about a Legislative agreement that has been reached regarding environmental review of California’s public higher education campuses’ long-term development plans, which also would ensure access to a new generation of students at UC Berkeley for the 2022-23 academic year.

Pro Tem Atkins:

“The impacts of the lawsuit and recent Supreme Court decision on incoming UC Berkeley students and the future threat to other college campuses that now exists is unacceptable. It presented the Legislature with an immense challenge that required swift work to find a bold solution, especially with college acceptance letters going out in the mail this month. Thanks to the hard work and leadership of Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner, and the partnership of Speaker Anthony Rendon, I’m proud to announce a solution that puts students first. SB 118/AB 168 reverses course for the more than 2,600 prospective students who would have otherwise faced deferred enrollment, remote learning, or at worse no opportunity to attend one of our nation’s premier public universities. This bill is a delicate solution that simply says a court decision on a misguided lawsuit cannot determine student enrollment at a college campus. The bill fixes the problem while still preserving all of the ability to have community accountability in the physical changes and new construction that happens at our college campuses. SB 118/AB 168 is a perfect display of the Senate and Assembly working in partnership and taking swift action to solve a hard problem and meet the academic needs of California students.”

Senator Skinner:

“It was never the intent of the Legislature for students to be viewed as environmental pollutants. This bill fixes the fact that student enrollment alone was singled out in California environmental law, while still preserving the requirement that campus long-range development plans be comprehensively reviewed for environmental impacts. And most importantly, SB 118/AB 168 prevents UC Berkeley from having to reject more than 2,600 students from attending this fall, reinforcing our state's longstanding priority to give more students, not fewer, the opportunity to benefit from public higher education.”

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Toni G. Atkins is President pro Tempore of the California Senate. Having previously served as Speaker of the California Assembly, she began her tenure in the Senate in 2016. As Senator for District 39, she represents the cities of San Diego, Coronado, Del Mar and Solana Beach. Website of President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins: www.senate.ca.gov/Atkins

Sen. Nancy Skinner represents the 9th Senate District, which includes the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Richmond, and is chair of the Senate Budget and Finance Review Committee and vice chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus. Website of Sen. Skinner: https://sd09.senate.ca.gov/