By Fredrick Misleh

On Sept. 27, Governor Jerry Brown signed into legislation Assembly Bill 970, which looks to make school fees more transparent, as opposed to being behind closed doors to the public and to CSU/UC students.

The bill also requires the Board of Trustees for the CSU system to consult with student associations six months prior to implementing future fee increases in hopes of avoiding mass protests, similar to those experienced at CSU Long Beach in Nov. 2011.

While the CSU system supports the bill, the UC system has been more hesitant and remained neutral.

CSU legislative advocate Andrew Martinez told the Daily Californian on Sept. 3, “Any time you put restrictions on tuition, that’s a concern for the university, since almost all funding comes from either the state or tuition.”

Two Assembly members, Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) and Marty Block (D-San Diego) who proposed the bill felt that the process by which tuition was increased needed student and parent feedback and transparency. Brown seems to agree with their opinions.

AB 970, also known as the Working Families Student Fee Transparency and Accountability Act, would be an addition to the Donahoe Higher Education Act, an already existing law from 1960.