CA colleges grapple with free speech

As California public universities try to balance campus safety with students’ right to protest, community colleges are squaring off in court with students and staff who argue that the schools are violating their freedom of speech, explains CalMatters community college reporter Adam Echelman.

Since 2020, there have been at least seven lawsuits filed by professors or students that allege colleges’ efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion violate their free speech rights.

In 2021, a Madera Community College professor sued the district when the college disciplined him for using the pronouns “Do, Re, Mi” after he attended a presentation about gender pronouns. That same year, Juliette Colunga, then a student at Clovis Community College, sued after the school removed anti-communist posters put up by Colunga and other students and restricted the display of their anti-abortion posters.

Battling these lawsuits can get pricey: The district overseeing Clovis College agreed to pay Colunga and others a total of $330,000 in a settlement. And in another lawsuit involving the firing of a Moreno Valley College professor who said conversion therapy should be allowed, the district paid nearly $900,000 in legal costs even though the case was dismissed.

But for Colunga, who is now at a private, four-year Christian college in Santa Clarita, her lawsuit was “never about making money.”

• Colunga: “It was not only about making change, but also about ensuring that change remains for future students.” 

Learn more about community colleges’ free speech battles in Adam’s story.

In other higher ed news: To avoid shutting down Cal Maritime, California’s smallest public university, Cal State leaders are poised today to approve merging it with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, report CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn and Jeremy Garza. 

Cal Maritime’s graduates lead commercial ships that move cargo or U.S. military supplies around the world. But its enrollment has plummeted in recent years, from 1,107 in 2016-17 to 761 last fall.

Merging with highly selective Cal Poly, which is 250 miles away, is expected to cost at least $5 million a year for the next seven years, but that’s far less than keeping Cal Maritime separate at its reduced size.

Read more about the merger in Mikhail and Jeremy’s story.

Though the state is expected to spend more next year, higher than expected revenues — mostly driven by wealthier Californians playing the stock market — mean that California’s budget is projected to remain “roughly balanced,” the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says.

As CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff explains, the office released on Wednesday its initial outlook for 2025-26 that estimates a $2 billion budget hole, which could be plugged with some “minor” solutions.

California is forecast to collect $7 billion more than anticipated in taxes due to stock market gains. But the state also plans to spend about $10 billion more than planned in the current state budget due to school funding, wildfires and higher reimbursement rates for doctors who treat Medi-Cal patients.

While the short-term outlook isn’t as dire as the two-year, $56 billion shortfall that the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom dealt with earlier this year, the analyst’s office projects that the state will face deficits of about $30 billion by 2028-29, and warned the Legislature against major new spending. 

Both Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate leader Mike McGuire said they plan to be cautious.

One big question mark: The analysis doesn’t account for possible budget impacts by the incoming Donald Trump presidency. Newsom said he is developing a contingency plan for disaster aid in case Trump withholds federal funds. The governor also called for a special session starting in December to fund possible legal battles.

Meanwhile, GOP Assembly leader James Gallagher and Sen. Brian Dahle used the analyst’s report to accuse Democrats of overspending for years and being unwilling to make tough budget decisions.

Read more about California’s budget outlook in Alexei’s story.

In other Capitol news: The final statewide ballot measure was called Wednesday by the Associated Press: Proposition 34 passed, and it will make it much more difficult for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to finance ballot measures, such as Prop. 33, the local rent control measure that voters rejected. If you’re keeping score, that means six of the 10 measures passed and four failed.

Like so many issues, President-elect Trump is promising big changes on artificial intelligence. So will state lawmakers try to “Trump-proof” California on AI as well?

Maybe not right away, Alex Shultz reports for CalMatters.

This year, California lawmakers took a selective approach to regulating AI. Gov. Newsom signed at least 17 AI bills, but he also vetoed an expansive proposal strongly opposed by tech companies that would have required AI tools to be tested for catastrophic harm.

In contrast, Congress hasn’t passed meaningful AI legislation. And Trump has pledged to repeal President Joe Biden’s executive order that urges tech companies to put up certain guardrails for AI.

Though Newsom has cautioned against overregulating the industry, things could change under Trump: His promises of mass deportations, for example, could be assisted by the extensive use of AI tools. A Republican-led Congress could also pass looser AI laws that preempt California’s rules.

Learn more about California AI regulation and Trump in Alex’s story.

Los Angeles’ Inside Safe program has moved more than 3,200 unhoused residents from encampments to hotel rooms. CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on Marisa’s story on the challenges that remain for the program, as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.