Schwarzenegger Vetoes Transparency Bill for College Foundations

Public universities in California won a major political battle on Thursday, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have made college foundations subject to the state’s open-records law. Public colleges often use the private foundations to help manage fund raising and other campus operations. Proponents of the bill had argued that the foundations are effectively part of the colleges they represent and need more oversight, citing controversies over bad loans and a Sarah Palin speaking contract. Universities argued that the bill would damage fund-raising efforts because it lacked sufficient privacy protections for anonymous donors.