Restrictions on Out of State Travel (AB 1887) (CCD)
On August 3, 2017, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (the “Chancellor’s Office”) published a letter addressed to all California community colleges, encouraging them to adopt the travel restrictions in Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1887, locally. AB 1887 prohibits any state agency, department, board, or commission from requiring state employees, officers, or members to travel to states that the California legislature has deemed discriminatory toward members of the LGBT community. The law also prohibits state agencies from approving state-sponsored or state-funded travel to the prohibited states. AB 1887 is incorporated into Government Code section 11139.8, which is attached for ease of reference.
LEGAL UPDATE
August 16, 2017
To: Superintendents/Presidents/Chancellors, Member Community College Districts
From: Ellie R. Austin, Schools Legal Counsel
Subject: Restrictions on Out of State Travel (AB 1887)
Memo No. 18-2017
On August 3, 2017, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (the “Chancellor’s Office”) published a letter addressed to all California community colleges, encouraging them to adopt the travel restrictions in Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1887, locally. AB 1887 prohibits any state agency, department, board, or commission from requiring state employees, officers, or members to travel to states that the California legislature has deemed discriminatory toward members of the LGBT community. The law also prohibits state agencies from approving state-sponsored or state-funded travel to the prohibited states. AB 1887 is incorporated into Government Code section 11139.8, which is attached for ease of reference.
Currently, the law does not apply to California community colleges. However, the Chancellor’s Office is encouraging community colleges to adopt AB 1887’s travel restrictions locally. The letter from the Chancellor’s Office is attached in full.
Importantly, the letter also provided that, as a matter of policy, the Chancellor’s Office:
…will not approve requests from our local community college districts to travel to an AB 1887 restricted state, regardless of the funding source for the proposed out-of-state travel.
(Chancellor’s Office Letter re AB 1887, Aug. 3, 2017; emphasis in original.)
Exceptions to the travel restrictions include travel that is required for the following purposes:[1]
- Enforcement of California law
- Litigation
- To meet contractual obligations incurred prior to January 1, 2017
- To comply with requests by the federal government to appear before committees
- To participate in meetings or training required by a grant or required to maintain grant funding
- To complete job-related training, in the event that comparable training cannot be obtained in California or another, non-prohibited state
- For the protection of public health, welfare, or safety, as determined by the affected agency, department, board, authority, commission, or legislative office
States currently subject to California’s ban on state-sponsored or state-funded travel are:
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Up-to-date information regarding the travel restrictions, including the list of restricted states, can be found on the Attorney General’s website at https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887.
Please contact our office with questions regarding this Legal Update or any other legal matter.
The information in this Legal Update is provided as a summary of law and is not intended as legal advice. Application of the law may vary depending on the particular facts and circumstances at issue. We, therefore, recommend that you consult legal counsel to advise you on how the law applies to your specific situation.
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