Calif. bill could pave way for free tuition for black students

A bill making its way through the California legislature could, if approved, pave the way for free college tuition for black students and other perceived marginalized communities.

ACA7 passed the state Assembly in September and sits before the Democrat-controlled Senate. If approved there, it would be put before voters this November.

The bill would effectively allow the governor to circumvent the state’s longstanding ban on racial preferences first passed by a majority of voters in 1996 with Proposition 209 and reaffirmed in a 2020 referendum.

The measure would allow the governor to use the state’s coffers to fund research-based or culturally specific programs if they increase the “life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty specific groups based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or marginalized genders, sexes, or sexual orientations.”