California State University: claim eligibility: genealogy and descendancy.

The document format changed from the official chaptered legislative document (with page numbers, centered titles, and formal layout) to the web-based bill text page on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, which includes site navigation elements (skip to content, home, accessibility, FAQ, feedback, sitemap, login, search boxes, bill information links, version history dropdown, share options). The underlying legal text of Section 8308 and all its subdivisions is unchanged.

Header changed from Senate Bill passage format to 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' with chapter number 755, and the Governor's approval date (October 13, 2025) was added.

Page numbering and layout were reformatted to match the official chaptered law format. All statutory text in Section 8308 remains substantively identical.

Section 8308(a) now specifies that the $6 million comes from 'funds provided for this purpose in Item 6610-001-0001 of the Budget Act of 2025' in addition to the prior reference to Section 15.80 of the Budget Act of 2024. This ties the appropriation to a specific budget line item, clarifying exactly where the money is allocated.

The summary section was reformatted and cleaned up, removing duplicated phrases (such as 'descendant. descendant of an enslaved person' and a repeated clause about confirming eligibility for reparative claims) that appeared in the prior version.

New subdivision (e) defines 'descendant of an enslaved person' as an individual with direct lineage to a person subjected to American chattel slavery before 1900 who meets at least one of five criteria: emancipated through legal or extralegal means, obtained freedom through gradual abolition statutes or constitutional amendments, classified as a fugitive from bondage, deemed contraband by military authorities, or rendered military or civic service while subject to ancestry-based legal restrictions.

Subdivision (b) was clarified to explicitly reference 'descendant of an enslaved person' and to state that the genealogical research process is 'for the purpose of confirming an individual's status as a descendant of an enslaved person for eligibility for reparative claims.'

The deadline for CSU to establish a process for conducting or verifying genealogical research to confirm eligibility for reparative claims was extended from the start of the 2026-27 academic year to the start of the 2029-30 academic year. The commencement date for beginning work on the process remains unchanged at the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

The funding mechanism was changed from requiring the Director of Finance to allocate up to $6,000,000 to a specific budget item, to authorizing that up to $6,000,000 of the existing appropriation in Section 15.80 of the Budget Act of 2024 may be used for CSU research. This shifts from a mandatory allocation directive to a permissive use-of-funds provision.

Section 8308(a) changed from 'the Director of Finance shall allocate six million dollars ($6,000,000)' to 'the Director of Finance shall allocate up to six million dollars ($6,000,000)...may be used for the purpose of.' This makes the funding discretionary rather than a fixed appropriation, giving the Director of Finance discretion to allocate less than the full $6 million.

The bill summary was updated to reflect the funding change: 'allocate $6,000,000' became 'allocate authorize the use of up to $6,000,000,' confirming the shift from a guaranteed appropriation to an authorization.

Duplicated words in the summary section were corrected: 'descendant and descendant' was fixed to 'descendant' and 'reparative claims. claims' was fixed to 'reparative claims.'

A new deadline was added to Section 8308(b) requiring CSU to commence the work of establishing a process for conducting or verifying genealogical research to confirm eligibility for reparative claims on or before the start of the 2026-27 academic year.