Lawmakers press UC on using budget and oversight to force progress on repatriation

Members of the Select Committee asked whether the legislature can compel UC to spend appropriated funds on NAGPRA work, require performance targets and set enforceable consequences for noncompliance.

The auditor suggested the legislature could use its appropriations power to incentivize progress, recommending greater transparency on how UC campuses spend NAGPRA funding and possibly earmarking or conditional appropriations. Committee members noted constitutional limits on mandating how UC spends its base budget and asked the auditor and UCOP for more constitutionally valid options.

Legislators repeatedly asked for short, reportable milestones rather than distant target dates: "If you don't know what you're shooting for, you're never gonna know if you get there," the auditor said, and committee members pressed UC to embed repatriation goals into strategic plans and routine budget reporting.