New Processes & Changes for State Proposals/Awards –

CA Assembly Bill 20 (AB20)

California state legislation has prompted significant changes to the way that State agencies will fund research, training and public service projects at UC and CSU campuses. Important information about new processes for State proposals/awards is below.

Background: Assembly Bill 20 (AB20) and California Education Code 67327 required the State Department of General Services (DGS) to negotiate model contract terms for use by State agencies funding research, training or public service projects done by campuses of the UC and CSU systems. On November 2, 2015, these three parties concluded negotiations for new processes and agreement templates to be used for new awards from State agencies issued after January 1, 2016.

New Process and Changes: The new process requires a complete proposal be submitted to the funding State agency, after review and approval by Sponsored Programs Administration. The proposal is expected to contain much more detail in an effort to clarify the expectations of the parties and to avoid misunderstandings (e.g. deliverables, and the delivery schedule), and to reduce award acceptance delays as the proposal Exhibits (along with additional proscribed Exhibits) will now become a part of the final award. Project details including scope of work and budget information are expected to follow a specific format dictated by specialized exhibits. The new AB20 model agreement proposal process is expected to be followed for all new State contracts received after January 1, 2016, however implementation is still underway within the individual State agencies as well as UC/CSU Campuses; therefore, some consideration is given at the campus level to deviate from this process only when necessary to comply with the requirements of a specific State agencies solicitation (A new contract is defined as the award of funds, not previously budgeted or appropriated by a State agency to a UC campus.) Existing awards will be administered under their original terms.

Changes to Indirect Costs: The Chancellors of each UC campus, along with the CFO of UCOP, and the leadership of the CSU system, have agreed to implement the following indirect cost rate structure (“AB20 F&A Rate Chart”) for State agreements (which do not contain federal funding):

Facilities / Administration / Total Rate / Base / Effective Date
0% / 25% / 25% / MTDC / January 1, 2016
5% / 25% / 30% / MTDC / July 1, 2017
10% / 25% / 35% / MTDC / July 1, 2018
15% / 25% / 40% / MTDC / July 1, 2019

Important Note - The rate in effect for the first year of a multi-year project will be the rate usedfor the entire projectin proposed and awarded budgets. If additional funds (not previously appropriated or budgeted) are awarded; this new budget would use the rate in effect at the time the budget is submitted.

However, the appropriate UC federally negotiated F&A Rate will apply to State agency awards made with federal funding per 2 CFR 200.331(a)(4).

Exempt Programs: The following State programs are exempt from, and remain unchanged by, the new AB20 requirements: Awards from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); California Energy Commission PIER and EPIC programs (CEC); and California State Marketing Boards.

Things You Need to Know Now

Proposals –

1.Ensure you are using the most current proposal guidelines and/or solicitation issued by the State agency for the program you are applying to. Start early and ask questions if needed.

2.Assist and have your PI develop his/her application using the State agencies correct solicitation requirements and the AB20 proposal forms, budget, and project budget details and exhibits developed for State of California Contracts with UC/CSU (located at:

3.Indirect costs should be proposed in budgets according to the AB20 F&A Rate Chart above. NOTE: For solicitations that clearly deviate and limit the Indirect Costs as described above, UCR SPA currently allows the PI discretion to either follow the solicitations lower rate or follow the new AB20 Indirect Cost rate (this may change at a later date). Contact your SPA Contract & Grant Officer early on if you have any concerns about the correct indirect costs to assess and/or other deviations of the new required process and forms.

4.Proposals are required to be accompanied by a completed Proposal Cover Sheet signed by the UC Riverside PI and a SPA Authorized Official.

5.Required Exhibits are as follows:

a. Scope of work – Exhibit A (Mandatory)

i.Schedule of Deliverables (Exhibit A1) – List all items that will be delivered to the State under the proposed Scope of Work. Include all reports, including draft reports for State review, and any other deliverables requested by the State and agreed to by the PI. Items listed on the top half of the form will result in copyrights to such deliverables owned bv UC. Items listed on the bottom half of the form will result in copyright to such deliverables owned by the State. Use of the bottom half of the form is only appropriate if the purpose of the Scope of Work is to create copyrightable works for use by the State and should be rare. SPA will review this list in its proposal review, as the State will receive a NonExclusive Royalty-Free license to every item listed as a Deliverable.

ii.Key Personnel (Exhibit A2) – Changes to personnel listed on this Exhibit during an award period will require State agency approval, so list peoplesparingly. Use additional consecutively numbered pages as necessary.

iii.Authorized Representatives and Notices (Exhibit A3)–Only list contactdetails for UC Riverside individuals. State representatives will bepopulated at the award stage.

iv. Use of Preexisting Data, Copyrighted Works and Deliverables (Exhibit

A4) – List pre-existing data, copyrighted works and deliverables owned by UC Riverside. (Pre-existing materials owned by the State or a third party will be listed at time of award.) If no third-party or preexisting data or copyrighted works will be used, check “none” in this section.

v. Curriculum Vitae (CV)/Résumé (Exhibit A5) – Attach

CV/Résumé/Biosketch for Key Personnel listed in Exhibit A2vi. Current & Pending Support (Exhibit A6) – (Note - There is norequirement to list the percent effort applicable to each project.)

b. Budget Estimate for Proposed Project Period (Exhibit B) (Mandatory)

i.Budget Justification(Exhibit B1) – The Budget Justification will include the following items in the format indicated

ii.Subcontractor Budgets (Exhibit B2) – Budget Estimates Pertaining to Subcontractors.Required if there are subrecipients

New Awards -

1.Any award received after January 1, 2016 are expected to be issued using the model agreement for all research, training and public service awards. Many individual State agencies may be unaware of the new requirements which will need to be addressed upon receipt of notice of funding.

2.Indirect costs should be awarded according to the AB20 F&A Rate chart above. Revised budgets developed should be developed considering this expectation. Deviations that further limit Indirect costs may be considered for special circumstances as mentioned earlier.

Resources -

1.The AB20 Model Agreement and required Proposal forms and exhibits can be located on the State of California, Department of General Services (DGS) website at:

2.As always, you have a dedicated SPA Contracts & Grants Officer who can discuss the new AB20 processes and templates with you. Contact information for all SPA staff is available at

3.On February 1, 2016, the UC Office of the President provided formal guidance – see (Guidance Memo 16-01 and its attachments) located at UCOP will continue to provided updated materials on this AB20 dedicated webpage.

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New Processes & Changes to State Agency Proposals/Awards February 9, 2016 (rev. 1)