California State University Stanislaus Office of the Presidentdenied public records requests to disclose what former AlaskaGovernor Sarah Palin is being paid for an upcoming speakingengagement.

Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) asked the university last weekto reveal Palin's fee and other contract terms. An advocacy group,Californians Aware, requested all records related to the event.

The school's compliance officer, Gina Leguria, made the sameresponse Tuesday to both requests: The university has no suchdocuments and is referring the matter to the foundation. Thefoundation responded Wednesday by citing the confidentiality clausein Palin's contract.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is investigating thefinancial arrangements behind Palin's scheduled appearance at thestate university fundraiser.

The CSU Stanislaus Foundation, which funds the dinner and dance,invited Palin. The private organization is not subject to thestate's open-records law.

But Yee said state agencies are barred by state law fromentering into confidentiality agreements regarding the spending oftaxpayer money. The senator accused CSU Stanislaus of violating thepublic trust by not disclosing the fess it will give Palin.

From the Turlock Journal: A 2001 state appeals court regardinga similar case at California State University, Fresno found thatthe Fresno State Assn.-- an analog of the Foundation--was notsubject to the Public Records Act.

That ruling did, however, require Fresno State -- which wasaware of the information sought -- to release the particulars ofthe situation. Under state law, public entities may not enter intothe sort of non-disclosure agreement as found in the Foundation'scontract with Palin.

Yee is currently sponsoring a state Senate Bill clarifying thatcampus foundations and auxiliary organizations are subject to thePublic Records Act. The bill has passed the Senate, and awaitsaction by the Assembly.

Yee says the sharing of staff, facilities and resources betweenthe Foundation and CSU Stanislaus creates an "inextricable link"between the two entities -- and that the Public Records Act shouldbe in force.

Palin is rumored to be paid more than $100,000 for attending the$500-a-plate fundraiser. She reportedly earned $100,000 when shespoke at the National Tea Party Convention this year.

The California Faculty Assn., the union representing theuniversity system's professors, has been critical of thefoundation's reticence on Palin's speaking fee.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Editors note: Some of you havequestioned how this story relates to insurance. This storyoriginally appeared in the AA&B MarketWatch e-newsletter on the subject ofpublic entity insurance. Some of our readers offer public entityinsurance, and as such, are interested in legal matters relating topublic entities (CSU in this case, and Yee is looking to subjectCSU Stanislaus Foundation to the Public Records Act).