Just a reminder – as you are perusing news about current economic trends – that the California state budget signed last June with smiles all around has a “trigger” formula. If tax revenue falls short of its (relatively optimistic) projections by specified amounts, further cuts occur – including cuts to UC.
Sagging economies are not good at producing a lot of tax revenue.
Perhaps this old clip from the 1970s has some relevance as you cogitate on that fact and the more general scene: