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Update: UC Tuition Freeze & Other Budget Items Confirmed
Earlier today, we posted an unconfirmed item saying the budget now going through the legislature contains some added funding for UC in exchange for a tuition freeze. That item has now been confirmed (and it is, as reported, contingent on voter approval of the governor’s tax initiative in November). So have other elements reported in earlier posts such as added and earmarked funding for the pension (but with no acknowledgment of state liability for the pension). And the legislature has declined to go along with the governor’s voiding of legislative earmarks for UC and some kind of long-term funding deal (which UCOP has been discussing with the governor). See below:
2012-13 Floor Report June 27, 2012:ASSEMBLY BUDGET COMMITTEE (pp. 22-23)
University of California
Student Fee Buyout. Appropriates $125 million in General Fund support to the University of California to buyout student fees for fiscal year 2013-14. Funding is contingent on the passage of the Governor’s tax initiative and on the UC’s Board of Regents to maintain student fees at the current fee levels, preventing a potential fee increase in 2012-13 academic year.
Elimination of Programs Earmarked in UC’s Base Budget. Denies the Governor’s January proposal to eliminate state prioritized programs and reinstates budget bill language with current year funding levels.
Elimination of Enrollment Targets. Denies the Governor’s January proposal to eliminate the budget bill language that sets the university’s enrollment target for the budget year.
Long-Term Funding Flexibility Proposals. Denies the Governor’s January proposals to provide the university with extensive flexibility to: 1) create a new “Funding Agreement,” and, 2) change the General Obligation bond payment and Lease Revenue Bond structure that would have made the budget year the last year in which the university received funding adjustments. Approve budget bill language expressing intent to approve future adjustments.
Funding Augmentation for the University’s Retirement Plan. Approves $89.1 million in General Fund support to the university and budget bill language specifically to earmark contributions to the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP) for state General Fund and tuition-funded employees, with the recognition that this funding does not constitute a state obligation to providing funding in future years and that any future funding, if any, will be determined by the Legislature.
Trigger Reductions. Approves the Governor’s May Revise proposal to increase the University of California’s trigger reduction to $250 million, in the event that the November tax initiative fails passage by voters.
Hastings Collegeof the Law [which reports to the Regents and so gets a repeat of the UC language]
Long-Term Funding Flexibility Proposals. Denies the Governor’s January proposals to provide the university with extensive flexibility to: 1) create a new “Funding Agreement,” and, 2) change the General Obligation bond payment structure, that would have made the budget year the last year in which the university received funding adjustments. Approve budget bill language expressing intent to approve future adjustments.
Funding Augmentation for the University’s Retirement Plan. Approves $865,000 in General Fund support to the university and budget bill language specifically to earmark contributions to the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP) for state General Fund and tuition-funded employees, with the recognition that this funding does not constitute a state obligation to providing funding in future years and that any future funding, if any, will be determined by the Legislature.
Anyway, that’s the deal. Believe it!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWewQIrLUvM&w=320&h=195]
