Author: admin

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    UC Budget Proposal for 2012-13 Readied for Regents

    Byadmin

    President Yudof’s UC budget proposal for 2012-13, scheduled for discussion at the Regents on Nov. 17, is now posted. The key links are http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov11/f12.pdf and http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov11/f11attach.pdf The proposal includes a request for increased “core” funding by 8%. Notably included is a contribution to the UC pension – which the state has not been doing since contributions resumed. There appears to be an arbitrary request for one fourth of the employer contribution ($87.6 million). See the last page of the second link. Why just one fourth is requested is not clear. Since this seems to be public pension year, given the…

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    Scoping!

    Byadmin

    The report for the scoping review on the newly revised hotel/conference center is now available. Earlier posts on this blog have noted the absence of the report in view of the upcoming session about it to be held Monday, Nov. 14, 7-9 PM, at the Faculty Center. But the report is now online. You can find the report at http://www.capital.ucla.edu/PDF/111108CC2InitialStudy.pdf To attend the Nov. 14 meeting, RSVP by Nov. 9 to mrule@support.ucla.edu Here is an alternative link to the report: Open publication – Free publishing – More ucla Update: Here is the legal announcement in the LA Times: Open publication…

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    LAO Report on UC and Other Public Pensions

    Byadmin

    The Legislative Analyst has just released a report on the governor’s proposal for public pensions. The report states that the “Governor’s Proposal Is a Bold, Excellent Starting Point” and then goes into a detailed analysis. Most of the report is not about UC, although it does note that changing the UC plan might well involve amending the constitution. But it does have a section on UC reproduced below: What About UC? UCRP Also Has a Major Funding Problem. From 1990 to 2010, UC and its employees enjoyed a remarkable two–decade pension funding holiday due principally to (1) substantial overfunding of…

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    No Smoking Better Than No Scoping

    Byadmin

    In case you haven’t noticed the signs near the Westwood Blvd. entrance to UCLA, the health center is going entirely no smoking on Nov. 17. It’s good to have no smoking. But as yesterday’s post pointed out, no scoping is not so good. We are still awaiting the scoping report on the new hotel/conference center plan which is supposed to be discussed at a public meeting next week. http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/11/waiting-for-scoping-report.html

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    DB or Not DB: That is the question

    Byadmin

    One of the characteristics of a defined benefit (DB) pension such as the current UC plan is that – in contrast to defined contribution (DC) plans – it provides a strong incentive to retire for long-service employees. The two-tier version enacted by the Regents for new hires still preserves the DB format. For faculty renewal, this feature can be important. The governor’s proposal for state and local pensions (including UC) would substitute a “hybrid” plan which is a mix of DB and DC. The more DC there is in a plan, the less you get the incentive to retire. As…

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    Waiting for the Scoping Report

    Byadmin

    As a prior post indicated, there is supposed to be a “scoping” report regarding the revised and relocated proposal for a UCLA hotel/conference center. The presentation of the scoping report is scheduled for a week from today. It will take place on Monday, November 14, 7-9 PM, at the Faculty Center. It is getting late to release the report so there can be a public examination of it prior to November 14. We are waiting patiently, but it would be nice to see the scope up on the web. If you are interested in attending the November 14 meeting, send…

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    Ham and Eggs: November 15

    Byadmin

    The UCLA Faculty Women’s Club will be hosting yours truly on Tuesday, November 15, 1:30 PM, at the Faculty Center to talk about “Ham and Eggs Pensions in California.” Below is the text from the above announcement. FDR wasn’t the only one who wanted to end destitution among the elderly. Even after Social Security became law, about 80 old-age pension proposals competed for support in California alone. The most prominent and sensational became known as“Ham and Eggs.” It promised “$30 every Thursday” for each unemployed Californian aged 50 or older. The idea was that every pensioner deserved a square meal…

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    The Governor is the Lone Ranger on the Trigger

    Byadmin

    The Sacramento Bee today carries a story about the budget for next year, the trigger based on this year’s revenues, etc. It refers to various projections made by the governor and others which unfortunately continue the standard state (and local) practice of mixing up stocks and flows and using words such as “deficit” outside the common meaning. First, it talks about a projected “deficit” for next year of around $3 billion. Anyone is free to project. But what was adopted last June was a budget for 2011-12. Anything beyond that is at most a “workload” projection. And, if you mean…