Author: uclafaculty

| | | | |

Pension Initiative Drive Might Become More Difficult

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts on this blog have pointed out that a pension initiative could appear on the California ballot that would override the changes made by the Regents last December in the UC pension plan. It was noted that initiatives – once qualified – go on the next statewide ballot. For 2012, that might have been February when the state presidential primary was originally scheduled. The mix of voters in a February primary might have tilted toward passage of such an initiative. Now, however, the governor has signed a bill moving the presidential primary back to June when the regular primary…

| | | |

Our Primary Concern

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee today carries a story about the resetting of the date for the California presidential primary. It focuses on the arguments made when – last time there was a presidential election (2008) – California moved its presidential primary from June (when the primary for state offices is held) to February. The idea was to be early in the presidential primary campaign season and thus have more influence on the outcome. You can read all about that idea – and whether it worked in practice – at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/29/3802418/california-set-to-move-its-presidential.html Where this matters for UC is in the initiative process. As…

| | |

Auditor Looks In: Now that the audit is out, a money-losing hotel would not be advisable

Byuclafaculty

Undoubtedly, the headline on the audit report for UC released today will be the generalized call for more “transparency.” The report produced a nasty back and forth between UCOP and the State Auditor as to whether what the report found was significant or not with UCOP effectively suggesting that the audit was a waste of money. The audit was the product of a request by state senator Leland Yee – now running for mayor of San Francisco – who has made something of a career out of criticizing the university. That being said, there is material in the report about…

| | | |

No More Hired Guns?

Byuclafaculty

Governor blasts California universities’ hiring of pricey presidents:Jerry Brown criticizes the trend of paying high salaries to ‘hired guns’ from out of state instead of seeking Californians who might take less Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2011 Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday criticized leaders of California’s public universities for recruiting highly paid “hired guns” from across the country to run campuses instead of looking for home-grown talent that might be willing to work for lower salaries. The governor said officials at California State University and the University of California appeared in recent salary decisions to have adopted a…

| |

Possible Pension Fix Coming from On High?

Byuclafaculty

Could this be the ultimate deus ex machina to fix the UC pension’s unfunded liability? Unseen comet’s orbit indicates possible crash David Perlman, San Francisco Chronicle, July 28, 2011 A stream of dusty fragments from a comet born in the outermost reaches of the solar system has hit the Earth on a path that leads astronomers to conclude the comet itself could be “potentially hazardous” if it crashes into the planet. The comet’s location is unknown, making it difficult to say when it will approach Earth, but “the orbits of the dust trail tells us that the comet is on…

| | |

Maintaining a Healthy Balance

Byuclafaculty

UC has maintained a kind of cautionary balance for its health plans meant to smooth out sudden bumps in health care premiums. Since the state budget has squeezed the UC budget – including using UC as a loan department – the Regents approved various actions at their July meeting to try and deal with the cash crunch. Among these was tapping the health reserve. As the letter below (a public document I have been assured) indicates, the systemwide University Committee on Faculty Welfare has expressed concern about completely depleting the fund. Apparently, that is not the intention at this time,…

| | | |

Could Washington Debt-Ceiling Impasse Adversely Affect UC?

Byuclafaculty

The simple answer is – as someone said – you betcha! Chaotic financial conditions – if such occur – can damage the economy, e.g., 2008, and ultimately cut into state tax revenue. Drops in the value of financial assets hurts the pension fund (and the individual 403b and 457b accounts of UC employees) and other funds UC maintains. Significant funding flows from the federal government to UC in the form of research contracts, Medicare payments, etc. Will that be interrupted? Who knows? This is one social science experiment we would do well not to undertake. Bottom Line: There is no…

| | | | |

Higher Ed Dream Act (One of Them) Signed by Governor

Byuclafaculty

Gov. Brown signed AB 130 by Assemblymember Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) – Student financial aid: eligibility: California Dream Act of 2011. The new law allows illegal alien children who have been raised in California to receive financial aid in public higher education institutions (UC, CSU, community colleges). However, the aid to which the law refers is private scholarship money. The issue of such aid has arisen in the controversy over tuition increases at UC. Although the university provides assistance to lower-income students, it cannot do so with public monies including tuition money to illegal alien students. Protests over UC tuition…

| |

Not Again! Another Pension Initiative Filed

Byuclafaculty

Ted Costa of Peoples Advocate has submitted a ballot initiative on public pensions that explicitly includes UC. Peoples Advocate is the organization originally founded by Paul Gann of the Jarvis-Gann initiative known as Prop 13. You have probably heard of Prop 13. (Joke) The organization by itself does not have funding for signature gathering. But it has a history of getting funding from others. Most notably, it kicked off the recall of Gray Davis. So I would take this initiative seriously. It has things like $100,000 caps on pensions, limits on cost of living adjustments, rules about funding, etc. It…