News

State Budget Update: June 22

Byuclafaculty

Budget Update: June 22 Legislative Activity California Treasurer Bill Lockyer says that the tax plan developed by the assembly Democrats in the legislature depends on a bond sale Wall Street will not accept. That is because the Attorney General’s office (Jerry Brown) says the borrowing would violate Prop 58 of 2004. (If such a bond were declared to be illegally issued, the holders could lose everything, even if the state had the cash to honor the commitment.) Assembly Democratic leaders say they disagree with the legal opinion and seem to be pursuing their plan. But if their bonds cannot be…

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Selected non-YouTube audios and videos from discontinued savingUCLA website

Byuclafaculty

Selected non-YouTube audios and videos from the discontinued savingUCLA website are available below. Click on the links below. Note: Audios are actually videos with a still picture. Originally, these audios/videos were moved to video-Yahoo. As a post in December 2010 indicated, video-Yahoo is discontiuing its service. (Yahoo is in commercial decline due to competition from Google, YouTube, etc.) . So the files were transitioned to Facebook. In some cases, the audio is poor, either because it was poor originally or because the files were saved in a way that limited the quality. I have originals in some cases that are…

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Selected YouTube references transferred from the discontinued savingUCLA website

Byuclafaculty

Selected YouTube references transferred from the discontinued savingUCLA website are listed below. To view the videos, click on the links or paste the URL for your selection into your web browser.–Dan Mitchell The 2010-11 Budget: Overview of the May Revision by LAOhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hNfgYd0sxc State Senate Pres Steinberg says no $$ increase for higher edhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpR9TgsXlDg Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger Proposes to Raise Higher Education Funding by Cutting Prison Costshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O16BJStl9bc U of California President Mark Yudof on the Master Plan: Part 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnlD5BBxmwg U of California President Mark Yudof on the Master Plan: Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDTGeKzzgRI Former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young on the Master Plan for…

Min wage issue for state employees arises again: What would UC do?

Byuclafaculty

The article below deals with the minimum wage issue for state employees. It discusses the technical issue of whether the governor – if there is no budget on July 1 – could order workers paid the min wage in what used to be the June 30 payroll. (As a budget gimmick, the June 30 payroll was moved to July 1, thus “saving” some money for fiscal 2009-10.) Further in the article is the info that the legal case that was fought out in 2008 could lead to a min wage order over the summer.Exactly what UC would do if all…

UC panel: Call student fees ‘tuition’

Byuclafaculty

By Matt Krupnick Contra Costa Times Posted: 06/11/2010 04:00:00 PM PDT Updated: 06/11/2010 06:01:23 PM PDT Student fees should be called “tuition,” a University of California panel is recommending, marking a possible end to a decades-long refusal to use the word in California public higher education. While the recommendation by the Commission on the Future may seem trivial, the change would signal a philosophical shift for the 10-campus university. UC, as well as the California State University system, have long claimed publicly that students do not pay tuition, defined as the cost of instruction. At the same time, university leaders…

UC: Millions lost in research costs from grants

Byuclafaculty

(Editorial Note: No mention in article below of $2-for-$1 pension problem which leads to money lost to UC. As previous posts have noted, inadequate contributions to UC pension lead to major losses of non-state funds.) UC: Millions lost in research costs from grants Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, June 16, 2010 The University of California misses out on hundreds of millions of dollars each year that could be used to bolster campus budgets because it is too passive in recovering research-relatedcosts as other universities do, a UC advisory group has found. UC could gain $300 million a…

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New LAO language on funding UC pension plan

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued a new proposal to the legislature that UC create a funding plan for its pension liability. The new language is below in italics. This new approach represents a shift for LAO and opens the door to state recognition of state pension funding obligations to UC. As prior posts have noted, each state dollar NOT contributed to the plan costs the plan an additional $2 in lost non-state contributions and ultimately drains the UC budget.University of California Retirement Plan Proposed LAO Compromise: Senate Plus Budget Bill Language 6-14-10 6440-001-0001 Provision 17. The Legislature requests…

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Regents may fire first warning shot

Byuclafaculty

Ventura County StarThursday, June 17, 2010 It’s almost as if the board of regents that runs the University of California can’t wait to fire a warning shot across the figurative bow of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state Legislature and the candidates now running for those positions. “Show us more money,” UC’s leaders seem to be saying, “or we’ll make some radical changes that your constituents won’t like very much.”Since regents are appointed to 12-year-terms, they will not have to face furious voters if those changes come; the politicians would have to. When it meets July 13 in San Francisco, the…

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Governor Uses Market Numbers to Set CalPERS Contribution Rate

Byuclafaculty

Extra $$$s for CalPERS from State; zero for UCRP! Governor uses market numbers to set the CalPERS contribution rate! Governor to give CalPERS more funds than it asked for. Dale Kasler, Sacramento Bee, Dec. 06, 2009 With the State facing a $20.7 billion deficit over the next year and a half, Governor Schwarzenegger is willing to raise the State’s annual CalPERS contribution to $4.8 billion in the next fiscal year, even though CalPERS officials only asked for $4.1 billion. Why give more? Because the Governor thinks it is more prudent to pay the CalPERS tab as quickly as possible and…