CSU

| | |

Bill to Cut Tuition Goes Down the Drain

Byuclafaculty

The bill sponsored by assembly speaker John Pérez that would close a corporate tax loophole with revenue dedicated to tuition cuts went down the drain last night.  An earlier post on this blog noted that a version of it had gotten through the assembly – despite needing a 2/3 vote.  (Pérez got an independent and one renegade GOP member to vote for it, giving him the 2/3.)  But getting 2/3 in the senate, despite all sorts of manipulations was not possible. …(A) closely watched bill may have been too unwieldy to gain orbit. That was Assembly Speaker John Pérez’s gambit…

| | |

Could the legislature pass a last-minute tax with revenue for cutting tuition? A look at the legislative sausage factory

Byuclafaculty

It seemed improbable a bill of that kind could pass until recently, although we have included some reporting about one such bill in two prior posta on this blog.  (Scroll back to August 14 and 15 for those posts.)  And the story of how the legislative sausage is (or might be) made is complicated and involves a bunch of seemingly-unrelated elements.  But there appears to be at least a chance now for the bill to pass.  So let’s start with a cast of characters: John Pérez is speaker of the state assembly.  He is the sponsor of a bill that…

| | |

And Yet Another Bill for the Governor to Sign (or Not)

Byuclafaculty

We have been reporting on bills related to UC that have been sent to Governor Brown for his signature or veto.  Here is another:=== A bill approved by the state Senate would give University of California and California State University research assistants the right to collective bargaining…  It would affect 14,000 research assistants in the UC system and about 2,000 at CSU schools. …Gov. Jerry Brown has until the end of September to act on the bill. Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/23/4752473/uc-csu-research-assistants-would.html Will Brown sign?  Here is what proponents say: Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/23/4752473/uc-csu-research-assistants-would.html#storylink=cpy

| |

New Law Aimed at Cheaper Higher Ed Textbooks

Byuclafaculty

Description of SB 1539, Signed by Gov. Brown: The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the 4 segments of the higher education system in the state. These segments include the 3 public segments: the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and independent institutions of higher education constitute the other segment. Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education…

| | | |

UC Tuition Freeze?

Byuclafaculty

There is a report – so far unconfirmed – that the state budget that is yet to be fully enacted will contain some extra money for UC and CSU in exchange for a tuition freeze for this year.  All of this – if confirmed – is conditioned on voters passing the governor’s tax initiative in November which is not a sure thing.  The report comes from a student group, not UCOP.  (Yours truly found nothing on the UCOP website as of 8 AM this morning about this matter.) See http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/06/uc-student-groups-budget-will-contain-uc-csu-tuition-freeze.html A freeze in June? Of course, it will be colder…

| | |

Winners and Losers

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times has a story today about California students who might otherwise attend a UC or CSU going instead to out-of-state public colleges.  The chart above comes from that story which is at:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-out-of-state-20120604,0,1974227,full.story There is an odd twist which the story doesn’t pick up.  If UC pulls in more out-of-staters – who pay a premium – and more Californians go out of state, from the perspective of university budgets on both sides of the California border, there is a budgetary win-win. Of course, from the viewpoint of California students, the situation is a loss compared to the past when the…

| | |

Two Thirds?

Byuclafaculty

There are two bills kicking around in the legislature that would, if both are passed, provide a $1 billion subsidy for tuition at UC, CSU, and the community colleges financed by a change in corporate tax law.  However, one of these bills – the tax bill – would require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature.  Assembly speaker Pérez claims he has the necessary Republican votes, although that seems unlikely.  It is unclear from an account today in the San Francisco Chronicle whether that claim also applies to the state senate: Assembly Speaker John Pérez, who introduced AB1501,…

| | | | |

Concerns Over Proposed Cal Grants Cuts in May Revise Budget

Byuclafaculty

Cal Grant program faces cuts in governor’s budget (excerpts) Wyatt Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 2012 Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to cut a state program that helps thousands of low- and middle-income California university students pay for tuition and other costs.  Under Brown’s revised budget plan, thousands of California college students who start their education in fall of 2013 would either be unable to qualify for a Cal Grant or would receive a much smaller grant than if they had applied this year.  Currently, students who qualify and attend either the University of California or California State University…

| |

More Ready, Fire, Aim from the Legislature (although UC was amended out)

Byuclafaculty

The pay cap bill described below passed the state senate yesterday. UC was amended out of the original version and – because of its constitutional autonomy – had been subject only to a suggestion. As in the recent tuition-cap bill cited in an earlier post, there is no recognition that rising student fees (said to be the motivation for the bill) are the result of actions by the legislature. Were this pay cap to be enacted, there would be blowback to UC, despite the exemption. An act to add and repeal Section 89517.5 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education,…