governor

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How Jerry Brown Views Higher Ed

Byuclafaculty

If you are wondering what Governor Brown thinks about higher ed, you might be interested in the excerpt below from the transcript of an interview with the LA Times which appeared on the web on 9-24-12: …So here’s an interesting point. This is Page Smith. He was in the history department in Santa Cruz. You went to Santa Cruz. Do you remember Page Smith? Well, he was one of the original guys. He kind of left in disgust when they started going more conventional. His wife I made the first head of the arts council and I got to know…

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Will Prop 30 Pass the Voters’ Test?

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts on this blog have noted, Proposition 30, the governor’s tax initiative endorsed by the Regents, is polling marginally ahead. But it does not have a comfortable lead and the campaign is really just starting.  So will it lose its marginal lead, thus causing trigger cuts to UC? Ethan Rarick, California Fellow at the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC-Berkeley, does some analysis of past initiatives and concludes that the answer is – TA TA! – maybe yes/ maybe no.  Non-tax initiatives at this point in the campaign with poll numbers in the range of Prop 30’s do…

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Rival Initiative Campaign

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog will know, although there are three tax propositions on the ballot, two are essentially rivals.  The governor put Prop 30 on the ballot, a combination of income and sales taxes, which has been endorsed by the Regents.  Prop 38, which is an income tax increase earmarked more directly for local schools, is supported by a wealthy backer, Molly Munger.  Prop 38 hasn’t polled well but Munger is putting money into its campaign. Prop 30 has been showing a marginal majority in recent polls.  The concern among Prop 30 supporters is that the campaign for 38…

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Another Poll Shows Prop 30 Marginally Ahead

Byuclafaculty

Another poll – the Field Poll – has appeared which shows the governor’s tax initiative (Prop 30) marginally ahead and the rival Munger initiative failing (Prop 38).  Earlier today, we posted similar results from the PPIC poll. The poll also shows that Prop 39, which closes a corporate tax loophole, is ahead in a plurality sense but doesn’t have a majority. Ultimately, folks must vote yes or no on initiatives but not having a majority at this stage is not a good sign. The poll is at:http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2425.pdf A Sacramento Bee article on the poll results is at:http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/09/poll-support-for-prop-30-highest-among-wealthy-educated.html

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Sully

Byuclafaculty

I came across a headline on the Sacramento Bee website this morning:Educators sullying state law to support Proposition 30 It’s from a column by Dan Walters in which he complains that folks in higher ed – community colleges, CSU, and UC – are underhandedly letting it be known in various ways that if Prop 30 – the governor’s tax initiative – doesn’t pass, things won’t go well for their institutions.  Sample quote: “Just Tuesday, the University of California at Berkeley announced a Proposition 30 Awareness Project to test the use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media to distribute information…

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Some Handy Comparison Slides of Props 30 & 38

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has some handy comparisons of the governor’s tax initiative (Prop 30) and the rival Munger tax initiative (Prop 38).  “PIT” = personal income tax.  Three slides are below: Prop 30 Prop 38 ($7,316 is not a typo.  Prop 38 starts at a relatively low income hurdle.  A more detailed description that you will be finding in the official ballot pamphlet is: “Increases personal income tax rates on annual earnings over $7,316 using sliding scale from .4% for lowest individual earners to 2.2% for individuals earning over $2.5 million, for twelve years.” Prop 30’s income tax hurdle is much…

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Higher Ed Metrics Bill is Dead on Arrival

Byuclafaculty

On Friday, the governor vetoed SB 721 which would have instructed the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) to come up with “metrics” to determine if the UC, CSU, and the community colleges were meeting three goals.  These goals were described in a section of the bill: In order to promote the state’s competitive economic position and quality of civic life, it is necessary to increase the level of educational attainment of California’s adult population to meet the state’s civic and workforce needs. To achieve that objective, it is the intent of the Legislature that budget and policy decisions regarding postsecondary education…

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LAO Needs to Join Governor & Legislature on the UC Pension Train

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) yesterday issued a review of the 2012-13 state budget enacted last June.  At one time, LAO asserted that the state had no responsibility for the UC pension plan.  The language on page 19 describing the treatment of the pension this time around is more constrained and does not venture a legal opinion.  That’s progress but LAO is still not where it needs to be.  Here is what it said on the UC pension: Provides Augmentation for UC Pension Costs.  The $89 million augmentation for UC’s pension costs represents the first time in more than two…

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Listen to Regents Afternoon Session of 9-12-12 Retreat

Byuclafaculty

In the afternoon, the Regents retreat got into the topic of differential tuition between campuses mainly, but some mention of majors as well. There didn’t seem to be much sentiment in favor of that approach.  Note that at the professional school level, there is some differentiation already but that matter was not brought up. Oddly, after all the talk of uniformity of tuition, there seemed to be a more favorable attitude toward differential offerings by campus, i.e., every program didn’t have to be offered on every campus.  This theme was really a follow-on to what was said about med schools…