governor

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New Twists in the Pension Debate

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog will know, the governor came up with a 12-point plan for all public pensions in California that would include UC.  To get certain elements of the plan on the ballot, he needs a 2/3 vote of the legislature.  That would require Republican support. In this case, however, the Republicans have pledged support and it is the Democrats who are reluctant.  If all Republicans go along, Governor Brown would need about half of the Dems to go along.  But so far that doesn’t seem to be happening. The Dems are pushing a plan whereby – as…

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Trigger May Limit Appeal of Governor’s Tax Initiative

Byuclafaculty

There could be as many as three tax initiatives on the November ballot.  The Field Poll just released posed all three to registered voters and reported the results.  One of the three is sponsored by Governor Brown.  Another is sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers – CFT.  (CFT is the smaller of the two teacher unions in California.)  A third is sponsored by Molly Munger, a wealthy individual.  The sponsors of all three have the financial resources to get pay signature-gathering firms to get their initiatives on the ballot. Brown is convinced from focus groups and polling that his…

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LAO Report on Higher Ed Contains Significant Pension Recommendations

Byuclafaculty

The state’s Legislative Analyst has released a lengthy report on funding higher education which covers UC, CSU, and the community colleges (as well as CalGrants).  The report is essentially a response to the governor’s January budget proposal with regard to higher ed. Generally, the report tends to disagree with the governor’s approach which the Legislative Analyst views as giving too much autonomy to UC and the other segments with regard to enrollment and other matters.  On the other hand, it documents the trend towards reduced state funding and thus seems to continue the pay-less/say-more approach which is odd on its…

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More History Lessons (from Faculty Association Chair Dwight Read)

Byuclafaculty

As Chair of the Faculty Association at UCLA, I would like to emphasize again the point that was made in the Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 Blog on this site, “Plenty of Nothing.” The Governor wrote in his proposed budget: “The University of California (UC) will receive an increase of $90 million from the General Fund for base operating costs, which can be used to address costs related to retirement program contributions.”  The main purpose of the public employee retirement law (PERL), passed in 1931, was to separate pension funding from all other kinds of funding. Early on, the state recognized that…

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We Missed the Boat on Pensions With the Governor: Time to Talk to the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

We missed the boat when it came to getting the governor to exempt UC from his statewide pension plan.  His plan, which now goes to the legislature, includes UC explicitly (p. 13), involves a hybrid plan (defined benefit plus defined contribution) for new hires, and has a 75% cap on retirement benefits. A summary of the plan: The changes would kick in Jan. 1, 2013. Labor agreements that contradict the governor’s plan would prevail until the pacts expire. The statutory language includes these proposals:• Ends additional retirement service credit purchases, or “airtime.”• Forfeits all or part of pensions for elected…

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Not Worth a Mention?

Byuclafaculty

Gov. Brown delivered his “State of the State” speech yesterday.  Click below for the speech.  Lots of topics are discussed.  Higher ed, however, is not one of them.  An earlier post noted that UC is like a flea on the back of an elephant when it comes to state budgeting and such.  That message was reinforced yesterday.  But perhaps our absence will make the governor’s heart grow fonder.  Valentine’s Day is coming up after all.  The governor did mention his public pension plan in the speech – which would sweep UC into a larger state change.  With regard to that…

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Someone let the cat out of the bag on the state budget

Byuclafaculty

Normally, the governor’s budget proposal (reminder – it is a proposal, not an enacted budget) would be made public January 10.  Someone in the governor’s entourage apparently goofed and posted it on the web today.  So there was a hasty unveiling without the usual leaking of bits and pieces for days before January 10. As it happens, yours truly is about to go to Chicago for three days so only a rough perusal of the budget was possible.  But here are some highlights.  First, take a look at the chart on the left.  The dark part of the bars are…

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State Budget Ruling Expected Today on Redevelopment Agencies

Byuclafaculty

From the San Jose Mercury-News: The California Supreme Court will issue a long-awaited ruling Thursday on the legality of the state’s move to grab $1.7 billion in redevelopment money to help close California’s budget shortfall — a move that rocked cities around the Bay Area and across the state. The ruling, expected at 10 a.m., should give critical guidance on two state laws: one that dissolves redevelopment agencies and redirects their property tax revenues to the state, and a second that allows agencies to stay afloat if they agree to relinquish a large portion of their funding, which will be…

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Another Hint of Discussions with the State Behind Closed Doors on Multiyear Tuition Increase Deal

Byuclafaculty

The text below in italics is from UC President Yudof’s Facebook page. As noted in a prior post on this blog, there are hints of a multiyear-tuition-increase/steady-budget-support-from-the-state being discussed behind closed doors with Brown administration officials. See the bold print below. We are extremely disappointed that UC is faced with yet another significant State budget reduction: the $100 million “trigger cut” just announced. This additional cut will exacerbate the fiscal challenges the University faces in the current year and place additional stress on the quality of education provided to UC students. While the $650 million cut to UC enacted by…

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Early Budget Leak

Byuclafaculty

It’s standard practice for bits and pieces concerning the governor’s upcoming (January) budget proposal to start leaking out in December. Today, on “Which Way LA?” – the evening program of KCRW – H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for Governor Brown, indicated that there would be a budget presented which assumed the governor’s proposed tax initiative would pass. That initiative won’t be on the ballot until November (on the assumption that the governor can get the money to get the needed signatures), well into the 2012-13 fiscal year. If voters reject the initiative, there will be another budget trigger that would automatically…