The Legislative Analyst’s Office has prepared a summary of last June’s budget deal. It includes an analysis of higher ed funding and all other major programs. Also described is the trigger mechanism that could lead to more cuts in the UC budget should forecast revenues not arrive as expected. You can find the report at: http://lao.ca.gov/reports/2011/bud/spend_plan/spend_plan_081211.aspx
The Legislative Analyst has produced a preliminary state budget analysis. The full publication is at http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/Econ/2011/Summary_Tables.pdf but the table above is a summary. If you look at “revenue & transfers” (keeping in mind that “transfers” can hide mischief) vs. expenditures, you can see that the budget year that ended June 30 was estimated to be in surplus ($94.781 billion – $91.480 billion = a surplus of +$3.301 billion). The new budget year – assuming sufficient revenue – runs another surplus ($$88.456 billion – $85.937 billion = a surplus of +$2.519 billion). Running these estimated and assumed surpluses restores the general…
There are potentially serious threats via the direct democracy process that could override the Regents’ December action on the UC pension. But there are also initiatives on pensions (and other public issues) that are filed with no prospect they will go anywhere since the authors don’t have the $1-$2 million needed to hire signature-gathering firms. Here is an excerpt from a recent example that is now pending at the Attorney General: …The members of the retirement board of a public pension or retirement system shall on and after January 1, 2016, invest and maintain at least 85 percent of the…
As noted in a prior entry on this blog, Gov. Brown in his May revise budget proposed terminating the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC). CPEC is supposed to coordinate the various public segments of higher ed and the private higher ed institutions. The Leg Analyst has issued a second document indicating it sees a continuing role for CPEC but suggests reforms including more data analysis of higher ed. Undoubtedly, CPEC agrees. The Leg Analyst’s document is at http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2011/LAO_Recommendations_on_Governor%E2%80%99s_Proposal_to_Eliminate_CPEC_052511.pdf The governor’s May revise had plans to kill many boards and commissions of which CPEC is just one. And there are the…
The California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) is among the boards and commissions the governor proposed in the May revise for termination. CPEC is supposed to coordinate among the public and private elements of higher ed. However, the Legislative Analyst’s Office prefers other options, or at least suggests such alternatives be considered. LAO’s position below: Options Related to Governor’s Proposal for CPEC Background We believe there are several critical coordination functions necessary to protect the state’s investment in higher education. Examples include data collection and analysis, planning and oversight, and review of new program and campus proposals. Some of these activities…
The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has prepared its analysis of the governor’s May revise proposal. It believes that recent increases in state income tax receipts are more heavily the result of capital gains than the governor does. In the short term, i.e., through the next fiscal year, the source of the revenue doesn’t much matter. However, the LAO believes that in the outyears (beyond 2011-12), less revenue can be expected than the governor’s projection would suggest. LAO provides a similar analysis of the corporate profits tax; it has a less rosy outlook in the outyears than the governor. The LAO…
Related to the prior post is a second initiative – also one that was submitted in connection with GOP legislative negotiations with the governor – that would cap state expenditures based on a formula linked to inflation and population growth. As with the pension initiative, it is unclear whether there is funding to obtain the needed signatures. This initiative in effect proposes to return to the Gann limit that was approved by voters in 1979 as the “son of Prop 13” that had been approved the year before. The Gann limit on state spending was largely gutted by Prop 98…
When initiatives are filed, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) provides an analysis, primarily of budgetary implications. Readers of this blog will know that an initiative was filed – apparently as part of the negotiations strategy of Republican legislators with the governor – which would put certain limits on public pensions. The LAO has now provided an analysis. The initiative would affect both new hires and current employees with regard to an increase in the minimum age of retirement. It is pointed out in the LAO’s analysis that this provision might well be illegal. The initiative also sets a 60% cap…
When he was governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger use to speak pejoratively about “kicking the can down the road” when considering state budget remedies. In fact, when he came into office in 2003-04, he basically borrowed his way out of the budget crisis of that time that he inherited. Such borrowing effectively kicks the can down the road. Right now, no one in Sacramento seems to have a Plan B after Governor Brown’s plan to put tax extensions on the ballot seems to have failed for lack of a 2/3 vote. The governor is being pushed, as an earlier post noted, to…
The Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor continues to provide helpful suggestions for higher ed including UC regarding budgetary options:Reduce personnel costs by 10 percent at UC and 5 percent at CSU: $408 million • Could require UC faculty to teach more and research less • Could reduce sabbaticals and release time • Could increase employee benefit contributions at CSU Full list of options at http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2011/Review_of_Budget_Reduction_Options_for_Higher_Education_41211.pdf [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qrjtr_uFac&w=320&h=195]
