pensions

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LAO’s Position is that State Pension Contributions to UC are Voluntary & Should Come With Conditions

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has released a video of about 15 minutes on public pensions. Most of the discussion deals with CalPERS, CalSTRS, and other systems. There are occasional references to UC at various points in the video. However, at the end it is stated that the state at some point should voluntarily contribute to UC but make that contribution conditional on the UC pension being more or less the same as other state systems. Put another way, the LAO’s position is that the state has no legal obligation to contribute at any point. Moreover, the video describes a future…

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Video of Yudof Testimony on Budget Cut at State Assembly

Byuclafaculty

UC President Yudof testified at the State Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Educational Finance last Monday. Below are videos of his testimony and questions-and-answers with assembly members. The video is divided into two parts because of time-limits on Facebook. As a previous post noted, he indicated that there would not be another tuition hike in response to the governor’s proposed budget cut for UC. But that was contingent on, among other things, voter passage of the governor’s proposed tax extensions. Also notable was Yudof’s remark that tuition hikes help low-income students because of the recycling of one third of tuition revenue…

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Pension Deal in Legislature to Gain GOP Votes?

Byuclafaculty

There continue to be reports that the Republican price for going along with putting Gov. Brown’s proposed tax extensions on the ballot will be some kind of public pension proposition. To recap, Brown needs the legislature to put his tax extensions on the ballot by June; there is not enough time to go the petition-signature-initiative route. The legislature would normally need a 2/3 vote to do so which would require all Democrats plus 5 Republicans to agree. While there has been discussion of ways to bypass the 2/3 requirement, such an approach could lead to a legal challenge which could…

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Moody’s Evidently Thinks the State Has an Obligation for the UC Pension

Byuclafaculty

Calpensions.com is reporting that Moody’s is counting state (any state, not just California) pension debt, along with regular bond debt, in calculating total obligations. Presumably, this sum will be considered in rating bonds. I imagine most folks will take this as Bad News. But note that UC has struggled to get the state to acknowledge that it had a liability for the UC pension. The state is making contributions to its other major pension plans, CalPERS and CalSTRS, but it is not doing anything for UC, forcing the University to divert resources from its general operations. Thanks to efforts of…

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Why the UC Pension Reform May Be Undone

Byuclafaculty

Pension reform – finally? John Diaz, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 30, 2011 Until very recently, all but a few lonely politicians had one of three reactions to the topic of pension reform: glazed eyes, denial or lip service. But that was before the revelations that top dogs in tiny working-class Bell were pillaging the town treasury for their personal gain, before 36 University of California executives threatened legal action to prevent the state from calculating their pension on a $245,000 limit instead of their actual stratospheric salaries and before the governor’s new budget asked Californians to brace for deeper budget…

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The Ying and Yang of the UC Pension: Brown vs. LAO?

Byuclafaculty

Two views on the UC budget (cut) and the UC pension. Jerry Brown’s flack says state won’t pay (sort of). In contrast, the LAO has no objection to the state paying in the abstract (reminder: Thanks to the UCLA Faculty Assn.!!!), but seems to want unspecified assurances. From California’s Capitol: UC Faces a Budget Hole of Not $500 Million But $700 Million Jan. 25, 2011 The University of California faces a more than $200 million deeper reduction than the $500 million proposed in Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget – in part because the state refuses to make a contribution to the…

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Brown’s Need for Tax Extension Could Lead to High Tension on Pension

Byuclafaculty

From time to time, yours truly has noted that a public pension proposition on the ballot could override the Regents’ action last December, unless it explicitly exempted UC. It is possible there could be a proposition related to pensions as early as June. Such a proposition would not be an initiative, i.e., a proposition put on the ballot by voter petition. There is not enough time to go the initiative route. However, Jerry Brown needs to get his tax extension on the ballot by June and he needs the legislature to put it there (since, again, there is no time…

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Can We Drop the High Paid Pension Thing Now Rather than Wait for March, Regents?

Byuclafaculty

I have posted some of the audio of the January Regents meeting and will get around to posting more soon. However, the issue of the demand for high-paid UC exec pensions – see earlier posts if you have been buried in a cave for the past month – continues to be a blemish on UC. Moreover, it exacerbates the entire state budget scene. At the January Regents meeting, it was pointed out that the demand is not helpful to UC at all. But the matter is apparently being deferred to the March Regents meeting. That delay means it continues to…

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Yudof on Budget, Privatization, Pensions

Byuclafaculty

There is an interview in the LA Times today (1-15-11) of President Yudof by Patt Morrison. Below are excerpts. …Morrison: You’ve used the Ed Koch line, “How’m I doing?” After 2 ½ years, how’re you doing? Yudof: I think we’re doing well, and I don’t mean to be Pollyanna-ish. We have a $20-billion shortfall, long run, in the pension plan. I think it’s going to take 20 years to dig our way out, but we have a plan. We put the new [student] eligibility standard into effect; it’s going to be a less mechanical admission [process], looking at the whole…

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Legislative Analyst Acknowledges UC Pension Issue for State

Byuclafaculty

In his press conference on Jan. 12 on the state budget, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor explicitly raised the issue of state funding for the UC pension. Those who follow that issue know that at one point, the Leg Analyst took the position that the state had no responsibility for the UC pension. After a meeting with UCLA Faculty Association reps, that position changed. The legislature dropped language asserting that it had no liability for the UC pension. Of course, so far, no actual funding has appeared. The relevant part of the press conference is on the video below: