politics

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Prop 30 Election Post Mortem

Byuclafaculty

We know that Prop 30 – the governor’s tax initiative – passed with about 54% of the vote.  But the polls always showed it in a marginal position and losing support towards the end.  One possible explanation is that Prop 30 always had a plurality of “yes” votes and that undecided voters ended up voting yes in sufficient numbers to enact it. However, the political number crunchers are now raising questions about whether the pollsters’ estimates of “likely voters” were biased towards older folks who were less positive than younger voters about Prop 30. From Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee columnist:…

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Veterans’ Day and some UC/UCLA History UCOP might not want raised

Byuclafaculty

ROTC at UCLA’s old Vermont Avenue campus: 1928 Note that UCLA is closed tomorrow although Veterans’ Day is today.  There is a bit of history here.  UC did not always close on Veterans’ Day.  When Gray Davis was governor, however, someone complained about UC being open.  The governor couldn’t order UC to close but the powers-that-be went along with his request to do so.    As yours truly recalls it, the Faculty Welfare committee at UCLA – and possibly others in the Academic Senate – noted that with a ten-week fall quarter, cutting a day out of the term would…

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Some of the best gubernatorial metaphors are mixed

Byuclafaculty

Governor Brown has been emphasizing that just because the legislative Democrats now seem to have a supermajority needed to pass taxes and override vetoes on spending, it would be wrong to expect that he will let them.  We have cautioned, therefore, that expectations of big enhancements of the UC budget are misplaced. Our past posts on the governor’s analogies and metaphors have featured aircraft and Biblical references.  But some of the best metaphors are mixed. For example, in explaining how he got Prop 30 passed by voters, the governor said: “Some people began to read tea leaves incorrectly,” Brown told…

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Governor Glide

Byuclafaculty

As noted in a prior post, Governor Brown says that despite the apparent gain by legislative Democrats of a supermajority, he doesn’t intend to let them run away with the budget or taxes.  [See Governor Joseph.] So although Prop 30 saved UC from trigger cuts, some big budget breakthrough should not be expected.  The governor is quoted in today’s Sacramento Bee: “I don’t underestimate the struggle over the next couple years to keep on a very calm, clear and sustainable glide path.”  See:http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/09/4972576/jerry-brown-plans-to-restrain.htmlThe governor wants to be a man of conviction on his glide path rather than – as above…

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Mitchell Presentation with Slides from Nov. 7 Forum on the Future of UC Funding

Byuclafaculty

Mitchell A post of Nov. 7 on this blog carried the audio (only) of the forum sponsored by the Faculty Association at UCLA on the Future of University of California Funding held that day at the UCLA Faculty Center.Each of the three presenters used slides as part of their talks.  Below you will find two (alternative) links to the slides used by Prof. Daniel J.B. Mitchell along with the coordinated audio for his presentation.  Use whichever works best for your connection.Note: The Anderson presentation is at:http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/11/robert-andersons-presentation-on-future.htmlThe audio of the entire event is at:http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/11/audio-available-for-todays-ucla-faculty.html

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Governor Joseph

Byuclafaculty

Joseph interprets Pharoah’s dream Our forum on the Future of UC Funding yesterday (see the previous two blog postings) took note of the fact that the Democrats seem to have gained a two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature and in theory could pass additional taxes.  You might think that would mean lots of new funding for UC.  Think again; Gov. Brown says he does not want to go that route.  From the Capitol Alert blog of the Sacramento Bee: Gov. Jerry Brown said today that he will not use an expected Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature to…

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Given the Election Results, Has UC Dodged a Bullet? Lunchtime Forum Today

Byuclafaculty

Reminder: Today is the day!   SPEAKERS’ FORUM ON ALTERNATIVE FUNDING MODELS FOR UC DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012TIME: Noon-1:30 pm LOCATION: Faculty Center, California RoomLUNCH: Complimentary Sandwiches and Beverages will be served.RSVP: ucfa@earthlink.net so we can get an accurate food count.  (Cut and paste this address into your email.  You can’t do it from here.)APRIL 1982: ANCIENT CALIFORNIA HISTORY “The interconnected complications surrounding the upcoming state budget for 1982-83 defy comprehension by most state legislators let alone the public at large… Governor Jerry Brown is projecting a $3 to $4 Billion shortfall in revenues for 1982-83. This is against the Governor’s $2.1 Billion estimate in…

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Prop 30 Passes So No Trigger Cuts for UC

Byuclafaculty

Above are the ballot proposition results as of around 5 AM this morning from the California Secretary of State with about 95% of the results.  [Click image to enlarge.]  Prop 30, the governor’s tax initiative endorsed by the Regents, has passed.  Prop 39, the corporate loophole tax, which also adds some money into the general fund despite its earmark for “green” projects, also has passed.  The Munger school tax (Prop 38), which was seen as a rival to the governor’s tax, did very poorly as polls predicted. With the passage of Prop 30, the budget trigger – that would have…

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Particularly on Election Day, it’s hard to know what tomorrow will bring…

Byuclafaculty

But one thing it will definitely bring is our forum on the future of UC and its funding, as the notice below explains:=============================== SPEAKERS’ FORUM ON ALTERNATIVE FUNDING MODELS FOR UC DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012TIME: Noon-1:30 pm LOCATION: Faculty Center, California RoomLUNCH: Complimentary Sandwiches and Beverages will be served.RSVP: ucfa@earthlink.net so we can get an accurate food count.  (Cut and paste this address into your email.  You can’t do it from here.)APRIL 1982: ANCIENT CALIFORNIA HISTORY “The interconnected complications surrounding the upcoming state budget for 1982-83 defy comprehension by most state legislators let alone the public at large… Governor Jerry Brown is projecting a $3…

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CSU rejects criticism of its legislative scorecard

Byuclafaculty

We have referred in earlier posts to the rather surprising disclosure that CSU produced an online “scorecard” rating members of the legislature on their votes on matters of concern to higher ed.  While it is not surprising that CSU would keep track of legislative votes, rating them and publishing the ratings is, well, unusual.  It has produced legislative complaints.  But CSU seems to be toughing it out on this issue. From the Sacramento Bee‘s Capitol Alert blog: Two state senators – one Democrat and one Republican – demanded Thursday that the California State University system’s trustees tell them who authorized…