politics

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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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UC Tuition: His Way or the Conway?

Byuclafaculty

The photo shows Assembly Speaker John Pérez talking to GOP minority leader Connie Conway.  Given the excerpt below from today’s online San Francisco Chronicle, let’s hope he is being super-persuasive. ==============Excerpt: California students from middle-income families would receive massive breaks on tuition and fees at the state’s colleges and universities under legislation Assembly Speaker John Pérez plans to introduce today at the Capitol.  Under the plan, undergraduate students from families with household income of less than $150,000 would have their tuition and fees cut by two-thirds, bringing the cost below what it was nearly a decade ago.  It would amount…

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“That Which Cannot Go on Forever Must Come to an End”

Byuclafaculty

So said Herbert Stein, who was President Nixon’s chief economist for a time.  He wasn’t speaking about rising tuition back then.  However, President Obama’s remarks on rising university tuition at the State of the Union address – which were roughly along those lines – continue to generate controversy.Inside Higher Ed today has a long piece on responses in the U.S. Senate.  The article concludes with:  Perhaps sensing a popular cause to champion with an election looming, senators in both parties seemed eager to continue discussions on how to hold down college prices.  Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, promised…

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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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UC Needs to Get Off the State Pension Train Before It Goes Too Far

Byuclafaculty

As we have noted many times, the Regents modified the UC pension plan back in December 2010 to deal with its funding issues.  Since that time, the risk has been that UC would be swept into some statewide pension reform really aimed mainly at CalPERS and CalSTRS.  UC needs to get off that train before it is too late. The excerpt below from a recent news report indicates that the train is rolling and so far we are on board. UCOP and the Regents need to be involved in legislative discussions. …At a hearing of the Legislature’s Conference Committee on…

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Worries About the Obama Tuition Plan Seem Confined to Private Universities

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts on this blog  noted the remarks of President Obama indicating that the federal government would somehow penalize universities whose tuitions were rising.  But yours truly also opined that it was very unlikely that public universities, such as UC, would be penalized since their tuitions were lower than the privates and they tended to enroll a greater percentage of lower income students. A short piece today in Inside Higher Ed seems to reinforce that view.  It seems that it is presidents of private universities that are upset. See http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/02/01/white-house-adviser-takes-questions-obamas-plan In short, it’s one less thing to worry about.  So be…

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Audio Recording Indicates that UC Needs to Talk With Legislative Leaders on Pensions

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday’s State Worker blog of the Sacramento Bee carried a story about remarks by California State Senate President Darrell Steinberg on public pensions.  It includes a link to a recording of Steinberg’s remarks on pensions at a press conference of 1-26-2012.  Good luck with that link; the IT guy at the Bee must have gone home for the weekend.  Nevertheless, yours truly has come to the rescue and you can hear it without hassle by clicking on the link below. There is a back story which state politicos will understand regarding Steinberg’s remarks.  Last year, the legislature kept waiting for…

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More on the Obama/Tuition Issue

Byuclafaculty

As a prior blog post noted, President Obama’s State of the Nation address earlier this week contained a threat to cut federal support to universities whose tuitions were rising. But it was not clear what exactly was involved. Insider Higher Ed has a brief story – with a link to a NY Times iece and a link to a White House fact sheet about the proposal.  In fact, to the extent that the proposal is implemented – always a question given Congressional gridlock – UC and UCLA are likely to benefit.  Our tuition is rising but it is still low…

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OMG! Whoops. Oh My Whatever-You-Are!

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed pointed to this story: “It’s no wonder President Obama wants every kid to go to college,” said… former Pennsylvania senator (Santorum.) “The indoctrination that occurs in American universities is one of the keys to the left holding and maintaining power in America. And it is indoctrination. If it was the other way around, the ACLU would be out there making sure that there wasn’t one penny of government dollars going to colleges and universities, right?” He continued: “If they taught Judeo-Christian principles in those colleges and universities, they would be stripped of every dollar. If they teach…