politics

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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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Washington Dysfunction to be Reflected in Your Paycheck

Byuclafaculty

Excerpt from an email circulated at Anderson – in case you did not get one similar: This notice is in regards to the Social Security (OASDI) tax deducted from the January 3, 2012 paychecks. In 2010, President Obama signed into law the Tax Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010.  Included in the Act was a provision that reduced the Social Security withholding rate from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011.  This change was effective with wages paid on or after January 1, 2011 and included an expiration date of December 31, 2011.   In order to comply with…

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UC Excerpt from Dec. 14 Legislative Pepper Spray Hearing

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog are aware, an incident in which student demonstrators at UC-Davis sparked concerns and received wide public attention. A joint legislative hearing was held on December 14. Below is an audio of the testimony of UC president Mark Yudof and General Counsel Charles Robinson at the “Legislative Hearing on California University Campus Police Policy.” The excerpts include the formal statements of the two witnesses from UC plus a question and answer session which followed similar testimony by CSU witnesses. The main information to be found in these excerpts is that there is likely to be a…

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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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Free Textbooks from State Online Source?

Byuclafaculty

Darrell Steinberg wants digital library of free textbooks (Excerpt 12/13/11) Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced today that he will push for legislation to create an online open source library to reduce the cost of course materials for college students across the state. The Sacramento Democrat framed the proposed project as an effort to lower costs for students struggling to cope with higher fees and tuition rates at California’s public colleges and universities… Steinberg said the average student spends $1,300 a year on textbooks, a figure his staff said is based on projections the University of California, California State…

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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…

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What’s in a name?

Byuclafaculty

A prior post on this blog noted that Governor Brown had submitted an initiative for temporary taxes entitled “The Schools and Local Public Safety Act.” (That may not be the title that appears on the ballot which is set by the attorney general.) It was also noted that perusing the text of the act suggested it was aimed at K-14 funding, i.e., higher ed was in it only at the community college level. However, to get the initiative on the ballot – and then run a campaign to get it passed – Brown will need a lot of money. The…

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Rosy Scenario on State Budget Likely to Be Ending Soon

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee points out today that the process of re-examining the rosy scenario budget forecast on revenues will soon be coming to an end. As readers of this blog know, the governor was unable to get GOP support for putting tax extensions on the ballot. But under new procedures approved by voters, only a simple majority was needed to pass a budget even though 2/3 was needed for the taxes. So extra revenue was assumed and the budget was passed. However, a trigger mechanism was included to cut expenditures if revenue assumptions were not met. Since then, it has…

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Details on Governor’s Pension Plan?

Byuclafaculty

CalPERS has released (or someone has leaked) a draft set of comments about the governor’s 12-point pension plan. Much of what is questioned is not relevant to UC which has its own problems with the plan. (See prior posts on the legislative hearings on the plan and other aspects of it.) However, the CalPERS draft makes it clear that there is much more to be resolved than just okaying the governor’s proposed 12 points. The fact that the proposal has different implications for the various plans that CalPERS administers – something clear from the document – opens the door to…

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What’s the right headline?

Byuclafaculty

The California Field Poll produced the table above. But what is the right headline? The news release from Field says PLURALITY OF VOTERS SEES PUBLIC PENSIONS AS TOO GENEROUS. MOST REACT POSITIVELY TO BROWN’S REFORM PROPOSALS, WANT PENSION CHANGES TO APPLY TO BOTH CURRENT AND NEW PUBLIC EMPLOYEES But the headline could have been that despite all of the bad PR public pensions have had, 49% of voters think public pensions are about right or not generous enough. The news media will follow the Field headline. Keep the alternative in mind if some proposition on pensions gets on the ballot….