politics

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Yesterday was better

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, I posted a note that a public pension initiative that might have gone somewhere wasn’t going anywhere. (See the “Failed Fishing” entry.) But today comes news of another that could go somewhere – because, whatever it is, will emanate from the governor. Some readers will recall that the governor – in failed budget negotiations with legislative Republicans – at one point seemed to be offering such things as $100,000 caps. Some will also recall that there was no sign, at the time, that the powers-that-be at UC were informing the governor that they wanted UC to be excluded. From…

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Failed Fishing

Byuclafaculty

Faithful readers of this blog will know that in late July it contained a report of a pension initiative that might have had traction. The reason was that the initiative’s author had a track record in getting support for past propositions, including especially the recall of Governor Gray Davis. That said, the initiative itself was a confusing amalgam of various ideas including creating a pension for private sector employers and workers that would mirror CalPERS. The author appeared to be fishing for some financial angel to provide support, after which some new version of the initiative would have been submitted….

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Outlawing Holidays

Byuclafaculty

There is a bill pending in the legislature (passed the Assembly; now in the Senate) – applying to CalPERS, not UC – that would effectively ban pension “contribution holidays.” As is well known, UC had the mother of all contribution holidays to its pension fund, one lasting two decades. Had that holiday not occurred, we would not have the underfunding problem we have today. Of course, given the circumstances under which the UC pension holiday developed – overfunding in the face of a state budget crisis at the time – it could be argued that the holiday was unavoidable. But…

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UC opts out of controller’s public pay database (and shouldn’t)

Byuclafaculty

Below is a news article and a comment by yours truly that follows the article: UC opts out of controller’s public pay database (excerpt) 8/18/11, San Diego Union-Tribune Hundreds of government agencies across the state, from the Vista Irrigation District to the Governor’s Office, have provided state Controller John Chiang with detailed salary and benefit information on public employees. Not the University of California… The UC system is the only state agency that has not complied. UC officials said they already maintain a listing of employee salaries, with formulas to estimate the cost of other benefits. The complete database of…

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How Transparent Should UC Foundations Be? The Governor Will Give Us His View Soon

Byuclafaculty

Bill on university groups’ public disclosure heads to Jerry Brown CapitolAlert, 8/18/11 Leland Yee is hoping the third time’s a charm. Senate Bill 8, which would expand the authority of the California Public Records Act on the state’s college campuses, is heading to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration. The San Francisco Democrat’s two previous bills to subject college auxiliary organizations, such as foundations, to the state’s public records act were vetoed by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Senate approved amendments to the current version today, 36-1, sending it to Brown’s desk. …(L)ast year the foundation at California State University, Stanislaus,…

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Confusing Signs on Prospects for a Pension Initiative (& Everything Else)

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts on this blog have outlined the possibility that some pension initiative could end up on the 2012 ballot that would override the Regents’ December 2010 decision on the UC pension. There are two “legacy” organizations that descend from the Prop 13 property tax initiative of 1978. In a previous post, we noted that one of them – Peoples Advocate – has filed a pension initiative and seems to be fishing for someone or some group to provide financial backing for a signature and election campaign. But now the other group, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, has said it…

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Debt Deal (if there really is one) and Higher Ed

Byuclafaculty

Excerpt from Inside Higher Ed: Short-Term Stability, But … August 1, 2011 Congressional leaders appeared late Sunday to have reached a deal on increasing the nation’s debt limit that would avoid many of higher education’s worst-case scenarios: cuts to Pell Grants, the end of subsidized student loans, or a government default that would leave student financial aid and other funding for colleges in limbo going into the fall semester. But as details about the deal began to emerge Sunday evening, it became clear that the plan leaves colleges and universities with plenty of long-term uncertainty. The plan, which will be…

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More on Pension Initiatives: All Kinds of Clever Ideas Out There

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, this blog featured some developments that might impede public pension ballot initiatives getting on the ballot that could potentially override the Regents’ action last December revamping the UC pension system. It only costs $200 to file initiatives. For that modest sum, the filer gets an analysis from the Attorney General (including summary description and title) and a fiscal analysis from the Legislative Analyst. Even initiatives that have a snowball’s chance in Hell get the same treatment – which clearly costs the state a lot more than $200. Here is a summary of snowball-type pension initiative that someone thought was…

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Pension Initiative Drive Might Become More Difficult

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts on this blog have pointed out that a pension initiative could appear on the California ballot that would override the changes made by the Regents last December in the UC pension plan. It was noted that initiatives – once qualified – go on the next statewide ballot. For 2012, that might have been February when the state presidential primary was originally scheduled. The mix of voters in a February primary might have tilted toward passage of such an initiative. Now, however, the governor has signed a bill moving the presidential primary back to June when the regular primary…

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Our Primary Concern

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee today carries a story about the resetting of the date for the California presidential primary. It focuses on the arguments made when – last time there was a presidential election (2008) – California moved its presidential primary from June (when the primary for state offices is held) to February. The idea was to be early in the presidential primary campaign season and thus have more influence on the outcome. You can read all about that idea – and whether it worked in practice – at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/29/3802418/california-set-to-move-its-presidential.html Where this matters for UC is in the initiative process. As…