politics

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Wake Up UCOP and Regents: The Governor Says There Is Still Time to Make Your Voice Heard

Byuclafaculty

Is there a budget deal in sight and does it include some kind of pension limit? Not yet – but the clock is ticking. UCOP and the Regents need to wake up and make their voice heard on behalf of UC, particularly on pensions, but also on the budget in general. See below. April 22: …(Governor Brown) said a budget deal remains elusive and could take several more weeks to reach. “We’re not at the point of, ‘OK, if you do this pension reform and A, B, C and D regulatory, you’ve got a deal,’ ” Brown told reporters after…

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Andreas Kluth of The Economist Leads UCLA Roundtable Discussion on California Dysfunction: April 26

Byuclafaculty

The event below coming up on Tuesday may be of interest to those concerned with the California budget crisis and general Sacramento dysfunction: Andreas Kluth of The Economist Leads UCLA Roundtable Discussion California—few regions in the world have caught the popular imagination of so many. From the glitz of Hollywood to the energy and innovation of Silicon Valley, from the weather to the wine, California is envied around the globe. Yet despite the state’s immense advantages, its finances are in deep trouble. For the past few years California has been in a budget and governance crisis, reaching its nadir in…

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Some Pleasant Thoughts for the Weekend

Byuclafaculty

State Senate hearing on all-cuts budget solution Wyatt Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle, April 8, 2011 Democrats in the state Senate raised the prospect of closing some University of California campuses, shortening the school year and reducing the number of law enforcement officers as they began considering what California would look like if the Legislature took an all-cuts approach to solving the budget deficit… Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, said she has spoken with distinguished faculty members at UC Berkeley who have told her they would leave the school because of cuts. Hancock raised the prospect of closing some UC campuses to…

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(May) Revise and Resubmit

Byuclafaculty

In normal times, the state budget is first submitted by the governor in January, per the California constitution. But there is a second stage, a tradition, of the “May Revise.” In mid-to-early May, the governor submits a second budget proposal which reflects updated economic forecasts plus a gathering of political intelligence concerning what will fly and what will not. There was a deviation from this tradition in 2009. In February 2009, the legislature both revised the current year’s budget and enacted a budget for the following year – which contained the now-expiring temporary tax increases. Things did not go smoothly…

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Did He Mention the Pension?

Byuclafaculty

A previous post noted that President Yudof would be meeting with the governor today. The video below is his statement, apparently made before the visit. Members of the UC community would not disagree with anything he said. Reports of the subsequent visit to the governor suggest that what occurred with Brown was more the governor looking for support in his efforts to get his tax program before the voters, one way or another, than the university making its needs known. (See http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/04/gov-brown-talks-tax-extensions.html.) Not clear is whether UC (UCOP) had a specific agenda for the governor’s consideration. As noted in prior…

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Let’s Hope It’s More Than Hope

Byuclafaculty

We have been noting the need for UCOP to engage the governor concerning his pension proposals which – as has been reported – include UC and could override the Regents’ actions taken last December. From a San Jose Mercury-News article about higher ed lobbying activities planned for tomorrow: …University officials hope that “Advocacy Day” in Sacramento will help stave off further reductions to public colleges and universities, as some in the Legislature threaten to adopt an “all-cuts” budget to close the state’s budget gap without additional revenues… …On Tuesday, UC President Mark Yudof, Cal State Chancellor Charles Reed and California…

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California Assembly Bill Would Freeze Pay of State Employees Earning $150,000+; Urges Regents to Comply

Byuclafaculty

From the State Worker blog of the Sacramento Bee, 3/30/11: Committee OKs freeze on state pay over $150,000 per year (excerpt) The Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee has approved a bill that would freeze the pay of state employees earning more than $150,000 per year. Assembly Bill 7, authored by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena, prohibits the salary increases or bonuses for those higher-end employees until Jan.1, 2014, while they are employed in the same position or job classification… Full article at http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2011/03/bill-introduced-to-freeze-stat.html#ixzz1I8VZTLSJ The article provides a link to the bill. The bill contains the following language related…

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Governor’s Possible State Budget Deal with GOP Reported to be “Dead”

Byuclafaculty

From “Jerry Brown declares budget talks dead,” Capitol Alert, 3/29/11 Brown did not specify what he would do next… Brown is considering alternative ways to put tax extensions on the ballot, either by a majority in the Legislature or by a ballot initiative. He suggested in his release that he may be skeptical of the majority-vote approach, saying the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority. Full article at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/03/brown-budget-talks-with-republ.html#ixzz1I2KX8500 If the talks are truly dead, the issue of the November ballot initiatives (see earlier blog posts) arises. One, as noted in prior posts, would impose a 60% cap on public pensions,…

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UCOP & Regents Out of the Loop on Public Pensions: Here is a way to get into the loop

Byuclafaculty

As has been noted on previous blog posts, UC is in danger of letting the pension issue get away from it. The governor has – according to news reports – agreed to a $106,000 cap on public pensions. Legislative Republicans have filed an initiative putting a cap of 60% of final pay on pensions. Both caps clearly apply to new hires and clearly do not apply to those already retired. There is uncertainty about what would be applicable to current employees. The initiative – which is poorly drafted – explicitly covers UC. We don’t know about the possible $106,000 cap…

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PART II: UCOP & Regents: Don’t Say You Weren’t Warned

Byuclafaculty

Someone asked yours truly yesterday whether the GOP pension initiative actually covered existing employees as well as new hires. Apparently, there was a report that the Republican legislator in whose name the initiative was submitted had denied it. The article below – as well as the language of the initiative – makes it clear that existing employees are to be included. The article also notes that Gov. Brown is willing to accept a pension cap of $106,000. That is different from the initiative which has a 60% final pay cap. But it is unacceptable for UC faculty and would override…