State Budget

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Listen to What the Governor Said About the Higher Ed Budget

Byuclafaculty

In an earlier post, we described the elements of the state budget for 2013-14 proposed by the governor and noted that his remarks at the news conference where the budget was presented largely mirrored prior statements he made at the Regents. Below is a link to an audio of his remarks on higher education (UC and CSU).  Although most of the time at the news conference was devoted to other aspects of the budget, higher education came up several times including once at the portion of the event with Budget Director Ana Matosantos. You can hear his remarks – and…

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UC-Riverside Apparently Still Dogged by No Meds

Byuclafaculty

We have produced prior posts from time to time on UC-Riverside’s quest to get some state money to set up a new medical school.  Apparently, the governor’s budget proposal that was released yesterday did not provide that money: …State Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, said he was “very disappointed not to see specific funding identified” for the medical school, where classes for the first group of 50 students are set to begin this fall.…Local officials have sought state money for the medical school since 2008. In 2011, officials delayed the first freshman class because of the lack of state funding, and…

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Quick Summary & Reaction to the Governor’s Budget

Byuclafaculty

Here is some preliminary analysis of the governor’s budget proposal.  Note that it is a proposal and not an enacted budget.  Typically, the proposal is revised in May and not passed until close to the June 30 deadline. At the state level, the general fund is said to have had a negative balance of $1.615 billion as of last June 30.  The governor is proposing and forecasting that at the end of this fiscal year (2012-13), there will instead be a positive reserve of $0.785 billion.  That swing tells you that he is projecting a surplus this current year (inflow…

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A Shake for Higher Ed in the Forthcoming State Budget?

Byuclafaculty

According to the LA Times (and consistent with prior posts on this blog regarding the governor’s attitude toward higher ed costs and online education), Brown plans a less pleasant shake for public higher ed than depicted in the photo: …Brown is expected to use his spending plan to shake up California’s public university systems, according to administration officials. The governor has long complained that they are bloated and inefficient, and he wants to attach strings to some of their funding… Full story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20130110,0,746142.story We will know more later today when the budget is presented. Until then, a little music:[youtube…

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Timing is Everything

Byuclafaculty

The state controller’s monthly cash report through December is out today and on the face of it there is less revenue than anticipated and more expenditure than anticipated for the first half of the year.  However, the controller in footnotes and in a supplementary statement attributes these results to timing rather than some fundamental departure from budgetary expectations.  Certain sales tax receipts that would normally have gotten into the general fund in December were not transferred there until January.  And certain local expenditures were paid out earlier than had been expected. In any event, these figures are too recent to…

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A whisper about higher ed in the forthcoming state budget

Byuclafaculty

In earlier posts, we have noted the practice of hints about the state budget proposal coming out before the official unveiling.  Up to now, the education hints have focused on K-12.  Today, the headlines were mainly about the governor’s complaints about the federal court jurisdiction over the state prison system.  However, he paired that complaint with a whisper about higher ed by saying it would be better to spend prison money on education.  And he did mention higher ed in that context. “We’re proposing increases in education at the higher level and in K through 12,” Brown said at a…

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Waiting Anxiously for the State Budget

Byuclafaculty

Under the state constitution, the governor’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2013-14 is due on Thursday, January 10.  As prior posts have noted, the leaks so far seem to indicate a focus on K-12 budgetary reforms rather than higher ed.  We will see.  Last year, as I recall, the budget was accidentally unveiled early when someone put it on the web prematurely.  Presumably, given that misstep, this time precautions are being taken to prevent such early disclosure. So what will the UC budget be?  Let’s hope it isn’t the wrong number.  Until Thursday, we’ll just have to be in suspense:[youtube…

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More Budget Leaks

Byuclafaculty

As we have noted in prior posts, at this time of year there are leaks that appear in the news media about the forthcoming budget proposal of the governor.  We noted also that he seems to be particularly concerned with education, but at the K-12 level.  Basically, policy wonks have long supported the idea that school payments should reflect in some way the kind of student being served rather than a simple body count.  Disadvantaged students would in effect get more dollars per capita. Of course, there are winners and losers in such weighted formulas among school districts compared to…

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Understanding California

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) from time to time issues out a publication called “CalFacts” which, as the name suggests, contains a variety of data on California – including the chart above.  It’s available at:http://lao.ca.gov/reports/2013/calfacts/calfacts_010213.pdf And for those who have forgotten our state song (previously posted):

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We might as well join the fiscal cliff discussion with this cheery note

Byuclafaculty

…The University of California system estimates it would lose $335 million in federal research funding this fiscal year, according to Christopher Harrington, spokesman for UC’s Washington, D.C., office. That represents roughly 8 to 9 percent of UC’s research portfolio from such agencies as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy… And on the state budget:…Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast, said he believes the U.S. would experience a “mild recession” absent a fiscal cliff deal, largely because of lower consumption. He also warned that reduced profits in 2013…