State Budget

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Good News and Bad News

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued a report on the state budget outlook. The good news is above.  Adding in the effects of Prop 30 (and 39), in the out-years the state begins to run surpluses as shown by the rising positive bars on the right side of the chart above.  Lots of uncertainty, of course, about what might happen to the underlying economy.  It is likely that the governor will be making statements, given the report, about the need for caution. And there is bad news also seen on the chart above on the left side or the…

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Listen to Morning Session of UC Regents: 11-14-12

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly was not able to record yesterday’s Regents’ session (Building and Grounds committee).  However, I did listen and record this morning.  [The live stream seemed to start a few minutes after the meeting began.  The recording begins in the midst of Regents chair Lansing celebrating the passage of Prop 30.]  A recording by yours truly won’t be possible of the session tomorrow due to other commitments.  But as usual, we will request the audios as public documents and post them when received. At today’s meeting, Governor Brown attended and raised questions at various points.  Some of the questions were…

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Prop 30 Election Post Mortem

Byuclafaculty

We know that Prop 30 – the governor’s tax initiative – passed with about 54% of the vote.  But the polls always showed it in a marginal position and losing support towards the end.  One possible explanation is that Prop 30 always had a plurality of “yes” votes and that undecided voters ended up voting yes in sufficient numbers to enact it. However, the political number crunchers are now raising questions about whether the pollsters’ estimates of “likely voters” were biased towards older folks who were less positive than younger voters about Prop 30. From Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee columnist:…

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Some of the best gubernatorial metaphors are mixed

Byuclafaculty

Governor Brown has been emphasizing that just because the legislative Democrats now seem to have a supermajority needed to pass taxes and override vetoes on spending, it would be wrong to expect that he will let them.  We have cautioned, therefore, that expectations of big enhancements of the UC budget are misplaced. Our past posts on the governor’s analogies and metaphors have featured aircraft and Biblical references.  But some of the best metaphors are mixed. For example, in explaining how he got Prop 30 passed by voters, the governor said: “Some people began to read tea leaves incorrectly,” Brown told…

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Governor Glide

Byuclafaculty

As noted in a prior post, Governor Brown says that despite the apparent gain by legislative Democrats of a supermajority, he doesn’t intend to let them run away with the budget or taxes.  [See Governor Joseph.] So although Prop 30 saved UC from trigger cuts, some big budget breakthrough should not be expected.  The governor is quoted in today’s Sacramento Bee: “I don’t underestimate the struggle over the next couple years to keep on a very calm, clear and sustainable glide path.”  See:http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/09/4972576/jerry-brown-plans-to-restrain.htmlThe governor wants to be a man of conviction on his glide path rather than – as above…

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Mitchell Presentation with Slides from Nov. 7 Forum on the Future of UC Funding

Byuclafaculty

Mitchell A post of Nov. 7 on this blog carried the audio (only) of the forum sponsored by the Faculty Association at UCLA on the Future of University of California Funding held that day at the UCLA Faculty Center.Each of the three presenters used slides as part of their talks.  Below you will find two (alternative) links to the slides used by Prof. Daniel J.B. Mitchell along with the coordinated audio for his presentation.  Use whichever works best for your connection.Note: The Anderson presentation is at:http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/11/robert-andersons-presentation-on-future.htmlThe audio of the entire event is at:http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/11/audio-available-for-todays-ucla-faculty.html

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Governor Joseph

Byuclafaculty

Joseph interprets Pharoah’s dream Our forum on the Future of UC Funding yesterday (see the previous two blog postings) took note of the fact that the Democrats seem to have gained a two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature and in theory could pass additional taxes.  You might think that would mean lots of new funding for UC.  Think again; Gov. Brown says he does not want to go that route.  From the Capitol Alert blog of the Sacramento Bee: Gov. Jerry Brown said today that he will not use an expected Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature to…

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Robert Anderson’s Presentation on the Future of UC Funding (With Slides)

Byuclafaculty

Robert Anderson The prior post on this blog carried the audio (only) of the forum sponsored by the Faculty Association at UCLA on the Future of University of California Funding held November 7, 2012 at the UCLA Faculty Center.Each of the three presenters used slides as part of their talks.  Below you will find two (alternative) links to the slides used by Prof. Robert Anderson along with the coordinated audio for his presentation.  Use whichever works best for your connection.

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Audio Available for Today’s UCLA Faculty Assn. Forum on the Future of UC Funding

Byuclafaculty

At today’s noontime forum on the Future Funding of UC, Steve Lippman (upper left) opened the event.  Karen Orren (center top) was the moderator.  Christopher Newfield (upper right) made the opening  presentation.  Robert Anderson (lower left) followed Newfield.  Daniel Mitchell (center bottom) followed Anderson.  The discussant was Sylvia Hurtado (lower right).  After the discussant, there was a period of questions and answers from the audience.  In order to make the event accessible to those who could not attend, an audio recording of the event (about one hour and 34 minutes) can be heard at the link below: We will provide…

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Given the Election Results, Has UC Dodged a Bullet? Lunchtime Forum Today

Byuclafaculty

Reminder: Today is the day!   SPEAKERS’ FORUM ON ALTERNATIVE FUNDING MODELS FOR UC DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012TIME: Noon-1:30 pm LOCATION: Faculty Center, California RoomLUNCH: Complimentary Sandwiches and Beverages will be served.RSVP: ucfa@earthlink.net so we can get an accurate food count.  (Cut and paste this address into your email.  You can’t do it from here.)APRIL 1982: ANCIENT CALIFORNIA HISTORY “The interconnected complications surrounding the upcoming state budget for 1982-83 defy comprehension by most state legislators let alone the public at large… Governor Jerry Brown is projecting a $3 to $4 Billion shortfall in revenues for 1982-83. This is against the Governor’s $2.1 Billion estimate in…