State Budget

| | | | |

Tops

Byuclafaculty

The governor is to propose his budget for 2014-15 this coming Friday.  And although the budget is baked by now, this headline from the LA Now blog of the LA Times can’t hurt as the budget process proceeds between now and June.  The guv loves online ed and he can’t give the money to USC. But UCLA would be happy to receive it. Full article at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-college-online-20140107,0,7388397.story Nothing like being the top:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc7152gQK-U?feature=player_detailpage]

| | | | | | |

Q&A

Byuclafaculty

The Contra Costa Times ran an interview with UC president Napolitano that was published yesterday.  But apparently the interview occurred in late 2013.  Here are the questions:Q: One of your first proposals was to make tuition rates more predictable. What might that look like? Q: At the last UC regents meeting, Gov. Jerry Brown said UC had slim chances of securing additional state funding, with all of the competing needs in Sacramento. What did you make of that? Q: Were you surprised by the low graduation rates for some student-athletes at Cal? (UC Berkeley’s football team had the lowest graduation…

| |

The First (and Only?) Budget Leak

Byuclafaculty

Only a few days ago, we noted that it is traditional that as the date of the official unveiling of the governor’s budget proposal approaches, bits of it are leaked out.  We noted that as of that time, there hadn’t been any leaks, so maybe we would depart from tradition.  But now we have a leak.  The governor wants a ballot proposition mandating a rainy day fund.  From the LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown will join the push for a new ballot measure to help California stockpile cash as a buffer against future recessions, according to two Capitol officials. The…

| | | | |

Upcoming Events in January

Byuclafaculty

Under the state constitution, Governor Brown will release his budget proposal for 2014-15 at the end of next week.  In the past, bits and pieces were often leaked to the news media ahead of the formal announcement.  So far, that hasn’t happened – which might just mean that with the current budgetary calm, there is nothing shocking to leak, including about the UC budget.  There will also be a “state of the state” address to the legislature by the governor which will touch on whatever the governor has in mind – who knows? – in this election year. The UC…

| | | |

Wait and See

Byuclafaculty

We posted earlier about general plans for the state budget by the legislative Democrats which promise “more” for higher ed and UC than the Legislative Analyst’s projections seemed to imply.  It is unclear if there is more than what the governor will propose in early January. Below are two slides from a presentation by the legislative Democrats.  But wait and see is probably the best advice at this moment.  Note that the projections all assume uninterrupted economic expansion which is hard to guarantee. You can find the full set of slides at http://asmdc.org/issues/budget-blueprint/images/2014-15-blueprint-for-a-responsible-budget-v7cw.pdf

| | | |

We Got a Mention

Byuclafaculty

Maybe not so fast An earlier post on this blog described the recent Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report that projected that, with a combination of continued economic growth and Prop 30 revenues while they are in effect, California’s “structural” deficit had ended.  We also noted that included in the LAO projections was what me termed an ungenerous assumption about spending on UC.  We have also been posting excerpts from Regents meetings in which the governor and Speaker Pérez have also made ungenerous remarks.  [Pérez, however, is now in the race for state controller and indicated that a transition to a…

|

Cash News (Or Really Non-News)

Byuclafaculty

The state controller has issued his cash statement for the first 5 months of the fiscal year (July-November).  Revenues for the general fund are about what was projected in the state budget passed last June.  Personal income tax receipts are running ahead of forecast (which probably means the rich are getting richer).  Sales tax receipts are a bit behind (not so good retail performance).  But really there is no news. Receipts are highly seasonal due to dates when estimated taxes are due.  At the moment, the reserve in the general fund is negative to the tune of almost $20 billion…

| |

New Normal for UC in the UCLA Anderson Forecast

Byuclafaculty

Above are two charts from yesterday’s UCLA Anderson Forecast. [Click on them to enlarge and get a clearer image.]  There is a much overused phrase nowadays: the “new normal.”  But when you combine those two charts with the chart below (slightly modified) from the recent Legislative Analyst’s report on the state budget outlook, the phrase takes on special meaning for UC. As can be seen on the Forecast charts, California’s economic base was hard hit around 1990 by the end of the Cold War.  Its population stopped growing relative to the nation as a whole.  And it lost jobs as…

| | | | | | | |

Lessons from Berkeley’s White Elephant Stadium for UCLA, the Regents, and UC?

Byuclafaculty

People keep noticing Berkeley’s White Elephant money-draining stadium – one of the grand capital projects that the Regents routinely approve based on pretty slides and business plans offered by the campuses.  Peter Schrag in the San Francisco Chronicle today ties the low graduation rates of Berkeley athletes with the stadium: …Fueling the… issue is the chronic matter of cost – what the university kicks in to the sports program – and what someone called “its gold plated” spending. Brian Barsky, a Berkeley computer science professor and vocal critic of the athletics program, says between 2003 and 2011, athletics “drained campus…

| | | | | |

Maybe the Regents Finally Got the Attention of the Governor on the UC Pension Issue

Byuclafaculty

We noted in a post yesterday that the LAO was forecasting rosy budget times ahead for the state but nonetheless seemed to want a budget freeze for UC.  Today, the news media are full of statements by Gov. Brown warning the legislature not to party and to behave frugally.  We also noted in prior posts on the recent Regents meeting that the Regents were somewhat bolder with the governor.  After the usual thank-you-thank-yours for Prop 30, they passed a budget proposal with more money than the governor wanted and pointed especially to the imbalance whereby the state automatically funds the…