State Budget

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Someone let the cat out of the bag on the state budget

Byuclafaculty

Normally, the governor’s budget proposal (reminder – it is a proposal, not an enacted budget) would be made public January 10.  Someone in the governor’s entourage apparently goofed and posted it on the web today.  So there was a hasty unveiling without the usual leaking of bits and pieces for days before January 10. As it happens, yours truly is about to go to Chicago for three days so only a rough perusal of the budget was possible.  But here are some highlights.  First, take a look at the chart on the left.  The dark part of the bars are…

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Redevelopment Decision Likely a (Marginal) Good Thing for UC Budget

Byuclafaculty

For those who have been following the state budget/redevelopment drama on this blog that unfolded after yesterday’s California Supreme Court ruling seemingly abolishing redevelopment agencies, below is an update, courtesy of the California Planning and Development Report (excerpts).  Our prior background posts are at: http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/12/state-budget-ruling-expected-today-on.html http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/12/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-seems-to.html Redevelopment Will Be Back — But At What Price? By Bill Fulton and Josh Stephens on 29 December 2011  The California Supreme Court killed redevelopment this morning, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead.  At first glance it would seem as though redevelopment agencies have no bargaining power at all. After all, it’s hard to…

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Be Careful What You Wish for Seems to Be Effect of Court Decision on Redevelopment

Byuclafaculty

In an earlier post today, yours truly noted that the California Supreme Court was going to issue a ruling on redevelopment agencies that had potential consequences for the state budget.  Please look at that post for background details.  The opinion (with only one dissent) has now been posted.  It may be that the redevelopment agencies will regret a) supporting Prop 22 which supposedly protected their funding and b) asking the Court to invalidate the compromise deal worked out in the legislature. The Court – based on a non-lawyer reading – seems to say that 1) the legislature had a right…

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State Budget Ruling Expected Today on Redevelopment Agencies

Byuclafaculty

From the San Jose Mercury-News: The California Supreme Court will issue a long-awaited ruling Thursday on the legality of the state’s move to grab $1.7 billion in redevelopment money to help close California’s budget shortfall — a move that rocked cities around the Bay Area and across the state. The ruling, expected at 10 a.m., should give critical guidance on two state laws: one that dissolves redevelopment agencies and redirects their property tax revenues to the state, and a second that allows agencies to stay afloat if they agree to relinquish a large portion of their funding, which will be…

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Young at Heart (of Lawsuit Challenging Prop 13)

Byuclafaculty

Proposition 13 of 1978 – the brainchild of Howard Jarvis (at right) and Paul Gann – drastically cut and limited local property taxes and imposed a two-thirds vote rule in the legislature for tax increases.  Various court cases have challenged it over the years.  However, UCLA’s former chancellor, Charles Young, is part of a lawsuit to overturn it on (state) constitutional grounds.  Obviously, if that were to occur, it would have a major impact on fiscal affairs of state and local government in California.  It would surely affect the UC budget.  From Mother Jones: Back when Proposition 8 — the…

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Don’t Look for Holiday Cheer from the Washington Post

Byuclafaculty

The Washington Post has looked west of late: UC-Berkeley and other ‘public Ivies’ in fiscal peril Daniel de Vise, Dec. 26, 2011, Washington Post Across the nation, a historic collapse in state funding for higher education threatens to diminish the stature of premier public universities and erode their mission as engines of upward social mobility.  At the University of Virginia, state support has dwindled in two decades from 26 percent of the operating budget to 7 percent. At the University of Michigan, it has declined from 48 percent to 17 percent.  Not even the nation’s finest public university is immune….

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Another Hint of Discussions with the State Behind Closed Doors on Multiyear Tuition Increase Deal

Byuclafaculty

The text below in italics is from UC President Yudof’s Facebook page. As noted in a prior post on this blog, there are hints of a multiyear-tuition-increase/steady-budget-support-from-the-state being discussed behind closed doors with Brown administration officials. See the bold print below. We are extremely disappointed that UC is faced with yet another significant State budget reduction: the $100 million “trigger cut” just announced. This additional cut will exacerbate the fiscal challenges the University faces in the current year and place additional stress on the quality of education provided to UC students. While the $650 million cut to UC enacted by…

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Buried Lede: UC Reviving Multiyear Tuition Increase Plan with State?

Byuclafaculty

Last September, UC President Yudof proposed to the Regents a multiyear tuition increase plan. The Regents argued among themselves and nothing was adopted. Today’s San Francisco Chronicle, in a report on how higher ed is dealing with the trigger cuts (see earlier blog posts), has a buried lede*: UC will offset the $100 million cut with money it over-contributed for health care, a pool of excess cash that happens to be just above $100 million, UC spokesman Steve Montiel said. “It’s a temporary solution,” Montiel said, adding that UC is in talks with the state Department of Finance to try…

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Early Budget Leak

Byuclafaculty

It’s standard practice for bits and pieces concerning the governor’s upcoming (January) budget proposal to start leaking out in December. Today, on “Which Way LA?” – the evening program of KCRW – H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for Governor Brown, indicated that there would be a budget presented which assumed the governor’s proposed tax initiative would pass. That initiative won’t be on the ballot until November (on the assumption that the governor can get the money to get the needed signatures), well into the 2012-13 fiscal year. If voters reject the initiative, there will be another budget trigger that would automatically…

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State Budget Trigger Pulled

Byuclafaculty

The state budget trigger was pulled today, costing UC $100 million in additional cuts (as expected). Actually, the trigger was a two-part mechanism and the lesser version was pulled. But either part involved cutting $100 million from UC. For summary details, see http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/12/details-of-browns-trigger-cuts.html and for the official notice see http://www.dof.ca.gov/documents/2012_Rev_Forecast_Determination.pdf