Perhaps you would like to read about the impact of the state budget crisis on public higher ed in California. Below are two charts from a recent PPIC study, a link to which is provided at the bottom of this posting. You can find the full report entitled “Defunding Higher Education” at:http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_512HJR.pdf
We earlier posted an entry about a bill that passed in the state assembly which closed a corporate tax loophole and used the funds generated for tuition reduction and UC and CSU. To get the needed 2/3 for a tax vote, two non-Democrats were required. One was a renegade Republican. The other was an Independent (former Republican), Nathan Fletcher of San Diego. Fletcher posted a YouTube video explaining his vote. As also noted earlier, since a 2/3 vote would also be needed to pass this bill, it is unlikely to be enacted. Nonetheless, the explanation by Fletcher is of interest….
Yesterday, we noted the passage in the state assembly of a bill that closed a corporate tax loophole and used the money for higher ed tuition cuts. The bill required a 2/3 vote and squeezed by with one independent vote (a former Republican who quit the party) and one from a renegade Republican – Brian Nestande – who deviated from the party line. The renegade – depending on which story you read – either stepped down from chairing the Republican caucus in the assembly or was forced out. The stepped-down version is athttp://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/15/4726584/california-republican-leader-gives.html The forced-out version is athttp://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&ptid=9&aid=4877 It probably…
From the Sacramento Bee‘s Capitol Alert blog last night: By a razor-thin margin, the California Assembly passed legislation today to raise a billion dollars annually for middle-class college scholarships by altering tax law for numerous out–of-state corporations. The measure, Assembly Bill 1500, passed 54-24, the bare-minimum two-thirds vote needed for tax or fee increases. Democrats supported the measure, as did Republicans Brian Nestande of Palm Desertand Independent Nathan Fletcher of San Diego Assembly Speaker John A. Perez proposed the bill as a companion to his separate legislation, Assembly Bill 1501, which would spend the billion dollars raised to assist college and university students whose families earn less than $150,000 per year……
From the publication “Supplemental Report of the 2012-13 Budget Package” put out by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO): Item 6440‑001‑0001—University of California (UC) Audit Report. It is the intent of the Legislature, and in follow‑up to State Audit Report 2010‑105, that by July 31, 2012, UC provide to the appropriate legislative budget subcommittees and LAO the recommendations of the systemwide working group established to examine variation in funding across the system. Further, it is the intent of the Legislature that UC identify the amount of revenues from the general funds and tuition budget that each campus received in 2012‑13 for…
From the San Francisco Chronicle: After a monthlong break, the Legislature returns to work at the Capitol on Monday to take on one of the Golden State’s thorniest issues:public employee pensions. The Senate and Assembly have just four weeks to vote on hundreds of bills before the two-year session concludes at the end of the month, but the main focus will be on changing the pension compensation system. Just what those changes will entail is unclear. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed increasing the retirement age and creating a hybrid system that includes a 401(k)-style benefit, among other things, but lawmakers have yet to approve those or anything else. Legislative leaders…
This audio is a direct recording of the Regents’ afternoon session of July 28, 2012. At the end of the recording, it is announced that the governor is coming and that the Regents – who were going into closed session – would go back into open session when he arrived. However, the live-stream audio was shut off at that point. When we get the full audio from the Regents, if there are remarks from the governor on it, the audio will be posted. (Presumably, the governor wanted to talk about the Regents’ earlier endorsement of his tax initiative.) Otherwise, this…
Various professional schools have what amount to tuition surcharges above the base tuition for revenue generation. An item on today’s Regents agenda for the Committee on Educational Policy would allow fast cuts in the surcharges. Why? If the governor’s tax initiative doesn’t pass, the Regents would likely quickly raise base tuition to offset the planned $250 million trigger cut. The base+surcharge might then exceed market rates for some schools, cutting into applications and admissions. Under the proposal, a quick cut in the surcharge could offset or partially offset the base increase. You can find the item at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul12/e1.pdf And,…
In a June 29 report to the Regents, President Yudof recounts the impact of the new state budget on UC and notes other issues still pending at the legislature. Presumably, all of these developments will be reviewed at the upcoming Regents meeting later this month. [Thanks to David Lopez for passing it along.] The Yudof report praises our friend in Sacramento (governor+legislator) for fiscal beneficence. When you consider that we froze (or the Regents are about to freeze) tuition today for a promise of $125 million in next year’s budget, you might think the praise is a bit effusive. You…
Statement on UC funding in budget legislation signed by Gov. Brown by Mark G. Yudof on Thursday, June 28, 2012 The budget legislation signed by the Governor is a significant step toward bringing stability to public higher education funding in California. Based on the incentives in this budget package, I intend to recommend to the Board of Regents that our current tuition levels remain in place for the upcoming year. As always, it is up to the regents to decide the matter. We would have preferred that state funds for a tuition buy-out begin with the coming budget year of…
