UC budget crisis

Our previous post noted that State Treasurer Lockyer recently said he wouldn’t be surprised if the budget trigger – that gets pulled if sufficient tax revenues don’t appear – would in fact be pulled and would hit UC with another $100 million cut. For your continued enjoyment, here is some more good cheer from the Treasurer: Lockyer warns that spending cap could spell doom for higher ed Steven Harmon, Contra Costa Times, 7/14/11 State Treasurer Bill Lockyer warned that a spending cap that the Legislature qualified for the ballot will do untold harm to colleges and universities if approved by…

Revenues seem to be falling short of the optimistic estimates contained in the recently passed state budget. As prior posts have noted, if revenue falls short of the estimate, that could result in a budget “trigger” being pulled, leading to more cuts from UC’s budget. From today’s Capitol Alert: Asked about the optimistic projections that state leaders relied upon, Treasurer Bill Lockyer said Wednesday that “I’m a little more skeptical personally, but I don’t have any special knowledge that would try to give you a solid answer.” He said it was less likely the state would fall so far behind…

California looks to UC, CSU for lending hand 7/11/11, Kevin Yamamura, Capitol Alert The state just slashed $650 million each from the California State University and University of California, but it’s now looking to the two systems to loan the state some cash. A new bill moving through the Legislature with little public notice, Senate Bill 79, would establish a new investment fund for UC, CSU, California Community Colleges and the Judicial Council. Under the proposal, each system could contribute no less than $500 million and earn a return from the state, apparently more than they get elsewhere but less…

As noted in earlier blog posts, the new state budget has a trigger provision that activates if assumed revenue does not materialize. Higher ed takes an additional hit if that occurs. So does K-12. But K-12 school districts are not permitted to make budget plans that assume an additional hit. From today’s Sacramento Bee: …Lawmakers blocked K-12 districts from laying off teachers for the upcoming fiscal year. Teachers also won provisions requiring districts to ignore – for now – the prospect of a $1.75 billion “trigger” cut that could hit K-12 districts if optimistic revenue projections fall short. Instead, the…