ucrp

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Update: UC Tuition Freeze & Other Budget Items Confirmed

Byuclafaculty

Earlier today, we posted an unconfirmed item saying the budget now going through the legislature contains some added funding for UC in exchange for a tuition freeze.  That item has now been confirmed (and it is, as reported, contingent on voter approval of the governor’s tax initiative in November).  So have other elements reported in earlier posts such as added and earmarked funding for the pension (but with no acknowledgment of state liability for the pension).  And the legislature has declined to go along with the governor’s voiding of legislative earmarks for UC and some kind of long-term funding deal…

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The Great Gazbee

Byuclafaculty

“Gazbee” is how you pronounce GASB, the acronym for the Government Accounting Standards Board.  GASB determines accounting standards for public employers, including public pension plans.  (It’s equivalent for the private sector is FASB – the Financial Accounting Standards Board which is pronounced – you guessed it – “fazbee.”)  From calpensions.com today comes this item: New public pension accounting rules scheduled to be issued next month, once expected by some to reveal massive hidden debt, now seem less likely to trigger a shake-up and are even getting applause from pension officials.  Under the new rules, experts say, most California pension systems…

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Hobgoblin Pensions

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly is not exactly sure what a hobgoblin is, except that consistency was said by Emerson to be the hobgoblin of small minds. As readers of this blog will know, the Regents and UCOP have been effusively praising the governor for somehow committing to funding the UC pension system fully, even though all he has done is said that UC could use some of its state allocation for the pension (which was always the case).  Absent some larger understanding between UC and the powers-that-be in the state on funding UC operations generally as well as the pension, such statements…

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Fork in the Road on Public Pensions in California?

Byuclafaculty

Diligent readers of this blog will know the following 7 points about public pension proposals in California (and their relation to UC’s pension plan): 1) The Regents adopted pension changes – essentially a two-tier defined-benefit approach – for the UC retirement system. 2) The governor is pushing a 12-point “hybrid” system (mix of defined benefit and defined contribution) for all public pensions in California that – unless UC is exempted – could override the Regents’ action. 3) Although it is the official position of UC that it wants an exemption, the governor has not agreed to one. 4) The legislature…

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No Way (for UC), San Jose

Byuclafaculty

As previous blog posts have noted, Governor Brown has proposed a statewide pension plan that would override the Regents’ changes to the UC pension and would require a “hybrid” plan with defined benefit and defined contribution components, a 75% cap, etc.  UC’s official position is that it shouldn’t be included.  However, the governor has not acquiesced. The legislature’s majority Democrats have been reluctant to consider the governor’s plan and have been considering alternatives.  Brown has warned public sector unions that local governments will be putting plans on the ballot and adopting pension plans that are more stringent than his proposal…

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Listen to Remaining Audio of Regents Meeting of March 29, 2012

Byuclafaculty

A previous post on this blog noted that a defective file had been received for the third day session of the Regents after the Public Comments period.  Only part of that session was posted as a result, although it did include the decision officially to withdraw implementation of an exemption from the IRS pension cap.  The complete recording has now been received.  It includes the portion previous posted plus discussion of private budgetary support and fund raising, political advocacy including a request by students to support the governor’s tax initiative scheduled for the November ballot.  There was also discussion of…

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Audios of Regents Meetings of March 27-29, 2012

Byuclafaculty

Meeting of the Regents of the University of California: March 27-29, 2012 Prior posts have included excerpts from the Regents meetings dealing with the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center and the sale by UCLA of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden.  Below you will find complete recordings of the three days of the Regent meeting with the exception of the third day for which a defective audio file was received. Tuesday March 27, 2012: Day 1 3:00 pm Committee on Health Services (includes public comment) Wednesday, March 28, 2012: Day 2 8:30 am Committee of the Whole (public comment) Includes comments on…

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Chancellor at Staff Town Hall on Hotel, Climate Survey, Pensions, Donor-Community Relations

Byuclafaculty

Chancellor Block, Vice Chancellor Steve Olson, and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Campus Human Resources Lubbe Levin participated in a staff Town Hall on April 4. The session was videoed but the video works poorly and the commercial service utilized includes ads.  Below is a link to the audio of the session which works much better. There were no exhibits at the session so nothing is lost in the audio-only format. There were specific questions, some in-person/some submitted in advance, on the proposed hotel/conference center, the upcoming (systemwide) campus climate survey, pensions, and donor-community relations.  Links just to those questions are…

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What Not to Think (on pension bonds)

Byuclafaculty

You may have seen the headline on the front page of yesterday’s LA Times business section about pension bonds. And you may know that the Regents have approved possibly issuing such bonds. (None have been issued, however, and any borrowing to put into the UC pension has been done internally, not by issuing external bonds.) The LA Times article describes what some municipalities have done in the past to deal with unfunded pension liabilities or just to make a speculative profit. Essentially, they have issued bonds and used the proceeds to make pension investments.  If the interest cost of the…

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Will There Be a Pension Lawsuit Over the Cap for the Highly Paid?

Byuclafaculty

The upcoming Regents agenda contains a mix of open sessions and closed sessions.  One closed session involves a sensitive pension issue to be discussed in private by the Committee on Compensation. Readers of this blog with long memories will recall a controversy that erupted when certain highly-paid UC administrators complained that a cap – based on IRS rules – on their pensions should be removed.  The cap limits the amount of the basic pension to the first $245,000 of pay.  Essentially, back in the day when folks didn’t worry much about pension funding, the Regents applied for an exemption from…