The University of California will receive an increase in state
funding this year for limited growth in enrollment and small
increases in staff salaries, though students will still see their
fees rise by 8 percent, under the budget plan proposed by Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday.
But the governor is also asking the UC to take a $17 million cut
that will either result in a cut to enrollment after fall 2005 or
further cuts to already beleaguered outreach programs. This
decision will ultimately be made by the UC Board of Regents.
“The withdrawal of $17 million, intended to be targeted to
either enrollment or academic preparation, is a concern to
us,” UC President Robert Dynes said in a statement.
“Strong academic preparation programs and broad access to a
college education are both important to California’s
continued leadership in the global economy.”
“Modest” seemed to be the operative word when it
comes to the budget proposal and the university. Though the
governor is proposing over $2.8 billion in funding to the UC, a
$97.5 million increase from last year, it will allow for only a 2.5
percent increase in enrollment, about 5,000 students, a 1.5 percent
general salary increase for employees and small increases to
instructional funding.
Nevertheless, this year’s budget is a step up from the
previous four years, when the UC saw its funding decrease by 15
percent while enrollment increased 19 percent.
Last May, the UC reached an agreement with Schwarzenegger to
take $372 million in cuts on the condition that the governor
restore funding beginning this year.
As part of that agreement, known as the “compact,”
the regents voted to raise undergraduate in-state student fees by 8
percent in November. If the state holds to the agreement next year,
students can expect to see another 8 percent fee increase.
At least for now, Schwarzenegger seems to have honored the
compact. The $17 million proposed cuts to either enrollment or
outreach is part of one-time funding outside of the compact.
It is unclear how far the $111.7 billion budget proposal goes
toward solving the state’s $8.1 billion structural
deficit.
Schwarzenegger criticized the budget proposal preemptively in
his Jan. 6 State of the State address, in which he called the
budget “a painful budget forced upon us by a broken
system.”
This led the governor to push for a series of reforms that are
currently being considered by the state Legislature.
Schwarzenegger based his budget proposal on the assumptions that
these reforms would pass.
Overall, Schwarzenegger does not raise taxes in his budget
proposal. He is proposing borrowing an additional $3 billion and
increasing overall state spending, though the governor is pushing
for a reform measure that would cut spending when expenditures
outpace revenue.
Under the budget proposal, the K-12 education system would see
funds rise by $2.5 billion and health and human services by $1.1
billion.
But the proposal also makes some cuts, such as a proposed $259
million cut to suspend cost of living adjustments for Supplemental
Security Income recipients.
In a move likely to generate heated debate in the Legislature,
the proposal also withholds over $2 billion that Schwarzenegger
promised the K-12 education system last year, when educators agreed
to forego the money guaranteed to them under Proposition 98
provided they receive it this year.
Proposition 98, which was approved by voters in 1988, gives 40
percent of the state general fund to education.
Schwarzenegger has criticized plans like Proposition 98 because
he said they lock state spending on “autopilot,” even
when the state can not afford it.
And he said if funding for the K-12 system was not trimmed back
this year, other areas, such as health and human services, would
have to undergo cuts.
But educators are already gearing up for a fight, saying the
governor is reneging on his pledge to restore the funds.
For the UC, the budget proposal also provides $10 million in
operating funds for the university’s 10th and newest campus
in Merced, which will open in fall 2005. It also provides $305.2
million in funding that was approved by voters in March to upgrade
facilities.
The UC labor research programs, which were spared cuts last year
that would have all but eliminated them, may find themselves under
the knife again this year. Schwarzenegger is proposing cutting
those programs by $3.8 million.
UC officials will try and persuade the state not to cut its
enrollment or outreach programs by $17 million, said Brad Hayward,
a spokesman for the UC Office of the President.
“Priority No. 1 will be working with the governor and the
Legislature to demonstrate the importance of the funding and get it
restored,” he said. “We’re going to work very
hard for that funding”
If the UC’s lobbying efforts fail and the $17 million cut
impacts enrollment, student admissions for fall 2005 will not be
affected, but enrollments for winter and spring admissions could
be.
How the state budget will ultimately look is far from certain.
The state Legislature must still debate the current proposal and
the governor will submit a revised budget plan in May.
Schwarzenegger’s threat to put certain reforms or
proposals to a public vote could further complicate the
process.
And until a state budget is ultimately approved, the
university’s funding should not be considered safe, warned
Daniel Mitchell, a UCLA professor of public policy.
“The question will be: with so many issues facing the
Legislature in an unpleasant way whether they’ll view the
compact as binding,” he said.
“If they’re really pushed to the wall about funding
other priorities, are they really going to let the university get
what the compact says?”
The Legislature is supposed to approve a state budget in
mid-summer, though that deadline has not been met recently.
“I would not assume this year that we’re going to
get a budget anywhere near in time,” Mitchell said. “We
were more or less a month over the budget the prior year. … And
this year, precisely because you’re proposing a lot of these
structural changes and making threats about going to the public,
the prospect of everyone getting everything done before July 1 is
very low.”