Correction: The original story contained an error. The bill appropriates $90 million to the UC retirement fund.
[UPDATED at 10:30 p.m.: Just hours before his midnight deadline, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a budget tonight that includes several key bills allocating funds to the University of California and California State University systems.]
AB 1502 and SB 1016 are part of 21 budget bills that the Legislature voted on today in an attempt to beat the buzzer on the midnight deadline to get the Budget Act of 2012 signed by Brown.
AB 1502 will allocate $125 million each to the UC and CSU systems in the 2013-14 fiscal year if voters approve Brown’s proposed tax increase in the fall.
The increase, on the ballot in November, would increase the sales tax by a quarter percent and raise taxes on households that make more than $250,000 annually.
The allocated money for the UC and CSU also hinges on a possible tuition freeze provision for the 2012-13 academic year, which would require the UC and CSU systems to abandon all planned tuition increases for the upcoming year in order to receive funding from the state. The provision will go into effect if Brown’s tax increase passes in November.
Under AB 1502, if the proposed tax measure fails, the UC will receive cuts of $200 million, increasing the possibility of a mid-year tuition hike, UC officials have said.
[ The UC does not plan to recommend any tuition increases for the upcoming year, said Dianne Klein, a UC spokeswoman. While the UC accepts the negotiated agreement between the governor and the Legislature regarding the tuition freeze, Klein said it is ultimately up to the UC Board of Regents to decide on tuition fees.
Other officials said that they anticipate the new budget will put the UC in a risky position.
“(The budget) does put the UC in a difficult position in determining whether to increase tuition and give up state funding for 2013-14, or wait for November and have mid-year tuition increases if (the tax increase) fails,” said Paul Golaszewski, a UC specialist at the Legislative Analyst’s Office.]
The bill also appropriates $90 million to the UC for retirement and maintenance costs. This marks the first state contribution to the UC Retirement Plan in more than 20 years.
SB 1016, which was also signed today, will cut $103 million from the Cal Grant program.
By imposing new criteria colleges must meet to receive Cal Grant money, the intended cuts will be completed by the 2013-14 fiscal year, according to the bill.
Under the new criteria, schools will need to show a school graduation rate of 30 percent and loan default rates of 15.5 percent to be eligible for Cal Grants.
The changes may keep 80 percent of students at for-profit colleges and less than 20 percent of students at nonprofit colleges from being eligible for Cal Grants, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
[ Judy Heiman, a CSU specialist at the LAO, said that while the office approves of the new Cal Grant eligibility requirements, it recommends making distinctions based on institutional performance rather than private or public stature.]