Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May Revise would restore millions of dollars to the UC budget

Funding for the University of California was a top priority for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday in his May Revise, as he proposed restoring millions of dollars to the UC budget, along with more than $50 million to support student access.

In addition to the restoration of funding to the UC, Schwarzenegger also included an item that would reinstate capital for the competitive Cal Grants program. In January, the Governor’s budget proposed eliminating the grant.

The Cal Grant, which has been under constant revision by Sacramento for the past three years, allows low-income and non-traditional students, among others, to have state funding to attend California public universities.

“It will help us maintain access and protect financial aid for thousands of young Californians who look to our campuses as portals of opportunity,” said Ricardo Vazquez, spokesman for the UC Office of the President. “We’re especially pleased with the governor’s decision to fund Cal Grants.”

Another new addition to the Governor’s proposal was an additional $355 million for capital facility construction. The additional money will fund necessary construction projects around the UC campuses, while also creating an estimated 3,300 jobs in the private sector, according to Patrick Lenz, UC vice president for budget.

The verdict on the UC budget and California’s finances for the coming year will ultimately be decided by the state legislature in the coming weeks. According to Vazquez, the legislative decision may not be made until the summer.

“Knowing that California’s financial outlook for 2010-11 remains extremely challenging, we will continue to plan UCLA’s budget for next year under the assumption that the $305 million and the student enrollment funding will not be restored,” said Chancellor Gene Block in a message to the campus community.

The campus-wide 5 percent cuts initiated this year will be renewed, and new cuts will be made, according to the chancellor. On a positive note, salaries cut by the furlough program will be restored starting in September.

The Office of the President and the UC schools should have a clearer view of what other programmatic changes will be made in the coming year after this week’s UC Board of Regents meeting, on Wednesday and Thursday at UC San Francisco.

“It is true that even if the May Revise is adopted, the UC still faces a gap between the university’s needs and the resources,” Vazquez said. “One of the things they will look at and discuss at this meeting is … that we need to do our part by making the best use of our resources.”

In that respect, the fate of the furlough program and faculty employment throughout the UC system has yet to be determined.

While higher education may have been a top priority for the Governor’s May Revise, other facets of California’s economy were not treated as kindly.

One of the biggest cuts the Governor proposed was the elimination of the CalWORKS program, which provides temporary financial assistance and employment services to low-income families with minor children.

In addition, the new budget proposal decreases funding for mental health realignment programs and reduces the state’s participation in the In-Home Supportive Services program for the retired, blind and disabled.

The revise also proposed shifting portions of the state prison inmate population to county jails.

“The legislature has extremely difficult choices and decisions to make,” Vazquez said. “But we do hope that as the budget process unfolds this summer that the legislature supports the governor’s proposed funding for higher education.”

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