UC Budget

This page was created by the GSA EC early in the 2008-2009 academic year to inform graduate students about the ongoing budget crisis on-campus and system-wide. If you would like to see more information about how the budget cuts are affecting our campus specifically please see UC Davis Budget.

This link is a summary of the budget process (produced by the Dept. of Finance) http://www.dof.ca.gov/fisa/bag/process.htm and this link is a summary of the budget process (produced by the Assembly Budget Chair) http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a07/pdf/BudgetGuide.pdf

You may also be interested in which legislators to contact at some key times in the budget process. The below represents a typical year; adjustments will have to be made based on developments. CAVEAT- the cumulative budget crises of the past several years has made the entire process unpredictable.

Currently. The Governor declared a fiscal emergency (under 2004's Prop 58) when he presented his 2010-11 budget on January 8. Basically, the California constitution allows the Governor to declare the emergency and requires him/her to propose legislation. This Governor's proposal does not include mid-year cuts to higher education. The legislature now has 45 days to approve the proposal or take budget balancing action of its own (before about Feb. 23); they are holding overview hearings now, but have not taken action. So far, the legislature has not raised the issue of cuts to higher education. If the legislature fails to take corrective actions that the Governor agrees to before the deadline, the legislature may not act on any other bills or adjourn until the crisis is resolved. If UC avoids mid-year cuts, we become increasingly more vulnerable in the 2010-11 budget deliberations.

Hearings the first two weeks of March. It is likely that the Assembly and Senate will hold their FY 2010-11 budget hearings in the first two weeks of March. They will not take action on items, but the hearings are an important gauge of what they will prioritize after the May revise when they do take action. Good members to target at this time are the Budget Chairs and Vice Chairs; all Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Subcommittee #1 on Education members (Liu, Huff, Wright); and all Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2 on Education Finance members (Swanson, Chesbro, Berryhill, Fuller, Brownley, Carter).

April. Around the 1st, the state will not have sufficient funding to pay its bills, absent action to correct the mid-year deficit. Shortly after the 15th, the Dept. of Finance will know what sort of revenue predictions it will use to revise the Governor's original FY 2010-11 proposal. It's a good month for all members on the list—leadership in both parties, members that are chairs and vice chairs of the budget and appropriations committees—to hear from constituents.

May revise and subsequent hearings. The Governor's revise will be out about mid-May, and the legislature generally starts hearings immediately thereafter. Budget committee members should be targeted. Undoubtedly, the committees will again choose to make cuts only where there is a broad agreement, and they will leave some of the large cuts for resolution by conference committee. The conference committee has been less effective in recent years, owing to the need of a 2/3 vote to approve the budget. So the negotiations often get pushed to the Big 5 (Governor, Speaker, Pro Tem, Minority Leader in Senate, Minority Leader in Assembly).

June. June 15. Constitutional deadline for the legislature to approve a budget. Once legislators complete their first pass on the budget and each house produces a bill, a conference committee is convened. It is unclear who the conference committee will be, but usually the chairs and vice chairs of Budget and Appropriations are represented. The conference committee may resolve most differences between the Senate and Assembly versions of the budget, but it will be apparent that they do not have 2/3 consensus to pass the compromise bill and a stalemate will be declared. The negotiations will switch to Big 5. The Big 5 should be targeted at that time. It is also a time to focus on whichever Republicans emerge as those that may be willing to vote for revenue enhancements as part of a budget deal.

July and August. It is common for the legislature not to have a budget approved in July, and sometimes well into August. It is best to determine who to target depending on circumstance at the time.

Here is a list of the key personnel working on the California budget this year. If you are interested in targeting your local rep, please email gsaexternalchair@ucdavis.edu if you need assistance. Key legislators in CA budget process.pdf

December 15, 2008 Yudof Budget Outlook Letter and Video.pdf
March 17, 2009 UC opens opportunities for more Californians.pdf, for more information please visit Blue and Gold and a recap on UC Day 2009
March 24, 2009 Living within our means.pdf
May 5, 2009 Your vote counts.pdf
July 16, 2009 Letter Regarding Systemwide Furloughs.pdf
August 12, 2009 Brain drain threatens California.pdf and UC commission to address diminishing resources.pdf
September 1, 2009 UCOP RE Yudof No Confidence Vote.pdf, Letter from Academic Senate.pdf and Union Vote Flyer.pdf
October 13, 2009 Letter Regents Chairman Gould and President Yudof.pdf and Letter to UC community_Commission.pdf
October 23, 2009 UC president announces twin efforts to increase student support.pdf to find out more information please visit Project You Can
October 30, 2009 UC Student Fees Update.pdf
October 30, 2009 UC's road to recovery requires painful actions.pdf
November 11, 2009 Blue and Gold covers more lower-income families.pdf
November 12, 2009 All Together Now.pdf to find out more please visit All. Together. Now
November 18, 2009 UC to raise $1 billion for students.pdf
November 20, 2009 November Our University - A holiday message from President Yudof.pdf
November 23, 2009 Students protest fees, budget at UC headquarters.pdf
December 7, 2009 Higher ed master plan needs funding, not fixing.pdf
December 8, 2009 Commission forum draws ideas for UC's future.pdf
December 14, 2009 A holiday message for faculty and staff from President Yudof.pdf
December 17, 2009 Speak Up for UC.pdf
January 6, 2010 California's Priorities.pdf
January 6, 2010 Yudof On Gov Schwarzenegger's State of the State address.pdf
January 8, 2010 A message from President Yudof on the Governor's proposed budget.pdf
January 8, 2010 President Yudof has issued a video letter to faculty and staff regarding Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed 2010-11 budget
January 20, 2009 Help UC reach 10,000.pdf reach 10,000 letters

For more update information about our chancellor please visit her site Chancellor Linda Katehi.

August 17, 2009 Chancellor Katehi RE DC Trip.pdf summary of her trip to DC for UC Advocacy and higher education funding.

November 17, 2009 letter from the chancellor UC Advocacy- All Together Now.pdf

Chancellor Linda Katehi gives an official address about the budet crisis and students' responses to the Regent vote to increase fees, here YouTube Chancellor Address. Here is the PowerPoint from the last Dialog with the Chancellor, focusing on the budget, 11-30-09 Fall Dialog with the Chancellor.pdf.

Adminstrative changes annoucement issued by Chancellor Katehi 12-8-09.pdf.

In January, the Chancellor spoke to the Assembly about her new vision for our campus. For more information about her time with the GSA please see this news feature January, 8 2010. Her vision document draft can be found here Draft Vision Doc.

Chancellor Katehi gives a series of 7 videos titled "On the University." The University Community is a knowledge community brought together by innovative face-to-face conference interactions and the affordances of the new digital media. This community of academics, university leaders and administrators, public administrators and research students comes together around a common concern for the role and future of the university in a changing world here.

Please see this page, http://daviswiki.org/UC_Davis_Budget_Cuts, which was recently created by former GSA Executive Council member and GSA External Chair, Brent Laabs, on the Davis Wiki page.

The UC has created a page to provide the UC Community and public with easy access to financial information and to be more transparent. Please review the Reporting Transparency page for information on annual budgets, compensation, financial reports, benefit plans reports, revenue bonds, and more.

On October 30, 2009 the UC Davis Office of the Registrar sent an email to all students and parents with the President Yudof Letter.pdf regarding fee increases.

The University Office of the President published a document of budget myths and facts.pdf. The organization Keep California's Promise has provided a document for understanding the budget crisis.pdf; with some historical information.

The overall decrease in state funding for higher education has cause the UC Office of the President and the UC Regents to make some tough decisions. Recently UC staff, faculty and students have organized a system-wide walk-out on September 24, 2009 to object to lack of budget transparency, fee increases and the furlough program.

There is general concern that with these changes in the state budget our system is not meeting the accessible and affordable mission thus moving our system towards privatization and is a huge issue across the United States. For more recent information here is a UC Privatization-Info Sheet.pdf.

Professor Stanton Glantz at UCSF has provided comments on the budget crisis and moving forward.pdf.

February 5, 2009 UC Board of Regents approves changes to UC's policy on undergraduate admission requirements University of California Board of Regents New admission eligibility requirements for class of Fall 2012: The new admissions policy will increase opportunity for students by expanding the number of applications our campuses review, while continuing to produce a freshman class that is just as qualified as in years past, including by the traditional measures of high school grades and test scores," said UC President Mark G. Yudof. "It also sends a clear message to California high school students that if they work hard, take challenging courses and do well; they will get to make their case for admission to UC. The new requirements widen the door of opportunity for many more high-achieving students — from all ethnic and racial groups as well as those from low-performing schools — to be considered for admission to UC. Based on 2007 data from the California Postsecondary Education Commission, it is estimated that 21.7 percent of California high school graduates would be entitled to a full review of their applications compared with 13.4 percent of graduates estimated to be UC eligible in 2007.

May 7, 2009 UC Regents approve 2009-10 student fees University of California Board of Regents: The board's vote was 17 to 4 in favor of the proposed increases, with Regents John Garamendi, Eddie Island, Odessa Johnson and Student Regent D'Artagnan Scorza voting against the increases. It consists of $115 million in new cuts, $122 million in underfunded enrollments, and $213 million in unfunded mandatory costs for utilities, employee health benefits and other inflationary costs. At the same time, the universities this year has enhanced its already robust financial aid program in two ways that will help mitigate the impact of higher fees for most UC undergraduates and their families. These include the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, which will cover system wide fees for California residents whose families earn less than $60,000 a year and who qualify for financial aid, as well as increases in state and federal aid.

May 22, 2009 Budget Proposals Threaten Cal Grants Message from President Yudof: Cal Grant up for possible elimination, which would affect more than 46,000 UC undergrads. Cal Grants bring in $293 mil in grant aid for students from lower-income CA families.

June 1, 2009 UC president details consequences of proposed budget cuts Yudof speaks about repercussions of budget cuts: Regents would have to consider further reductions in freshman enrollments for the entering class of 2010-11 to bring them more closely into alignment with UC’s resources
But the Regents and I will have to act in order to ensure that UC can continue to offer the high-caliber education, research and patient care that Californians expect of us. Mediocrity is not an option.

June 18, 2009 Budget Update-By the Numbers
Cal Grants: Restored most of the Cal Grant cuts proposed by the governor.
Additional reduction: Approved an additional $17.8 million budget reduction for UC, aligning the UC cut with the cut allocated to CSU

July 29, 2009 http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/budget/?p=798 California's Legislative Analyst's Office summarizes the actions taken by the Legislative and the Governor in the budget package which outlines the magnitude of the affect the cutbacks will have on state programs.

August 7, 2009 http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/budget/?p=826 How UC furloughs will affect the medical centers.

August 14, 2009 http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/budget/?p=831UC to issue bonds totaling nearly $1.4 million to create construction jobs throughout the state and complete badly need building projects already under way at many UC campuses.

December 8,2009 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/08/BADN1B0KBC.DTL The UC system has agreed to hire PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a financial review at UCSF, after a U.S. senator raised concerns about allegations of money mismanagement and university officials making misleading statements to state leaders.

June 3, 2009 Students protest budget cuts, student fee hikes and increased admin salaries in front of Mrak

June 4, 2009 Governor Proposes the Elimination of Cal Grant By cutting the program, he estimated that the state could save $280 million in the first year, and in future years up to $700 or $800 million. Students estimated self-help level would increase from $9,000 to $10,500, a possible increased time-to-degree due to students needing to work more hours per week, and a potential drop in enrollment at UC Davis due to students’ inability to pay.

June 9, 2009 Taxes still the way in California budget crisis, some Reflection on raising taxes as means of battling budget crisis

July 31, 2009 http://www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=11735 The UC Davis campus currently stands at a $114 million shortfall of which $80.5 has been dealt with through cuts in academic and administrative units, plus student fee increases and salary savings from employee furloughs. That leaves an estimated $33.5 million that still needs to be dealt with.

July 31, 2009 http://www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=11723 UC President Mark G. Yudof renewed his call for both shared sacrifice and forward-looking innovation within the 10-campus system in response to enactment on July 28 of a new state budget that cumulatively reduces support for the University of California by more than $800 million. “Everyone in the UC community is being asked to share the pain of our short-term solution, which is just one step toward finding the best ways to ensure long-term excellence and access for students and everyone we serve,” Yudof said.

August 28, 2009 http://www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=11806 The UC Davis administration announced that there will be eleven campus closure days for the 2009-2010 academic year. Most of the days will count as additional unpaid furlough days for employees and all of the closures will occur on non-instructional days. The plan is expected to save the campus $25 million over the next year. A full list of the campus closure dates can be found here.
In addition, the administration announced $10.3 million in further cuts, with more than half of that coming from administrative cuts.
UPDATE: October 16, 2009 http://www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=11980 Chancellor Katehi announced that four of the proposed closure dates will be removed from the campus closure plan. Instead of closing down for the winter break on December 18, 2009, the campus will now close on December 24, 2009. The total number of closure dates has been reduced from 11 to 7.

December 4, 2009 http://dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=12170 After a week of protests, Chancellor Katehi and students had a dialogue about the recent fee increases. The Chancellor said that she knew the fee increases were hard, but they were necessary to keep the University running and thousands of workers employed. She said that the fee increases will cover just $30 million of the projected two-year UC budget shortfall of $150 million.

December 4, 2009 In an effort to improve transparency, the UC System put online many financial documents, that are critical to understanding how the University works.

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