Legislators support a boost to CSU, UC
Proposal would fully fund both systems, avoid tuition hikes
SACRAMENTO>> As California lawmakers wrestle over howto spend — or save— an estimated $6.1 billion budget surplus, a bipartisan coalition of legislators is pushing to spend some of the money on the state’s prized university systems, averting tuition hikes.
The proposal unveiled Monday would give the universities exactly what they are asking for: a $263 million boost in ongoing funding for California State University and $197 million for the University of California.
That’s more than double the $92 million that Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed giving to each university system.
“We’ve got to buy out these tuition increases. We’ve got to fully fund the budget requests of the California State University systemand the University of California,” said Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. “They are holding true to their promise to young people, but that promise has become increasingly out of reach.”
In January, amid an outcry from students and others, UC regents put on hold a proposal to hike in- state tuition by nearly $350 and out- of-state tuition by nearly $1,000. They plan to take up the proposals later this spring.
Meanwhile, Cal State leaders have said that as soon as May they will consider, as a last resort, rais--
ing annual in-state tuition by $228 for undergraduates and $432 for graduate students.
Emelia Martinez, a sophomore political science major from UC Riverside, flew in with two classmates-Monday to lobby lawmakers on the proposal. A tuition buyout would not only help students and their families financially, she argued; itwill give campuses some of the funding they need to make badly needed repairs and add more classes.
“We desperately need that money,” she said in an interview.
One of the lawmakers pushing to funnel more money to public universities, Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, said Monday that he was still working to secure the necessary support for the proposal. It will compete with other state priorities, from housing the homeless to health care subsidies, and it’s unclear whether Brown
— who has line-item veto powers and wants to save most of the windfall — would sign it into law.
But Glazer has won the backing of some Republicans as well as like-minded Democrats. At Monday’s news conference were Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, a Republican who represents parts of the East Bay, and Sen. Scott Wilk, R Victor Valley. Baker acknowledged that the Legislature is often critical of the universities’ management and spending decisions. But, she said, the state has its responsibilities too.
“We expect them to have their budgets in order, their financial house in order,” Baker said. “Weneed tohave our financial support in order, and that’s why we’re here today.”
Years of state disinvestment and tuition increases combined with the soaring cost of housing have created “a perfect storm” for students struggling to make it through college, said Rigel Robinson, a UC Berkeley senior who serves as chairman of university affairs for the UC Student Association.
And as the university expands its enrollment tomeet rising demand, he added, students are often forced to learn in packed classrooms with some taking notes in the aisles.
“When I show up to my data sciences lecture, if I don’t show up early I won’t have a seat,” he said.
Both university systems applauded the lawmakers’ effort. The UC system educates 90,000 more students than it did in 2000, but with the same level of funding, said Dianne Klein, a UC spokeswoman.
“We wholeheartedly support these calls for renewed state funding of the university,” she said, “which is critical to ensuring that the next generation receives the same excellent UC education as did previous generations.”