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news:
Davis to sign
new CSU budget
By Jamie Rogers
Summer Forty-Niner
Gov. Gray Davis
is scheduled to sign a seriously depleted state budget this
weekend to meet the July 1 deadline.
This deadline may
prove elusive, however, due to the difficulty of adjusting
a budget in a state whose fiscal condition has deteriorated
by $5.7 billion this year.
Davis proposed
an optimistic budget in January, but the revision he released
in May reflected the downward turn the economy has taken,
thanks in part to the widespread effect of the energy crunch.
"The fiscal
year started off in pretty good shape," said Joseph Magaddino,
chairman and professor of economics at Cal State Long Beach.
"California had substantial surplus. Then we had our
energy problems and the governor decided to use our surplus
to buy power, which has now caused problems for the budget."
The California
State University system faced a $58 million deficit when Davis
announced the May Revise budget. In January, Davis' first
budget proposal reflected a $291.5 million increase for the
CSU's general budget. The revision reflected a $233.4 million
increase for the CSU, a loss of $58 million. The budget reduction,
coupled with a $34 million increase in natural gas costs,
forced the governor to recommend the reduction or elimination
of funds for several CSU projects and services.
Hardest hit by
the May Revise is the employee compensation pool, which allocates
raises to CSU faculty and staff members based on cost-of-living
increases and merit. In January, the governor recommended
a four percent increase in the pool, but reduced it to two
percent in May. The CSU Board of Trustees originally asked
for a six percent increase.
"We are disappointed,"
said Armando Contreras, executive assistant to CSULB President
Robert Maxson. "[The compensation pool] is a priority
for the system. It makes it difficult, particularly for Dr.
Maxson, to feel like we are rewarding people for performing
well and for the work they do."
This will save
approximately $40.7 million, more than 70 percent of the total
reductions proposed.
Along with the
employee compensation pool, several CSU programs lost funding.
During the weekend of June 23, a conference committee made
up of three senators and three assembly members reconciled
the Senate and Assembly budget proposals and agreed on what
programs will retain funding.
Discussed was the
Assembly's recommendation that $1 million be salvaged for
the K-12 academic preparation program. The governor's January
proposal had allocated $8 million to this program, which focuses
on preparing children for entering the CSU system after completing
high school. The goal, according to Contreras, is to lessen
the need for remedial education when students enter college.
Davis did not include
this program in the May Revise and the conference committee
denied the Assembly funding it recommended.
"These programs
that link universities and [K-12] schools are so important,"
said Joseph Potts, associate professor of English at CSULB.
"It's a shame, unfortunately money has to be cut to pay
for the light bills."
The committee also
denied $1 million that was allocated to the diagnostic writing
service in January. The service helps prepare CSU students
for the writing proficiency exam, which they must pass to
graduate. The governor removed this funding from the revision
and the Assembly agreed with Davis' decision. The Senate,
however, had recommended maintaining the funds.
The joint-use program,
which would allow the CSU system, the University of California
system and the California Community College system to share
facilities, was not granted any funding after arguments were
heard by the committee. Davis did not include this item in
his original proposal but the Senate had argued to provide
the program with $1.5 million.
In January, Davis
proposed spending $10 million to develop and improve programs
important to California's workforce. The focus was in the
areas of nursing, agriculture, engineering and computer science.
Davis did not include the workforce preparation item in the
revision, but the Assembly argued to retain $5 million specifically
to recruit students into nursing programs.
The conference
committee concluded that $5 million would be retained but
the money would be available for all the originally proposed
fields rather than nursing alone.
The budget does
not include only bad news for CSU, however. In the May Revise,
the governor upheld many of his original proposals, including
$17.5 million for the Governor's Teacher Fellowship Program.
The program provides $20,000 fellowships to individual students
who attend teacher preparation programs, attain their credential
and subsequently teach at under-performing schools.
Also included in
the revision is $18.5 million for the Governor's Education
Technology Professional Development Program, which would provide
training for 12,500 teachers on how to better use technology
in the classroom.
"[This program]
demonstrates a focus at CSU," said Potts. "That
focus is on technology. Technology is the future. I don't
know if this is a reasonable sum to spend on the program because
other programs have been cut. But we cannot neglect technology.
This is probably money well spent."
The CSU infrastructure
build-out program not only maintained its January funding,
but gained $1.6 million during the May Revise. The total funds
recommended for the program is now $11.6 million. The program's
goal is to upgrade the technology on CSU campuses, including
installing optical lines, to accommodate advances in technology.
"We have had
plans for how this program will be implemented on campus,"
said Contreras. "So any reduction in funds would have
caused delays in that."
The revised budget
has also been able to maintain the $16 million necessary to
allow year-round operation, which results in lower fees for
summer school. It also maintains the amount of funding necessary
to compensate for the 8,760 full-time students estimated to
enroll in CSU during the 2001-02 academic year, without having
to raise student fees. This, according to Ken Swisher, spokesperson
for the CSU chancellor's office, is the good part of this
year's funding.
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