Proposed
budget not to include fee increase for CSU
By Jill Thomsen
On-line Forty-Niner
Gov.
Gray Davis’ “May Revise” proposal calls
for sharp tax increases but no further cuts
to the California State University system
budget.
The
“May Revise” is the governor’s second proposal
of the year on how he believes the state
budget should be handled. Presented after
state income taxes have been processed,
the “May Revise” is more accurate with regards
to the economic health of the state and
often differs greatly from the governor’s
initial proposals in January.
The
governor’s January budget proposal called
for a systemwide 25 percent fee increase
for undergraduates and 20 percent increase
for graduate students. The increase was
not altered yesterday despite concerns by
the Board of Trustees and student leaders
that further cuts may have been recommended.
Although
the governor’s recommendations are a key
step in the budget process, the legislature
still has final say on what programs will
be cut, how much money the state will attempt
to borrow and how much taxes will be increased.
Karen
Zamarripa, assistant vice chancellor in
the CSU office of governmental affairs,
said that the Board of Trustees will be
waiting to see how the legislature reacts
to the proposals.
“We
need to wait and see how can we gage when
we’re going to have a final budget so we
can decide when to tell students how much
their fees will be,” she said. “We’re waiting
to see how quickly the legislature acts
or doesn’t.”
Zamarripa
said that if the legislature seems to be
“gelling and people are starting to come
around to it [the governor’s proposal] there
might be a thought for a special meeting
of the board and chancellor to decide on
fees. The sooner they can tell students
the better.”
However,
Zamarripa said that if the budget is still
in major dispute throughout the summer she
is not sure what the board will do. Whatever
happens, she said it will be publicly notified
so everyone will have a chance to participate.
Catherine
Hazleton, spokeswoman for the assembly of
Higher Education Committee Chairwoman Carol
Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge, said the assemblywoman
is “thrilled to see how relatively well
the different higher education segments
fared in the May revise.”
Hazelton
said that the reception towards the plan
by legislators would probably not be known
until budget committee meetings occur at
the beginning of next week.
In
the governor’s proposal new taxes on cars
and cigarettes, along with a temporary one-half
cent sales tax increase will help prevent
further cuts to education. The proposal
also includes a $304 million increase in
community college funding from the January
plan.
“It’s
great news for the community colleges because
that directly relates to us since so many
of our students come from them,“ Zamarripa
said.
The
January proposal called for an increase
of $24 per community college unit, but has
been lowered to $18 in the revision.
“It’s
absolutely wonderful,” said Laura Kerr,
California State Student Association director
of governmental affairs. “It’s probably
the best thing we’ve been hearing recently
but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much
— the battle is going to come this summer.”
Since
the California state budget requires two-thirds
approval for passage the minority party
has an opportunity to hold up the process
until it receives concessions from the dominant
party. Republicans have said that they would
not agree to any tax increase and their
own proposal calls for a $200 million cut
to the CSU system.
Assembly
Democrats are also offering a separate plan
that calls for a $69.5 million increase.
“Even
though they [Republicans] are the minority
party they are in the most powerful position,”
said Kerr.
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