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CSU
System may receive $211.7 million in new
revenue
By
Kara Ogushi
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
The
California State University system budget
may receive $211.7 million in new revenue,
quieting fears that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
would back out on his higher education compact
with the California State University system.
According
to a press release from the CSU Web site,
these funds will cover the amount requested
by the trustees and will provide a 4.4 percent
increase in the CSU General Fund. If the
increase is approved it will give the CSU
system a total of $2.6 billion dollars.
"The
compact was signed in May 2004 and so far
the governor has honored it.
The
higher education compact begins to restore
student access, employee compensation, and
mandatory costs for health and dental benefits,
new space, and increasing insurance and
energy costs," said Clara Potes-Fellow,
CSU spokesperson. The higher education compact
will be distributed over the next six years,
from the 2005-06 school year to the 2010-11
school year.
This
will help to restore the $522 million in
budget cuts made by the CSU system during
the last three years.
The
Web site goes on to say that the budget
will provide $63.7 million for enrollment
increases of up to 10,000 more students
for 2005-06. The budget will also distribute
$88.1 million for faculty and staff compensation.
"I
am cautiously optimistic that the compact
will be funded. The campus is counting on
the money so we might begin to recover what
was lost during the past three bad budget
years, however, given the state's revenue
picture, and the bipartisan and contentious
state budget process, we should be a bit
wary," said Janet Parker, director
of budget and human resource information
systems.
"This
is a tough call — we can't put our
heads in the sand and pretend there aren't
some difficulties with getting the compact
incorporated into the 2005-06 general fund
budget – however, if we act like we
can sustain more cuts by developing contingency
plans, that could be a self-fulfilling prophecy,
which undermines the governor's promise
and our belief that he can get it done,"
Parker said.
Both
Potes-Fellows and Parker believe that it
is important for students to not only support
the compact because it directly impacts
them but to also become involved.
"Clearly,
talk to your state legislators who hold
the purse strings and the authority to pass
a budget," Parker said.
But
not everyone is in agreement that this compact
is in the best interest of the students.
"How
does improving the growth of enrollment
benefit students like me? The students are
paying more in tuition and parking to increase
the enrollment of students on our campus.
This is ridiculous," Michelle Bartolo,
a business major at CSULB said.
The
budget is still under review until the official
deadline in June 2005. But first, the budget
must pass through a few hurdles, such as
the budget sub-committee hearings and the
governor's revision in May.
"So
far the governor has proposed to fund the
needs of the university this year. Now it's
up to the legislature to support his proposal,"
Potes-Fellows said. "We will be looking
carefully at what the legislature does over
the next months." |
