Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the implementation of $150 million mid-year state budget cuts on Dec. 18, including a $29.9 million reduction to the University of California’s budget, in order to make scheduled payments to local governments in California.
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University officials had not expected funds to stop flowing until after the details of the governor’s full budget proposal were disclosed and had received legislative approval. The budget proposal is due by Jan. 10.
However, university officials have indicated that they will continue all operations at current levels until the full budget is revealed.
“”We’re in a little bit of a limbo period because the university will not make any decisions until the full state budget is proposed,”” UC spokesperson Abby Lunardini said. “”We’re not going to do anything until we have a bigger picture, and right now we’re a bit in the dark as well as to what that’s going to look like.””
The university is bracing for $15.7 million in unallocated cuts, $12.2 million in reductions to K-12 outreach programs and $2 million in cuts to the Institute for Labor and Employment.
The university’s current total state-funded operating budget is about $2.9 billion.
Outreach programs, funding for which had been cut by 50 percent last year, could face elimination.
“”The governor has proposed spending cuts across the board, and the goal of those reductions was to save the core function of each program,”” said Vince Sollitto, a spokesperson for the governor. “”In higher education that is teaching Californians, so the proposals were done so that the cuts had the least impact on classroom teaching.””
In his Dec. 18 announcement, Schwarzenegger cited the 2003 Budget Act as authorizing him to redirect up to 5 percent of funding for state agencies to other purposes, giving him the right to implement the proposed mid-year cuts effective of that date.
“”It’s a little bit of a gray area,”” Lunardini said. “”Technically it’s allowed, but some people in Sacramento are saying different things.””
Schwarzenegger has also issued executive orders asking all state agencies, including the California State University and University of California systems, to freeze both spending and hiring “”to a level that will not interfere with their educational mission.”” UC President Robert C. Dynes issued a systemwide statement asking the university to comply with the orders.
Lunardini said that while the implications of these orders are not yet clear, the hiring freeze would likely affect staff, not faculty.
Just days before the governor’s Dec. 18 announcement, UC student regent Matt Murray, along with the student trustees from the California State University and the community college systems, went to Sacramento on Dec. 15 to hand-deliver a letter addressed to Schwarzenegger.
The letter called upon the governor to consider detrimental effects that cuts could have on California’s higher education systems.
“”We fear that the combination of large student fee increases, massive reductions and possible elimination of UC and CSU outreach funding, and extreme restrictions on student enrollments in all three segments could dramatically transform our public higher education system from a broadly accessible and vital resource serving the entire state into an exclusive yet mediocre set of institutions,”” the letter read.
Murray and the other trustees were received by a member of the governoras education staff.
“”I’m optimistic that the governor read it, though he’s got a lot on his plate,”” Murray said. “”Our letter had two big points. First, higher education is important to California’s economy, and the state’s economy is definitely on his mind. Second, all segments of public education are interconnected, and we hope when he says he supports education he means all of it.””
Murray said he doesn’t expcet the full budget proposal to be “”very pleasant.””
“”I think the university is going to be faced with a lot of really difficult decisions, and it will be crucial for everybody ‹ students, faculty, staff ‹ to make our voices heard in Sacramento, where the big decisions will be made,”” he said.
