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University of California
August 21, 2007

Update: Legislature passes state budget

The state Senate today (Aug. 21) adopted a 2007-08 state budget – an action that, with the state Assembly’s previous action, sends the state spending plan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The governor previously agreed to veto $700 million in spending from the state budget to address the request of Senate Republicans. Those vetoes have not been announced and are not reflected in the budget passed by the Senate today.

The University of California greatly appreciates the support the governor and Legislature have demonstrated for public higher education in this budget process. The budget adopted by the Legislature contains most of UC’s priorities for addressing issues of greatest need during the 2007-08 fiscal year, which began July 1. The University is hopeful that the funding levels for UC adopted by the Legislature will be preserved by the governor in the final state budget.

Currently, the state budget contains the following for UC:

• The 4 percent base budget adjustment contained in the compact, which with other UC funds would help address compensation gaps affecting faculty and staff.
• The governor’s proposed funding for student enrollment growth of 2.4 percent, or 5,000 additional students.
• Lease-revenue bond funding for the Energy Biosciences Institute and Helios Project.
• Funding for student academic preparation programs ($19.3 million).
• Funding for labor research ($6 million).
• Continued one-time funding for UC Merced start-up costs ($14 million).
• Augmentations adopted by the Legislature for the California State Summer School for Math and Science ($500,000), agricultural research ($1.5 million), and Scripps Institution of Oceanography ($1.5 million).

Not included in the Senate-passed budget is operating funding proposed by the governor for the California Institutes for Science and Innovation ($15 million). This item remains a high priority for UC, which hopes to re-engage state elected leaders on this subject in the future.

The Board of Regents previously established student fees for the 2007-08 year. To address the University’s overall budget needs, mandatory systemwide fees will increase by 7 percent for undergraduates and resident graduate academic students. Full details about student fees are available at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget/fee_fact_sheet07.pdf.

Additional information will be available when the governor acts on a final state budget.

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