The UC mobilizes to repeal federal sequester cuts

With Congress’ budget deadline coming up on Friday, the 10 campuses in the University of California and other groups in the UC are mobilizing efforts to combat federal sequester cuts.

The 10 UC chancellors and UC President Janet Napolitano wrote a letter to California’s congressional representatives last month, outlining the negative impacts sequester cuts have already had on the UC and potential future effects.

Issues such as a decline in federal research grants and the potential reduction in the amount of financial aid available to students were included in the letter.

The cuts, which took effect in March in an effort to reduce the federal deficit, have already had major effects on funding for research across the UC system, the letter indicated.

This year, sequester cuts have led to a $370 million decrease in federal research funds for the UC from the previous year, according to data from the UC Office of the President.

UCLA is estimated to have lost about $50 million in federal research money from sequester cuts.

The deadline for Congress to figure out a budget deal is Dec. 13. If no deal is achieved, the sequester cuts will carry over to 2014. If a deal is reached and the sequester cuts are repealed, they will be replaced by other forms of spending cuts.

The letter written by Napolitano and the chancellors said that if sequestration continues, financial aid programs will continue to experience cuts and less money will be accessible to students.

Chris Harrington, associate director of university affairs-federal government relations for the UC system, said that Napolitano and the chancellors’ efforts are to ensure that economic and fiscal prosperity can be put back in place.

“We’re doing our best to make sure research enterprise remains strong,” Harrington said. “We expect that the chancellors and the president will continue to reach out to Congress, and meet with members on Capitol Hill.”

UCLA director of media relations Phil Hampton said Chancellor Block talked to members of Congress in November about repealing sequester cuts, but the efforts to repeal the sequester cuts are ongoing.

Chancellor Block traveled to Washington D.C. twice last month to meet with members of both the House and the Senate in order to advocate for the repeal of the sequester cuts, Hampton said in an email statement.

Students can write letters to their representatives in Congress through Bruin Caucus, a UCLA advocacy group, Hampton said.

Bruin Caucus works with UCLA Government and Community Relations, which includes the UCLA Federal Relations Office.

Kim Kovacs, executive director of UCLA’s Federal Relations Office, said her office is focused on working with UCLA media relations and the UC systemwide offices to address the sequester cuts.

If the sequester cuts were to start impacting broader student aid, the UCLA Federal Relations Office would start to work with student leadership to encourage students to take a more involved role in the sequester debate, Kovacs said.

Morris Sarafian, a second-year political science student and member of Bruin Lobby Corps, said that students can also lobby for the end of sequester cuts through the group, which is a branch of the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s External Vice President’s Office.

However, Bruin Caucus and BLC have yet to take any specific actions to directly combat the sequester cuts.

Kovacs said that the UCLA Federal Relations Office worked with the UC office in Washingtonto review the letter written by Napolitano and the chancellors to ensure that it encompassed the concerns of all the campuses.

Although most of the decisions concerning the sequester cuts are up to politicians at this point, students can get involved by contacting their own elected officials, Kovacs said.

Other groups concerned with the effect of the sequester cuts, such as The Science Coalition, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, have gotten involved in the sequester debate.

Tim Leshan, president of The Science Coalition, said that the organization has attempted to talk to members of Congress about the impacts of sequester cuts on research for universities.

The Science Coalition also released a report in October that gave examples of companies which were started at universities with federal research money. UCLA was one of the universities included in the report.

Members of The Science Coalition hoped to demonstrate the impact of federally funded research and show how it can lead to the formation of companies that can help the economy, Leshan said.

Leshan added that The Science Coalition hopes to show Congress that there is a need for continued
investment in research grants and money for universities.