USAC begins lobbying to prevent fees from rising

By Sara Chon
Daily Bruin Contributor

The University of California Students Association has began
lobbying efforts in Sacramento on the budget for the 2002-03 fiscal
year, focusing on keeping student fees down.

UCSA represents the students of UC campuses and advocates for
funds to continue programs in various UC institutions. Its efforts
are all the more difficult in light of the economic downfall and
multibillion dollar state budget shortfall.

And the UC’s interest in securing state funds is even
greater with the expected increase of more than 60,000 students in
the next 10 years.

The top two priorities for the UC representatives in lobbying
for this year are the prevention of an increase in student fees and
ensuring the state will fund various programs for the UC
institutions.

The legislature will work with the budget proposal for the
2002-03 year made by Gov. Davis in January, recommend changes, and
go over the proposal until May when the governor will make his May
Revisions.

The final budget must be passed by the legislature by June 15
and will take effect July 1.

Alex Arteagea, the director of Legislative Affairs of UCSA, said
his organization is in good position to push for UC students’
interests.

“UCSA is more organized this year than last and it is the
first time UCSA has been fully staffed in a long time,” said
Arteagea.

While UCSA is still working out which state-funded UC programs
they will need to lobby for the most, one thing is sure: UCSA will
advocate against the increase in student fees ““ and on that
goal they have received support from legislative democrats and
republicans alike.

In order to maintain student fees at the current level, the
Senate has proposed the Senate Concurrent Resolution 49, sponsored
by Sen. Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz, which resolves that raising
student fees shall not be an option for dealing with the state
budget shortfall.

“We won’t balance the deficit on the backs of the
California students,” said James Jack, the Legislative
director for McPherson.

But others are suggesting student fees go up. The Legislative
Analysis Office, a bipartisan body which makes recommendations to
the legislature on budget and policy issues, said raising student
fees is one way to help with the budget shortfall, which they say
is even worse than was expected when Davis made his proposal in
January.

But the chair and co-chair of the state assembly’s higher
education committee have joined state senators in advocating for
keeping fees at their current level.

“California has very affordable college tuitions and we
should do everything to protect it and keep it that way,”
said assemblyman Russ Bogh, R-Cherry Valley, the vice chair of the
Committee on Higher Education.

“Keeping the fees low, at the same level is a priority for
the Legislature,” said Paul Mitchell, the chief consultant to
assemblywoman Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, the chair of the
Committee on Higher Education,

“Maintaining low fees for the past several years was a
result of hard work in the legislature, and they will continue to
work hard to try to keep it that way,” he added.

Though the lobbying started rather late this year due to the
March 5 primary elections, Arteagea said the students are still
very proactive and that a number of students are regularly lobbying
in Sacramento.

In addition to the upcoming primaries, the budget for the
2002-03 year was set aside because the legislature was working with
the mid-year budget cuts for the 2001-02 year.

The UC faced a $35.8 million cut in the mid-year budget, with an
additional $5 million cut in one-time programs for clinical
hospitals.

Though the UC did face cuts in the budget, there will be no
major impacts on any one program or institution because the cuts
came from programs that required one-time expenditures or are
self-sufficient, Arteagea said.

Looking ahead to next year’s budget, the annual UC Day
““ when students, faculty, staff and alumni have an
opportunity to openly lobby for UC interests in front of the State
Legislature ““ will be held May 6.

The UC Day was held in March last year, but this year it will be
held in May after the governor releases the May Revisions, which
will allow the lobbyists to have a more accurate idea of the
budget.

In addition, for the upcoming November elections, Gov. Davis
presented the Economic Stimulus Package for the 2002-03 year that
will put aside a total of $678.2 million from the Lease Revenue
Bonds to fund new buildings on UC campuses. The proposal requires
the support of the voters in the November elections.

The package includes, among other expenditures:

“¢bull; $66.1 million for the medical building on the UC Davis
campus.

“¢bull; $16.5 million to continue the constructions of UC
Merced.

“¢bull; $35.7 million for the construction of the engineering
building on the Riverside campus.