Revised budget adds fee hikes

A slightly revised state budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year was
approved Thursday by the California state assembly, despite
unpopular additions including a proposed increase in student fees
at University of California campuses.

Although the budget passed with a strong bipartisan majority in
both the Senate (33-4) and the Assembly (65-13), representatives
from both houses offered only grudging support.

“I voted for the budget, but none of us were happy with
it. Especially the Democrats,” said Assemblywoman Karen Bass
(D-Los Angeles), whose district includes the UCLA campus.

While the budget features no new taxes and limits the amount of
money the state can borrow, the main objections to the budget
seemed to come from the proposed increase of university fees, which
could go up as much as 10 percent.

The budget imposes a fee increase of $457 for UC students and
$186 for California State University students. The suggested
increase in UC fees will likely be discussed at a UC Board of
Regents meeting in San Francisco next week.

Bass said she disapproved of the fee increases written into the
budget and the additional burden they place on students.

“College is already extremely expensive, and the idea that
they have to incur more debt is terrible,” she said.

“We’ve reduced taxes and the wealthy have to pay
their fair share. Instead, we’re taxing the young people and
the poor.”

Lauren Seaton, a fourth-year business economics student, agreed,
saying the increased tuition would make it even harder for students
to get a university education.

“It’s already hard enough to afford a college
education. If they keep raising the tuition, it will become
impossible for so many people. … It’s just unfair,”
she said.

In response to the budget, representatives are attempting to
find different ways to increase revenue coming into the state. One
such plan includes a re-institution of an increased tax on
residents with higher incomes.

In addition to the tuition changes, the new budget includes a
repayment of $1.2 billion to cities and counties and plans for $1.3
billion to be spent on the improvement of highways and roads.

The money is expected to come from an improvement in the
state’s economy, which will generate an estimated $4 billion
more this year, and a decrease in labor costs of $40 million from a
proposed cut of two state holidays.

The budget also shows a reduction of the $15 billion state
deficit to $4.7 billion by the time next year’s budget comes
to the assembly.

The revisions to the budget from the original version, proposed
in May, are not drastic, but include a $1.8 billion increase that
is expected to come from higher tax revenues and reducing a reserve
fund sought by the governor.

The predictable changes to the budget allowed for it to be more
quickly approved by the assembly, making this the fastest-approved
California budget in five years. While members of both parties
claimed to have objections, the only rejections came from
Republican representatives, and the governor is expected to sign
the budget this week.

The budget increased allocation to education funds by about $3
billion, raising it to a total of $61 billion, a record high for
the state of California. This allows for about $10,000 per student
for both K-12 and higher education students.

However, education groups and a few Democrats still say their
budget was promised to be $3 billion higher.

The changes in the budget, as well as the lack of tax increases,
did not come as a surprise to some.

“We knew that tuition prices were going to go up.
It’s unfortunate, but not unexpected,” said Matthew
Baum, a UCLA political science professor.

With reports from Bruin wire services.