Legislators discuss impact of state budget cuts to UC and CSU
By Nicholas Greitzer
Jan. 27, 2011 11:10 a.m.
A group of legislators met in Sacramento for the first time Wednesday to discuss how budget cuts proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown would affect the University of California and California State University systems.
After a series of meetings on this issue, the group will make recommendations to the state budget committee about how much should be cut. Brown has proposed $1.4 billion be taken out of higher education.
The group is one of several subcommittees that are tasked with examining the impact of Brown’s budget plan on state-funded entities.
At the meeting, representatives from the governor’s office made the case for Brown’s plan. The subcommittee then heard from representatives for the UC and CSU, who talked about the repercussions for higher education if the proposed cuts are made, said Robert Oakes, communications director for education subcommittee chair Sen. Carol Liu.
According to Oakes, California is facing an incredibly difficult time, and nobody in higher education or in the legislature wants to cut classes, reduce enrollment or raise fees. At this point, though, there may be few alternatives.
Student Regent-designate Alfredo Mireles Jr. attended the meeting with a delegate of student leaders from Stanford and UC Berkeley to speak on behalf of students throughout both systems.
Mireles Jr., a graduate student at UC San Francisco, said students should contact members of the legislature and encourage them to champion UC interests in the ongoing budget process.
“Dialogue seems to center around community colleges and the California State Universities,” he said. “It is incumbent upon students to find a leader.”
