[ Golden Gater Online - August 28, 1997 ]
Worried students from public universities converged on the State Capitol earlier this month and convinced lawmakers to forgo raising student fees in response to an 11th-hour state budget crisis.
"We were ecstatic, '' said California State Student Association's legislative aide Johnnie Carlson, who helped rally about 40 students over nine-consecutive days until August 8, when it was clear they were victorious. "For the first time we've been listened to.''
Students feared lawmakers would cut $67 million from the state budget money which keeps fees from increasing -- to close a deficit created when the state lost a lawsuit and was ordered to pay $1.36 billion to the Public Employees' Retirement Fund (PERS) last month.
No students from SF State participated in the lobbying effort.
Governor Pete Wilson's proposal would have raised student fees by 10 percent for the California State University and University of California systems, equaling $158 and $350 respectively. Fees more than doubled during a state recession between 1990 and 1994 but have remained steady since.
The proposal was just one on a long list of budget items considered for cuts.
The Senate-Assembly budget committee preserved the $67 million to avoid the 10 percent hike, but reduced funding for a few higher education programs and cut in half a proposed hike for financial aid grants.
Other cuts included $200 million for criminal justice programs, more than $300 million in aid to aid local governments, some state employee raises, and $25 million for a job-creation program for welfare recipients.
Both parties' legislative leaders said increasing fees was an unlikely option for lawmakers, including the governor, but they differed on why they thought so.
"(Democrats) made it impossible to raise fees," said Karin Caves, 42, press secretary for Senate Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward. "It's such a strong line (Lockyer has drawn) that it has been difficult to raise student fees. It's a big fight every year."
The governorís press secretary, Lisa Kalustian has a different perspective.
"Just about everything was on the table, but I think it was a less desirable cut to have made," said Kalustian, who said that any fee increases, or decreases, are based on many budget considerations.
Future increases each year are just as unlikely as long as enough money is in the budget and the state economy remains strong, said Shawn Kent, a 28-year-old legislative aide for Assembly Republican leader Curt Pringle of Garden Grove. But he stopped short of promises.
"It's really a year by year thing," he said.
Particularly since 1995, when legislative leaders and Wilson entered a pact that keeps universities funded for 4 years at existing levels, including a four percent cost-of-living adjustment for annual inflation.
But the pact also includes a 10 percent increase in fees each year. The legislature has paid for -- or bought out -- the increase for the past two years, and promised to do so this year.
Wilson made the same promise last January until the PERS verdict came down. Wilson said the $1.36 billion would be paid in one lump sum and hinted fees might increase because of it.
Associated Students president, Paul Chang, regretted that no students from SF State participated in the lobbying effort.
"A lot of our (student leaders) were out of the country or out of town," Chang said.
But he downplayed the rally's significance in the budget committee's final decision.
"It's a test balloon to see if there would be any opposition. They don't try it, they're not politicians," he said. "I wasn't stressed about it."
Even so, Carlson thinks more students should be stressed.
"I do think the protesting made a difference," he said. "There were very few (groups) who protested, but those who did got something.
[ Golden Gater - August 28, 1997 ]