[ Golden Gater Online - October 14, 1997 ]
By Jason Hoppin
Staff writer
With the stroke of his pen and the power of a veto, Gov. Pete Wilson last week had good news for students and bad news for university administrators.
Wilson signed into law Assembly Bill 1318, which reduces California State University student fees 5 percent and creates tax-friendly savings accounts for parents who want to put away college money for their children.
But another bill, which would have set aside a percentage of every state budget for California's public university system, got a thumbs down from the governor.
SF State students will see their annual fees drop $79, from $1,584 to $1,505. Fees will be frozen at that level for the next two years. University of California fees will also drop 5 percent, and community college fees will drop from $13 to $12 per unit.
Olivia Morgan, spokeswoman for Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, who co-sponsored AB 1318, said the passage of the bill shows that state legislators "have their priorities in order."
"(Davis) is thrilled that we are finally making amends for the enormous fee increases of the early 90's," Morgan said, adding that this was only the second time in history that CSU fees have been reduced.
Celinda Vazquez, chair of the California State Students Association, said she was glad to see Wilson approve the fee reduction.
Vazquez said that after fees skyrocketed during California's recession in the early 1990's, it was good to see students catch a break. But she also warned that once the fee freeze is lifted, fees could jump again.
"That's a big concern," she said, explaining that language was taken out of the bill that would have tied any future fee increases to California's personal income levels.
"The year 2001 rolls around, and they could raise fees 20 percent. There's no safeguard," she said.
As Wilson signed AB 1318 into law Friday, he also rejected AB 1415, which would have frozen funding for higher education at the levels allocated in California's 1997-98 budget.
CSU Chancellor Barry Munitz was critical of the governor's veto.
"Although I appreciate the governor's commitment to CSU and UC, I was disappointed at the combined actions -- signing AB 1318 while vetoing AB 1415. Reducing and freezing fees while leaving general revenue unprotected is a dangerous combination, even though I understand the great pressure around the basic issues," Munitz said.
Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante, who sponsored AB 1415, had stronger words for the governor, threatening to put the issue on the ballot.
"If the governor won't support measures to stop the free fall of higher education, then perhaps we need to take our case directly to people -- let the voters decide," Bustamante said in statement.
Bustamante's spokesman, Ron Gray, said the speaker would like to see something similar to California's Proposition 98 for higher education, which earmarks a percentage of California's general fund for K-12 education.
"AB 1415 was designed by the speaker to create a stable source of income for California universities," Gray said.
Gray also said establishing reliable income levels was crucial, especially with the impending onrush of hundreds of thousands of new students into California universities -- known to administrators as Tidal Wave II. He questioned whether California would give its universities the resources needed to enroll those students.
"Higher education is clearly getting the short end of the stick," Gray said.
"There's no incompatibility" between the two bills, Gray stressed. "There's no reason the governor shouldn't have signed both bills."
Morgan said now that fees have been frozen, state legislators have two years to come up with long-term solutions for the funding problems that have plagued public universities over the years.
"We've bought ourselves some time," she said, and warned that "We can't afford to balance the budget on the backs of students."
The governor's office was unavailable for comment.
[ Golden Gater - October 14, 1997 ]