February 23, 1995
After taking hits to the chin in the form of fee increases for the last five years, California students now have a state lawmaker in their corner; Senator Nicholas Petris, D-Oakland.
At a press conference next Monday, Petris will announce that he is sponsoring legislation to cut student fees at California colleges and universities by 15 percent, according to the senator's office.
Funding for the fee cut would come from an extension of the current top 10 and 11 percent state income tax brackets as proposed by Governor Wilson's office, said a press release from Petris' office.
"What this bill will do is call for fee reduction, and through other mechanisms it will set up an alternate funding source for higher education in the state of California," said Christina Harper, California State Student Association legislative director.
Petris' legislation would also "redirect" corporate tax credits and deductions to pay for higher education, according to proposals submitted by Petris' office to the legislative counsel. The legislative counsel consists of lawyers employed by the Legislature to draft the final language of bills.
The proposals, tentatively entitled the "1995 California Tax Reform and Higher Education Recovery Act," would also change the way money is allocated to colleges.
According to the proposals, the legislation would take funds raised from the extension of the top state income tax brackets and distribute it to schools on the basis of performance in meeting academic quality and effectiveness goals.
In addition, the proposals state that higher education general fund money would be distributed on the basis of performance in meeting accessibility and diversity requirements of the California Master Plan for Higher Education.
Linking the distribution of funds to performance would be a major departure from the current system, in which funds are distributed to the CSU and California Community College systems on the basis of enrollment.
All of the proposals may not be included in the final draft of the legislation. The final wording is still being determined by Petris' office, said Petris staffer Felice Tanenbaum. The legislation will be released on Friday afternoon, and Petris' press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday on the steps of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, she said.
CSU spokesman Steve MacCarthy, who had not seen the bill, said that a fee reduction would be a "very welcome" move -- if funds to offset the loss in revenue were provided by the Legislature.
"If you roll back fees 15 percent and don't provide any other money, that is effectively just one more big budget cut for us," he said.
SF State Political Science Professor R. Gene Geisler questioned the significance of the proposed fee cut.
"It sounds to me like we have another bone thrown to the dogs, one with no meat on it. If you increase fees 300 percent and reduce them 15 percent, that's not even a Band-Aid," said Geisler.
In any event, the bill will face many obstacles in the Legislature, said Karen Yelverton, director of state policy for CSU.