State budget stuck in holding

The state of California has been in a desperate state of economic decline for a few years now and that has had a very negative impact on the CSU school system. Tuition fees continue to rise, classes have been cut, and the ability to graduate on time has become more and more difficult.

In June, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a five percent increase in fees, adding $204 to the total amount, after having already hiked up the fees last semester by 30 percent.

As of now, the budget for this academic year is still unknown. California has yet to adopt a budget despite the fact that we are finishing the second month of the new fiscal year.

The reason for this delay in the decision making process is caused by differing viewpoints between Republican and Democratic legislators.  

"There are several competing proposals to close California's $19.1 billion budget gap and adopt a budget," said President Armiñana in his speech at the annual Fall Convocation.

"They all include significant reductions to government spending, including a billion dollar reduction to the projected growth in expenditures for K-14, and in health and welfare programs, while at the same time hoping to obtain substantial additional federal funds."

Republican legislators along with governor Schwarzenegger believe that we should not raise taxes nor should we be spending more than what we have.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Democratic legislators are in favor of tax increases in order to support social programs.

"To date the needed compromise has not been found, but every day without a balanced budget, another $52.5 million is added to the deficit," said Armiñana.

Armiñana also stated that in previous years he has not seen a budget standoff go past mid-September.

However, some are concerned that a decision might not be made until a new governor is sworn in during January of 2011. The extra time taken to do so could add a great deal of money to the deficit.

"An encouraging development for higher education is that the Legislative Budget Conference Committee has agreed with the governor's proposed budget for higher education," said Armiñana. "This proposal calls for a restoration to the CSU of $305 million plus $60.6 million for enrollment growth, and assumes fee revenues equal to a 10 percent increase for the entire academic year."