CSUEU ANNOUNCES OPPOSITION TO PROP. 1A
Sacramento, Calif. (May 14, 2009)—The California State University Employees Union, representing some 16,000 staff employees in the CSU system, today announced its opposition to Proposition 1A, a controversial measure on the May 19 state ballot that seeks to establish a state budget spending cap, among other provisions.
“This bill will result in massive cuts to vital public services, permanently locking in all of the deep budget cuts made in recent years to the CSU system,” says CSUEU President Pat Gantt. “Because it uses recent CSU fiscal years as its baseline, Prop. 1A would institutionalize and make permanent more than 10 years of cuts to the CSU, with no prospect of ever substantially increasing state funding to the university.”
“This complicated measure creates a budget spending cap through manipulation of the General Fund, the same source from which the CSU receives its funds,” adds Andrew Coile, vice-chair of the CSUEU Legislative Committee, which led the union’s stand against 1A. “In the depths of a statewide recession, it shifts millions of dollars over to a so-called rainy day fund at the expense of higher education and social services.”
Prop. 1A creates a rainy day fund, called the Budget Stabilization Fund (BSF). The measure requires that three percent of annual General Fund revenue be diverted from the budget and deposited into the BSF until the BSF balance equals 12.5 percent of General Fund revenues, even in a year like this, when state revenues are falling.
A local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), CSUEU joins a myriad of organizations taking a stand against 1A, including the SEIU California State Council, California Faculty Association, California Federation of Teachers, California Nurses Association, California School Boards Association, and League of Women Voters of California.
For further details on Prop. 1A, read the proposition at the Secretary of State’s web site, www.sos.ca.gov, or visit www.VoteNoon1A.com.