Special election Tuesday will decipher future budget cuts

California’s May 19 Special Election has raised several controversial issues between the California State University system, the California Faculty Association and Cal State Long Beach students.

While the California Legislature is encouraging voters to approve all six of the propositions on the ballot Tuesday, Proposition 1A has stirred the most debate.

The Rainy Day/Budget Stabilization Fund proposition proposes a change to the limit the state can spend each year based on revenue growth of the last 10 years. The spending cap of the Rainy Day Fund would be changed from 5 percent to 12.5 percent of the General Fund, redirecting funds from the General Fund to the Rainy Day Fund.

Judy Heiman, the principal fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office, said in regards to the spending cap, “It does seem likely that it would tend to restrain spending on some areas. It might make more funding available for infrastructure and debt service” and not so much for discretionary spending. Since the CSU falls into the discretionary spending category, its funding could be hurt.

The CFA has been battling against this proposition since it surfaced. Last Thursday in a conference call, the CFA outlined several reasons it thinks Proposition 1A is bad for the CSU.

The CFA worries that the proposition would not lead to increased state funding for higher education since money will be redirected into the Rainy Day Fund. Some of the funds will be distributed to education, but it will also go to infrastructure projects, temporary tax relief and paying off state deficits, according to the Secretary of State’s Official Voter Information Guide.

If this proposition passes, state tax revenue will increase by approximately $16 billion through no later than 2013 because it would extend the tax increases that were part of the February 2009 budget. It would also give the governor more power in cutting spending from the General Fund, according to the voter guide.

CFA President Lillian Taiz voiced concern in last Thursday’s conference call that the CSU would look to student tuition fees as their primary source of income. She said more burdens would be put “on the backs of students.”

In a May 5 statement issued by Taiz, she wrote, “It would make planning the CSU budget even more unpredictable because Proposition 1A would give the governor unfettered power to make mid-year budget cuts to the CSU, even after a budget is adopted by the legislature.”

CSULB President F. King Alexander and the CSU disagree with the CFA over potential negative impacts to higher education.

Alexander said “much less severe cuts” would occur if propositions 1A and 1B in particular are passed.

“There are no good consequences of it if they don’t pass for students, I wish there were good consequences,” Alexander said at the May 12 CSU board of trustees meeting. “We’re put in kind of a lose-lose situation here, and I think the lack of passage of these propositions is the worst-case scenario for our students and the campus.”

Heiman said a lot of the issues with the propositions are a matter of trading off between long-term and short-term goals.

For example, Proposition 1B would require the state to provide $9.3 billion in supplemental payments to K-14 education beginning in the 2011-2012 fiscal year, according to the voter guide.

If 1B passes, Heiman said it “will in the long run get a higher level of state support than it would otherwise, while universities may have to get less.”

Some CSULB students, however, agree with the CFA’s stance on Proposition 1A.

“I highly oppose it because I don’t believe we should be increasing tuition, and it is important that our education comes first and when money gets in the way, it is very hard for people to follow through with their education,” said Jazmyn Lopez, a sophomore communications major. “I am only in my second year, so I have a couple years ahead of me, and if the proposition passes, then it’s going to make it more difficult, more financial burdens on me and my family to actually finish and get my life started.”

Lopez said she is registered to vote and plans to go to the polls next Tuesday.

Junior kinesiology major Michele Dario, also plans to vote against Proposition 1A.

“I personally think the government shouldn’t be taking from the citizens to cover their asses,” Dario said. “It’s their own fault that we are all in this mess … [Legislators] should take more time to find a different way because honestly I think this is not the best solution to their problem.”

Propositions 1A and 1B are not the only propositions state legislators hope voters pass.

“If [all are] passed, there’s revenues tied to them that will help the state avoid the need for deep cuts,” Heiman said.

Tiffany Rider, Benjamin Zitney and Ross McCafferty contributed to this article.