The LACBA Student Lounge Blog

Assembly Bill 390, Parking, and BART: Increasing Revenue, Decreasing Deficit

California legislatures are still considering the Big Five’s proposed budget cuts.  An additional potential solution to the crisis, however, is increasing city, county, and state revenues.    

In February, California Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, for example, proposed California legalize marijuana by passing Assembly Bill 390, the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act.  Amiano argues the Bill would allow the state to regulate and tax the fourteen billion dollar marijuana industry, which would increase state revenue.

Bay Area cities are, on the other hand, looking for a less controversial solution.  In June, the city of Oakland announced it will increase parking meter rates and extend the hours of enforcement.  San Francisco is, likewise, considering installing more parking meters.  Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the Bay Area’s primary public transportation provider, furthermore, recently increased its rates and implemented new parking fees. 

City officials recognize these measures alone will not solve the budget problems in either Oakland or San Francisco.  Still, officials believe increasing city revenues is better than nothing. 

While the legal and political processes behind the California state budget and Assembly Bill 390 remain incomplete, Bay Area drivers and commuters, will, therefore, do their part to help the economy, one quarter at a time.

California Budget Crisis: On a Budget

The UC system, like most statewide systems, will suffer from increasing budget cuts.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is predicting a budget cut of $765 million to the UC system, which already took a budget cut of $115 million earlier this year.  Yet, the UC system continues to build up increasing expenses.

UC Merced, the tenth and youngest UC campus, recently graduated its first four-year class.  According to the Fresno Bee, the University originally planned a modest $100,000 budget for the 500-student ceremony.  However, upon retaining Ms. Michelle Obama as its keynote speaker and without obtaining additional funding sources, the University committed to a $700,000 budget.

The UC Board of Regents additionally approved the appointments and corresponding salaries for its two newest chancellors.  According to UC Davis, the Board approved a salary of $400,000 for Linda Katehi, incoming chancellor at UC Davis, and $450,000 for Susan Desmond-Hellmann, incoming chancellor at UCSF.  Katehi’s predecessor currently earns $315,000, while Desmond-Hellmann’s predecessor currently earns $402,200.

Finally, the UC system’s fifth law school, Irvine, enters its inaugural academic year in August 2009.  The law schools at UC Davis and UC Berkeley also simultaneously continue multi-million dollar expansion projects, which the Board already delayed due to the budget cuts earlier this year.  Thus, the additional potential budget cuts will likely limit these three initiatives, further increase tuition, and continue to impact California law students.

CA State Court Sides with Governor Schwarzenegger

Earlier today, a California state court sided with Governor Schwarzenegger on a controversial order by the governor to force state employees to take two additional days off per month without pay.

From a Los Angeles Times article:

The decision by Sacramento Superior Court Patrick Marlette clears the way for 238,000 state employees to be furloughed on the first and third Fridays of each month starting Feb. 6. Marlette said in his ruling that the governor has the authority to implement such cuts during an emergency.

Upon initially receiving the order from the governor, State Controller John Chiang refused to honor the order without the action of a court. With the state in a dire economic crisis, the court ruled that the furlough was "reasonable and necessary under the circumstances." The furlough amounts to about a 9% pay cut for state employees.