The November 14 meeting of the Regents opened with public
comments. These included concerns over
staffing and safety at UC hospitals, a Berkeley city councilman who called for
pension caps on high-paid UC executives, students advocating fossil fuel divestment,
concerns about student costs and debt, and spending on “amenities” for students
at UC.
The Committee on Finance approved budgets for operations and
capital after extensive discussion and back-and-forth with Governor Brown who
said that UC was asking for $120 million more than it was going to get. There was a bit more push back from Regents
and administrators with regard to Brown’s remarks than had characterized prior
meetings. In particular, the fact that
the state paid for CSU and community college retirement (to CalPERS) but
resisted payments to the UC pension was referenced. There was concern about rising debts of UC as
a result of state budgetary pressures.
The Committee also endorsed changes in the UC mortgage program to comply
with new federal rules.
UC’s pension was reported to have a market funding ratio of
79%. The issue of the sequester-related
nonpayment by the federal government (Dept. of Energy) of $80 million for UC
retirement expenses related to the labs was raised (as it had been at earlier
meetings last week). There was
discussion of what was said to be a $700 million liability reduction over 30
years for the 4,000 out-of-state retirees who are being moved off UC health
plans, given a flat dollar contribution, and referred to an external contractor
for counseling about what they could buy from local exchanges. [Yesterday, we posted the audio just for that
segment.]
The Committee on Compensation approved pay levels for some
administrators prompting an observation by Gov. Brown that the rest of the
state paid less for similar employees.
President Napolitano reported on faculty honors.
You can hear the
entire session at the link below:
You can hear just the
governor’s remarks at:
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