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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Some things are obvious

Self evident
Op ed from the Daily Bruin: ...The state has consistently shirked its responsibility to fund the University of California Retirement Program in the same way it funds other state-level pension programs, including CalPERS, the California State University pension program. (The official) contention has been that the UC’s pension program is autonomous and the state has no control over the level of benefits it doles out. But the logic here is flawed; the state helped fund UCRP before 1990. The UC and its pension plan were no less autonomous during the decades that the state made consistent contributions to UCRP, so using that fact as an excuse to keep funding at zero is nonsensical. The state’s reason for cutting funding in the first place had nothing to do with autonomy, but with the fact that UCRP was overfunded at that time and the state was going through a fiscal downturn. Ultimately, the legislature should keep in mind one basic fact: public institutions and public debts are the responsibility of the state. The University of California is a public institution. It owes a large public debt partially because the state stopped funding that debt for two decades. The UC has taken responsibility for its part in bringing that debt under control. But now, the state owes it to the University and the public at large to make its own contribution.

Full op ed at http://dailybruin.com/2015/01/16/natalie-delgadillo-state-needs-to-accept-responsibility-contribute-to-ucrp/

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