Pat Gantt Message About Governor's State of the State

Pat Gantt, President of California State University Employees Union (CSUEU), sent this message out to CSUEU officers this morning:

Dear CSUEU Board Members:

State of the State

Last night I listened intently to the Governor’s State of the State address for hints at what may happen to the CSU in the Governor’s Budget that will be released on January 10th. What I heard was a call to cut spending and not increase taxes. Obviously, the Governor was trying to reach out to conservatives that still hold tightly to the no tax pledge. The speech had little something everybody could like and he even referenced Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.

The Governor did not overtly mention his idea for an insurance assessment to fund firefighting. Cutting firefighting in across the board cuts would not be acceptable due to the fires California experienced this last year and the call for more fire protection. So, the Governor is clearly using some cost shifting techniques to help on the revenue side. I will report more when the state budget is released and can identify direct impacts to the CSU and how the Chancellor and Trustees will react.

Please make an effort over the next 6 months to attend your campus budget committee meetings and observe how your campus deals with any budget impacts.

I have pasted below some articles that give a more complete overview of the state of the state speech:

Sacramento Bee: Analysis: Deficit shoves strategy to the right
Los Angeles Times: 'Wolf is back' at state budget door
Los Angeles Times: Gov. urges insurance assessment to fund firefighting

In Union,
Pat Gantt, President
CSUEU