It’s more bad news for University of California students, as UC officials have agreed to a 9.3 percent hike in student fees for the 2009-10 academic year. According to The Los Angeles Times, this would amount to a $662 increase per student and will bring the average basic cost for an undergraduate UC education to $8,720 a year for California residents, not including room, board and books. This increase has been enacted in order to help cope with the $450 million UC budget shortfall that is projected for the next two years.
It includes a $12.5 billion increase in taxes, a $14.8 billion cut to education, public transportation, health care and the judiciary system and $5.4 billion in new borrowing. It offers less child credit and higher tuition to the tune of 9 percent. The 2009-10 California state budget has something for everyone, though not in a way that most Californians, Republican or Democrat, will like.
While the poor state of our current economy is obvious, the extent to which it has further exacerbated California's budget crisis is becoming all the more apparent. Last month, the California Pooled Money Investment Board, a committee that manages state spending, voted to stop spending on the construction of public works. This will delay projects authorized by voters and supported by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2006.
