California politics and education update

Brown wants to fast-track budget agreement within 60 days

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown said Tuesday that he wants to complete a budget agreement within two months of unveiling his budget, an accelerated timeline that would allow a late-spring special election for potential tax increases or other revenue generation.

"I'm going to try to get the budget agreements done within about 60 days. I don't think we have a lot of time to waste," he said.

Brown made the remark during a budget forum in Los Angeles, but he demurred when asked by reporters whether his proposal would contain only spending cuts or would include new taxes.

"We'll present a budget on Jan. 10. It will be a very tough budget, but it will be transparent," he said. "We'll lay it out as best I can. We've been living in fantasy land. It is much worse than I thought. I'm shocked."

UC regents seek to cut retirees' pension eligibility and health benefits

University of California regents approved controversial rollbacks in pension and retiree health benefits Monday, including raising the earliest retirement age for future employees to 55, to help plug huge financial gaps in the university's plans.

The changes now face tough bargaining with the unions that represent about half of UC's 115,000 employees. Labor leaders said they are most upset about UC creating a two-tier workforce and contend that the changes would disproportionately affect blue-collar laborers who tend to retire earlier and with more health problems than faculty.

Under the proposals, employees hired after July 2013 would see the minimum age for early retirement rise from 50 to 55 and the age to receive maximum benefits increase from 60 to 65. In addition, all employees would pay higher premiums for post-retirement health plans.

Officials blamed much of the problem on the fact that until this year, neither the university nor its employees had contributed to the pension funds for two decades because the accounts were believed to be overfunded.

California Legislature wants a say in public university budgets

Angered by years of student fee hikes at California's public universities and colleges, lawmakers are pursuing legislation that would give them broad new powers over how the higher education systems spend taxpayer money.

The proposals include measures to limit student fees, freeze executive compensation and increase budget transparency, and even a constitutional amendment that would strip theUniversity of California of its historic autonomy.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed several such proposals, but legislative leaders, faculty and student groups and labor unions are hoping for an ally in Gov.-elect Jerry Brown, who investigated fundraising practices at the California State University in his current job as attorney general.

California Cap And Trade Rules: Sweeping Regulations Set To Be Adopted

California is on the verge of creating the first system in the nation to give polluting companies such as utilities or refineries financial incentives to emit fewer greenhouse gases.

They hope their plan will inspire other states to follow, while officials in the state – the world's eighth-largest economy – discuss plans to link the new system with similar ones under way or being planned in Canada, Europe and Asia.

California is trying to "fill the vacuum created by the failure of Congress to pass any kind of climate or energy legislation for many years now," said Mary mid, chairwoman of the state's air quality board.