CSU, UC Executive Raises Bill Up for Vote

Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, September 10, 2009

State lawmakers have brought back to life a bill prohibiting executive pay raises at California State University in bad budget years.

The state Assembly approved a more limited version of the original bill on a 77-1 vote Tuesday. The earlier version died in the Assembly's Appropriations Committee after objections from CSU and University of California officials.

"It doesn't make good economic sense when money is tight for the public universities to increase compensation for executive officers, while furloughing faculty and reducing their salaries," said Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, who chairs the Assembly Education Committee. "Everyone must do their share of shouldering the burden of tight times."

If signed into law, SB86 by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, would prevent CSU from raising executive pay and increasing perks such as housing or car allowances in years when the university gets less money from the state than the year before.

The bill treats UC more delicately because of the university's unique constitutional autonomy. Lawmakers would merely "request the regents to not increase the monetary compensation" of executives when times get tough.

CSU executives covered under the new bill include the chancellor, vice chancellors, general counsel and presidents of CSU's 23 campuses. In all, about 30 people would be affected, said Clara Potes-Fellow, a university spokeswoman.

That's about 1 percent of the employees covered under the original version, SB217. It sought to extend the prohibition on pay raises to managerial employees and would have impacted 3,000 CSU employees.

University officials have argued that raises and fatter perks are approved only when executives take on new duties or are newly hired at something close to market rate. They have also pointed out that top executives have cut their own pay as part of systemwide furloughs at CSU, and as part of non-union furloughs at UC.

SB86 now goes back to the full Senate, which had passed the earlier version by a vote of 35-3 in May.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declined Wednesday to say whether he would agree to limit executive pay at CSU.