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By Sara Chon

Daily Bruin Contributor

The University of California Students Association has began lobbying efforts in Sacramento on the budget for the 2002-03 fiscal year, focusing on keeping student fees down.

UCSA represents the students of UC campuses and advocates for funds to continue programs in various UC institutions. Its efforts are all the more difficult in light of the economic downfall and multibillion dollar state budget shortfall.

And the UC’s interest in securing state funds is even greater with the expected increase of more than 60,000 students in the next 10 years.

The top two priorities for the UC representatives in lobbying for this year are the prevention of an increase in student fees and ensuring the state will fund various programs for the UC institutions.

The legislature will work with the budget proposal for the 2002-03 year made by Gov. Davis in January, recommend changes, and go over the proposal until May when the governor will make his May Revisions.

The final budget must be passed by the legislature by June 15 and will take effect July 1.

Alex Arteagea, the director of Legislative Affairs of UCSA, said his organization is in good position to push for UC students’ interests.

“UCSA is more organized this year than last and it is the first time UCSA has been fully staffed in a long time,” said Arteagea.

While UCSA is still working out which state-funded UC programs they will need to lobby for the most, one thing is sure: UCSA will advocate against the increase in student fees – and on that goal they have received support from legislative democrats and republicans alike.

In order to maintain student fees at the current level, the Senate has proposed the Senate Concurrent Resolution 49, sponsored by Sen. Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz, which resolves that raising student fees shall not be an option for dealing with the state budget shortfall.

“We won’t balance the deficit on the backs of the California students,” said James Jack, the Legislative director for McPherson.

But others are suggesting student fees go up. The Legislative Analysis Office, a bipartisan body which makes recommendations to the legislature on budget and policy issues, said raising student fees is one way to help with the budget shortfall, which they say is even worse than was expected when Davis made his proposal in January.

But the chair and co-chair of the state assembly’s higher education committee have joined state senators in advocating for keeping fees at their current level.

“California has very affordable college tuitions and we should do everything to protect it and keep it that way,” said assemblyman Russ Bogh, R-Cherry Valley, the vice chair of the Committee on Higher Education.

“Keeping the fees low, at the same level is a priority for the Legislature,” said Paul Mitchell, the chief consultant to assemblywoman Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, the chair of the Committee on Higher Education,

“Maintaining low fees for the past several years was a result of hard work in the legislature, and they will continue to work hard to try to keep it that way,” he added.

Though the lobbying started rather late this year due to the March 5 primary elections, Arteagea said the students are still very proactive and that a number of students are regularly lobbying in Sacramento.

In addition to the upcoming primaries, the budget for the 2002-03 year was set aside because the legislature was working with the mid-year budget cuts for the 2001-02 year.

The UC faced a $35.8 million cut in the mid-year budget, with an additional $5 million cut in one-time programs for clinical hospitals.

Though the UC did face cuts in the budget, there will be no major impacts on any one program or institution because the cuts came from programs that required one-time expenditures or are self-sufficient, Arteagea said.

Looking ahead to next year’s budget, the annual UC Day – when students, faculty, staff and alumni have an opportunity to openly lobby for UC interests in front of the State Legislature – will be held May 6.

The UC Day was held in March last year, but this year it will be held in May after the governor releases the May Revisions, which will allow the lobbyists to have a more accurate idea of the budget.

In addition, for the upcoming November elections, Gov. Davis presented the Economic Stimulus Package for the 2002-03 year that will put aside a total of $678.2 million from the Lease Revenue Bonds to fund new buildings on UC campuses. The proposal requires the support of the voters in the November elections.

The package includes, among other expenditures:

• $66.1 million for the medical building on the UC Davis campus.

• $16.5 million to continue the constructions of UC Merced.

• $35.7 million for the construction of the engineering building on the Riverside campus.