Governor's Funding Proposal for 2016-17

On Thursday, January 7, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. released his budget proposal for the State of California for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Governor proposes an ongoing increase of $1.015 million General Fund for UC Law SF College of the Law. If passed, this represents a total of $11.659 million, a 9.5% increase over 2015-16. This augmentation is based on the Governor’s multi-year funding plan for higher education. We anticipated this increase, and had factored it into our budget planning from the start. Thus, although we are immensely gratified in receiving this generous support from the State, it does not fundamentally change our existing budget plans.

In addition, the budget includes a one-time allocation of $2 million that the Governor has specifically earmarked for deferred maintenance activities in Kane and Snodgrass Halls, our state supported facilities. The use of these funds will be prioritized based on a variety of criteria, including life-safety, code-compliance, and cost savings that can come from work related to energy and water conservation.

This news is welcome. In particular, it helps control the cost of tuition-which is expected to remain unchanged for what will be the fifth consecutive academic year. Although we continue to grapple with the fiscal implications of the reduction in class size, it is imperative that the needs and concerns of students be our guide. The Governor’s budget plan would provide much needed resources supporting efforts to keep legal education affordable.

We thank the Governor for his support of UC Law SF!

– David Faigman