Lawmaker’s bid to stop Cal State executive raises falls short

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A day after California State University trustees approved 10% pay hikes for two executives, a state Senate committee on Wednesday balked at advancing legislation that would prevent such increases in the future.

The bill by Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) only received four of the six votes needed for approval by the Senate Education Committee, which instead approved a measure by Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) limiting Cal State administrators’ raises to 10%.

Yee’s measure would prohibit pay hikes for Cal State administrators during bad budget years and within two years of the board raising student fees, which it did last year.

‘It is another sad day for our students,’ Yee said after the committee’s 4-3 vote. ‘Unfortunately, the Education Committee has sent the completely wrong message. Rather than stand up for students and faculty, they protected the 1% and condoned CSU’s bad behavior.’

Yee was granted a chance to bring the bill back for a vote at a future date. Two senators were absent from the meeting and there is one vacancy on the committee.

The committee action came a day after the Cal State trustees approved salaries for the new presidents at the Fullerton and East Bay campuses that are 10% higher than their predecessors in the jobs, in keeping with a cap approved by the trustees in January.

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-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Northridge, including Julio Barron, protest against funding cuts in higher education last year. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times