CSU trustees to discuss '04-05 budget

By Rory Sa

The California State University Board of Trustees will meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Long Beach to review the CSU system’s proposed budget for 2004-05.

The proposed budget will be presented to the governor’s office and the legislature before January.

Topics to be covered this week include the CMS/PeopleSoft audit and a long-term student fee policy.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 31, but was delayed. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said the delay was related to the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Gov-elect on Oct. 7.

Gov-elect Schwarzenegger will be sworn into office today in Sacramento.

Schwarzenegger plans to summon a special session of the state legislature to begin dealing with the budget.

“ Given the uncertainty of any CSU mid-year budget issues as a result of the special session, we have decided to postpone the adoption and submittal of the trustee’s budget,” Reed said.

Last year the CSU received $2.49 billion, despite a $304 million reduction due to California’s budget crisis. This year the trustees are expected to propose an increase of almost $550 million to the budget.

The CSU system consists of 23 campuses with about 414,000 students and nearly 50,000 faculty and staff.