With the persistent threats of budget cuts and reductions looming overhead, supporters of higher education are constantly on the search for new sources of funding.
One possible source came in the form of an assembly bill. Although AB 656, created by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark), failed to receive the two-thirds vote necessary to be passed by the State Assembly on Jan. 21, it passed the Assembly Floor on Jan. 27.
If passed, AB 656 would place a 12.5 percent severance tax on major oil companies. According to a fact sheet on AB 656, the revenue would be used to create the California Higher Education Endowment Corporation.
“Education has to be a priority,” Torrico said. “We spend more money on prisons than colleges, which is unacceptable. We should be opening doors, not closing them.”
Originally, the tax was set at 9.9 percent, and 60 percent of the revenue would be distributed to CSUs, while 30 percent would go to the UCs and 10 percent to community colleges.
On Jan. 25, the tax was amended to 12.5 percent, dividing the revenue so that the CSUs would receive 50 percent, and 25 percent each would be allocated to UCs and community colleges. Still, many community college supporters were disappointed.
“We’re pleased that the bill was introduced, but we wanted a higher percent (of the revenue),” Faculty Association of California Community Colleges Director Jonathan Lightman said. “We feel that (community college) students need at least 40 percent, because we have (a larger number of) students.”
Currently, California is the only oil-producing state in the nation that lacks a natural gas severance tax.
Contra Costa College economics professor Wendy Williams said she supports the idea of a severance tax. She compared AB 656 to a proposition on the 2006 ballot, which would have also placed a tax on oil companies.
The revenue would have been used to fund alternative energy rather than higher education. Proposition 87 failed to pass, due to scare tactics from oil companies, Williams said.
Supporters of AB 656, however, are continuing their search for alternative solutions.
California Faculty Association communications specialist Brian Ferguson said, “We are continuing to work with education supporters throughout California to find ways to better fund higher education.”
Ferguson said that participation from those who would be directly affected, including students, faculty and staff, is also important. It is crucial that all three segments (community colleges, CSUs and UCs) work together, he said.
District Student Trustee Christina Cannon is currently in the process of arranging for Torrico to speak to students at CCC on the importance of the bill.
She also plans to have other representatives speak at Diablo Valley College and Los Medanos College, she said.
“AB 656 is one of the few solutions I’ve heard of that will help us get out of the budget crisis,” Cannon said.
In the meantime, adequate funding for higher education remains a problem.
“We’re cutting even further from health care and social services,” Lightman said. “It’s beyond the point of reducing, at a point where we’re amputating.”
Contact Lauren Shiraishi at lshiraishi.advocate@gmail.com
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