A Crucial Win but the War Is Not Over

If you saw the statewide release about the May budget revisions, including a 3% reduction in funding to the CSU, you may be thinking to yourself, “Hey, the cut was going to be 7.97% and now it’s only 3%; we won!” Let’s be clear, our advocacy DID have an impact on the Governor’s proposed budget allocation. BUT Chancellor Garcia is still unwilling to release reserves to make up the remaining painful cuts. We aren’t out of the woods yet.

The main issue remains: we are being forced into austerity. CSU administration and the legislature know we need FULL funding to do our work and to create the strongest learning conditions for our students, so this announcement, though an improvement, doesn’t quite cut it. We need to keep fighting. We need to keep up the pressure campaign. We need to continue to make ourselves heard. Because when we fight, we win!

We’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the many folks who’ve advocated for the CSU budget. On our campus, that effort was led by the CFA Political Action & Legislation team, including Andrea Terry, Monicka Tutschka, Jaime Jackson, Nadine Braunstein, Rachel Miller, Danielle Duckett, and our amazing Field Representatives, Lenny Rizzuto and Ade Gutierrez-Diaz. These folks created a Budget Advocacy Toolkit, collected hundreds of letters and postcards from across campus, attended lobbying meetings, and delivered your voice to our legislature.

We still have three big issues that need our continued advocacy as a union. Getting a reduction in our cuts on the May Revise is just the first step: a crucial battle in a much larger war for funding and transparency in the CSU. We need to focus on:

1. The Legislature’s support for our transparency and accountability legislation package;
2. Full funding for the CSU;
3. The end of manufactured austerity from the Chancellor’s Office.

At Sacramento State, we won’t stop fighting for a restored Fall 2025 course schedule. We must push administration to use the funds from the reduced budget cut to offer the classes our students need and our Lecturer faculty rely on for a livelihood.

Email Chancellor Garcia

Email your local legislative representatives (Find your CA Representatives)

Let them know what your priorities are: Approve Greater Transparency! Fund the CSU! Release the Reserves!

To get involved with our Political Action & Legislation work, reach out to Andrea Terry: aterry@calfac.org.