Governor’s Budget Proposal Includes 5% Increase in State Funding
In his January proposal for the 2026-2027 state budget, Governor Newsom proposed hundreds of millions in additional ongoing funds for the CSU. Specifically, his budget would fund a $264.8 million increase in ongoing General Fund for a 5% base budget increase in line with his five-year compact with the CSU. In addition, CSU would receive an increase of $100.9 million to partially fund a deferred increase from 2024-25.
This total of $365.7 million in additional, ongoing funding makes it clearer than ever that CSU can more than afford our contractual Unit 6 July 2025 raises. For reference, by CSU’s own estimate of the annual cost, our July raises would be just 1% of this overall increase. Our Union again demands that CSU abide by our legal contract and the law and pay the raises we are owed. The Governor’s proposal makes clear that the CSU has no excuse to continue denying our raises.
The Governor’s budget proposal would also extend the deferral of $144 million in base funding another year but provides another loan to pay down the CSU’s existing zero-interest loan. Our union joined our sibling CSU unions in a letter calling on the Governor and legislature to backfill the original loan. The Governor’s proposal is the first step in the state budget process so our union will continue to advocate for improved state funding.
“With the significant increased funding contained in the governor’s proposed budget, CSU is out of excuses. Teamsters Local 2010 demands that CSU stop ripping off its workforce and immediately pay our contractual raises, which the university can well afford to do.”
Jason Rabinowitz
Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Local 2010
The letter, in part, states:
“Investing in the CSU is an investment in our economy. Just as important, the CSU system is the largest four-year public university system in the United States, serving over 450,000 students across its 23 campuses and it is a primary pathway for economically disadvantaged students to graduate into well-paying jobs. For these reasons, we urge you to also consider backfilling the 3% state loan provided to the CSU from the 2025-2026 budget.”
Between these proposed increases, annual 6% tuition increases, and billions of dollars in reserves, their excuses are meritless and CSU must pay our raises now! We won’t take no for an answer.
