Assemblyman proposes bill to limit UC employee salaries to $500,000

By Rupan Bharanidaran

A state legislator introduced a state Assembly bill last week that would cap annual compensation for all University of California employees at $500,000 a year.

Assembly Bill 837 was introduced by Assemblyman Roger Hernández, who said he thinks capping employee compensation will free up more University resources for students, according to a press statement Wednesday. The bill, if passed, would save the UC $80 million annually, according to the statement.

The University has not had a chance yet to assess the bill and currently has no official position on it, said Shelly Meron, a UC spokeswoman, in an email.

About 400 employees at the UC earn more than $500,000 a year, according to the University’s 2013 database on its employee salaries.

About 3 percent of the UC’s approximately 195,000 employees earn more than $200,000 a year, and of those people, many of them are faculty who work in the health sciences and the UC’s teaching hospitals, Meron said. Salaries of the faculty and athletic coaches who make more than $200,000 are largely paid from non-state or tuition funds, she said.

Todd Stenhouse, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 union, which represents UC service workers and supports the bill, said he thinks the bill would put the UC on a sustainable financial path.

“A central tenet of the UC is public service, and I don’t think anyone would associate salaries in excess of half a million dollars with public service,” he said.

AB 837 is the most recent in a series of bills introduced in the state Legislature related to the disagreements between the UC and the state over its spending and potential tuition hikes.

[Source]: Daily Bruin