Leland Yee to Push CSU Pay Raise Cap Again

San Francisco mayoral hopeful Leland Yee says he will introduce a state bill banning raises for top California State University officials during a bad economic year.

The state senator first introduced the bill in 2009 and it was approved by the legislature by later vetoed by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now Yee says he will reintroduce the bill in response to news last week that the the CSU Board of Trustees approved a $100,000 raise for the new president of San Diego State University at the same meeting where they agreed to raise tuition by 12 percent.

A move that even California Gov. Jerry Brown publicly blasted.

Yee's measure would prohibit raises for top CSU executives during difficult budget years for the state.

"The action taken last week by the regents and trustees is appalling and reinforces the perception that they are completely out of touch," Yee said, according to the LA Times. "UC and CSU are public institutions, not Wall Street banks. Once and for all, it is time to stop these egregious compensation practices and restore the public trust."

A second measure already introduced by other state senators would prohibit the CSU system from giving raises of more than 10 percent during a state financial crunch.

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