Today, the Governor released his May Revision of the California state budget. This is the next step in the state budget process that started in January when the Governor first released his proposed 2025-26 budget. There were signs in January that the state budget was stabilizing after deficits last year, but federal instability driven by the Trump administration has already created new challenges for the state. 

In a welcome change, Newsom reduced his planned cut the California State University (CSU) system’s state funding from 7.95% to 2.82%. This cut, originally totaling $375.2 million, would have significantly undermined the quality of education, economic vitality, and well-being of California for generations to come. Newsom’s proposal is now for a 2.82% cut, amounting to $143.8 million. 

This is a direct result of CFA members who hand-delivered thousands of petitions, postcards, letters of advocacy from our community coalition, and a copy of our equity paper, “Shortchanging Students: How the CSU is Failing Our Future,” to the governor and legislators. 

This is not the end of the fight to fully fund the CSU. The state budget proposal now passes to the legislature to determine the final budget, which is then sent to Newsom’s desk. The legislature has until June 15 to pass the budget. Which means the next two weeks are going to be critical to make sure that our funding is prioritized and included in the final budget negotiations. 

Invest in our future, invest in the CSU.