Newsom vetoes CSU staff salary hike bill

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have required the California State University system to give staff increases over the next 10 years that would have cost $878 million.

Senate Bill 410 passed the Legislature in August and would have forced the CSU to create a nine-step merit salary system for all non-faculty employees. It included annual salary increases of 5% for the first five years, three separate 5% increases every two years, and a final increase three years later for a total of 15 years.

CSU Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester had warned that the 23-campus system could not afford the full cost of increasing salaries at those rates, which were determined by a staff salary study released earlier this year. That study confirmed that CSU staff employees were underfunded.