San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney was happy to announce California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s generous budget proposal for the 2026-27 school year during this morning’s University Budget Committee meeting.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal includes the best budget the California State University system has received in years, although there is still a budget deficit at the state level. 

Newsom’s proposal includes fully funding the CSU for the 2026-27 school year, restoring the 2025-2026 budget reduction, and providing a portion of the funding that had been deferred.

SFSU’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Administration and Finance Jeff Wilson went into depth on Newsom’s proposal compared to the CSU Board of Trustees’ proposal.

Although the state budget will fully fund year five, it will only provide $100.9 million of the $252.3 million that the board of trustees originally asked for for year four. 

“The logic of funding year five [2026-2027], but not funding year four [2025-2026]?” Wilson said. “It is odd that they would not fully fund year four, but go ahead and fund year five. That is an interesting way of doing this.”

Wilson went on to say that this is the first year in his career that the governor’s proposal exceeded the board of trustee’s proposal. 

“The part that the governor’s proposal includes, that the board of trustee’s proposal did not include, is $264.8 million to fully fund year five,” Wilson said. “So that’s why this is a very positive result.”

An exact number comparison puts Newsom’s budget proposal at $710.5 million, $113.4 million more than the board of trustee’s proposed $597.1 million. 

Despite the larger proposed budget, Mahoney stressed that local problems have not changed. 

“We still have to wrestle with our enrollment decline,” Mahoney said. “We will have to reduce our own budget to reflect the $10 million that we will lose in state allocation that the chancellor’s office is going to reallocate to campuses that have dual enrollment demand and are over-enrolled and underfunded.”

SFSU is facing a $20 million deficit with the CSU reallocation plan, the cost of inflation, and the 2025-2026 fiscal year deficit all accounted for. This total does not include compensation adjustments that Mahoney has highlighted as the first and foremost use of new funding. 

“I will share an optimistic view,” Wilson said. “Because of the state budget, compensation adjustments for 2026-2027 will be covered. It won’t be a positive benefit, but it won’t add to the deficit. Optimistic.”

Employees have been facing intense lecturer layoffs and threats to increase teaching loads. Regarding this, Mahoney spoke on the future of employees at SFSU. 

“Our employees are the most important employees in the state,” Mahoney said. “It is time for them to have a compensation increase.”

The state budget may support Mahoney’s main priority of a compensation increase for employees, but the continuing concern over federal funding and enrollment remains. 

“There are legislators who have said that if the CSU doesn’t grow its enrollment, they will give funding to the UCs to do so,” Mahoney said. “There is still pressure on enrollment growth so our local woes haven’t changed, and I know I always ask you to do contradictory things. I want you to celebrate the good news from the state. I think in many ways this is Gavin Newsom’s response to the federal government’s assault on public education.” 

Attendees at the meeting brainstormed ideas to support the deficits, such as implementing a pouring rights contract in exchange for funding and scholarships, or renting excess space out on campus. 

Staff Council Vice-Chair Chanda Jensen encouraged the use of pouring rights to support SFSU’s budget.

“Most campuses have pouring rights,” said Jensen. “It’s odd that we don’t anymore.”

During the public forum, professor and Chair of the Academic Senate Jackson Wilson also suggested the use of pouring rights. 

Jackson Wilson asked if there was “revenue potential for pouring rights to offset a portion of the $20 million deficit.”

Jeff Wilson and Mahoney did not closely engage with the subject of pouring rights. It was lightly mentioned during the meeting that students would not accept a pouring rights contract being implemented again. 

In 2022, Associated Students passed a Pouring Rights Resolution, citing environmental sustainability and diabetes as reasons to avoid utilizing pouring rights as a method of revenue.

Jeff Wilson did entertain the possibility of renting out excess spaces on campus in order to support the budget instead, with Administrative Analyst Katie Murphy mentioning the opportunity for a food vendor to stay open late nights on campus when buildings are not in use. 

The university is still early in the process of the budget findings for the year, and the final budget from the state can be expected in June.

Throughout budget increases and deficits, Mahoney said that folks must work together to find solutions.

”The chancellor’s office, the university, student unions and CSSA [Cal State Student Association] need to stay together,” Mahoney said.