State Budget Includes Allocation for Medical School at UC-Riverside
California's newly passed budget package includes a $10 million allocation for UC-Riverside's medical school, which is scheduled to accept its first students in 2012, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
Although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) did not specifically target UC-Riverside's medical school in his spending proposals, the $10 million is included in the budget package's $199 million funding increase for the University of California system.
Allocation Survives Budget Cuts
In December, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office questioned the need for a new UC medical school that would require considerable state spending.
Although Democratic-led budget committees included $15 million for UC-Riverside's medical school in draft allocations for the University of California system, the proposals relied on billions of dollars in revenue from taxes and borrowing.
The final version of the budget package eliminated many of the revenue-raising provisions and included $7.4 billion in spending cuts. However, both the final budget package and Schwarzenegger's line-item vetoes preserved the provision that includes funds for UC-Riverside's medical school (Miller, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 10/8).
Funding Helps Medical School Move Forward
Richard Olds, founding dean for UC-Riverside's medical school, said the state funding will help the medical program open by its target date and attract more funding.
Over the next four years, the medical school will need to secure an additional $30 million to fully launch operations, according to "KPCC News" (Cuevas, "KPCC News," KPCC, 10/12).
Supporters of UC-Riverside's project say the medical school will help ease a shortage of physicians in the Riverside and San Bernardino county region (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 10/8).
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