Tag Archives: Richard Pan

California, education

It’s Time to Take Back UC for California

With the passage of Proposition 30 last November, millions of Californians voted to make personal financial sacrifices in support of public education.  As an elected state representative and former UC faculty member, I feel a special responsibility to ensure that these hard earned funds are being utilized to increase access to UC by Californians.

To be sure, Prop. 30 funds have helped to blunt the assault on access and quality that the financial crisis brought to California’s schools, community colleges and our public Universities.  Some have even enacted additional reforms in order to protect students and taxpayers from future contingencies.

But some, like the University of California, have done just the opposite.



Billions have been squandered on risky investments and oversized executive entitlements.  And UC’s administrative staff-the highest paid public employees in California who have almost no contact with patients and students-have become the fastest growing segment of its workforce.

The UC isn’t just a university.  Through its 10 campuses, five medical centers, three national laboratories, and nineteen other facilities, it is one of the leading economic, research and health delivery institutions in America.  It serves 200,000 students and 4 million patients annually, and is responsible for 1 in 46 California jobs.  

In many ways, as the UC goes, so goes California.  And things are not going as well as they should be.

Student tuition has tripled, and out-of-state enrollment has skyrocketed.  Courses have been cut and student services slashed.  Debt has doubled.  Taxpayer-subsidized UC hospitals are shirking their responsibility to provide health care to the poor on public programs like Medi-Cal, and they have been hit with millions of dollars in government fines for patient safety violations and court-ordered whistleblower settlements.

Unfortunately, under our Constitution, UC does not have to play by the same rules as other public agencies-even other public schools in California.  

That’s why the real power to change UC lies with all of us-patients, students, faculty, alumni, donors, staff and California taxpayers.  We write the checks, fill the classrooms and hospitals, and maintain the facilities.  For generations, Californians have made the sacrifices necessary to build the UC into a crown jewel.  

If we are to preserve this legacy and strengthen it for future generations of Californians, we must take action to end the cycle of mismanagement that is putting UC students and patients at risk.  We must be vigilant and equally steadfast advocates for the reforms that are needed to get UC back on track.

In short:  we need to come together and TAKE BACK UC.

TAKE BACK UC is a grassroots coalition of opinion leaders, organizations, students, patients, workers and taxpayers from every corner of the Golden State.  Our cause is to raise awareness about problems in the UC system, and to mobilize the public in support of common sense solutions-like increased access to qualified California students with reduced student expense to earn a UC degree, access to UC hospitals and physicians, safe staffing at UC health facilities and campuses, and fair pension reforms.

Ultimately, the time for reform at UC is now.  Last month, a new President took the reins at UC.   Our coalition will show that not only is there a need for change at UC-but that there is a mandate for it.  This isn’t just about sharing our concerns today— but holding the Regents and top UC administrators accountable for results in the months and years to come.  

There are a few things you can do to help grow this watchdog movement right now.

1. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

2. Learn more and lend your name to our growing list of supporters by signing up at www.TakeBackUC.org.  

3. Sign our Change.org petition on fair pension reform for UC executives and safe staffing levels at UC hospitals – and share them with your friends!

Thank you in advance for your continued support of public education in California, and your commitment to restoring the University of California to its rightful place as the crown jewel of our Golden State.

Dr. Richard Pan

California State Assemblymember (D-9th District)

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Pan’s Resolution for Equal LGBT Veteran Benefits Gets Bipartisan Majorities

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Dr. Richard Pan for AssemblyResolution gets a few Republican votes

by Brian Leubitz

Republicans don’t go out of their way to support LGBT Californians. That being said, it is hard for them to vote against veterans, no matter the cause. So, it was quite the conflict when Richard Pan’s AJR 19 rolled through the Legislature. The resolution calls on the federal government to provide equal benefits for LGBT veterans. But the measure got several Republican votes in both houses.

“Today California is united in recognizing the service of every veteran and correcting the injustices our LGBT veterans have endured for so long,” Dr. Pan said. “I applaud recent efforts by the Obama Administration to provide equal benefits for all veterans, but there is still much work to do.  I am hopeful that our leaders in Washington will heed this bipartisan call for equality and do right by the veterans who have put their lives on the line defending our country.”

“AJR 19 raises all of California’s voice in demanding that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans be treated equally,” said John O’Connor, EQCA executive director. “These veterans risk their safety to defend all of our equality, and California has a duty to demand equal treatment for them. We hope the rest of the country will follow.”

The biggest issue here is the punishment handed out under DADT, and its even harsher predecessor, while it was in effect. From 1980 until the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 2011, over 32,000 service personnel were separated from the Armed Forces of the United States under DADT and its predecessor policies. Because these discharges were sometimes characterized as “dishonorable” or “other than honorable,” many of these service personnel and their spouses became ineligible for veterans benefits.

In 2012, the legislature passed Dr. Pan’s AB 1505, establishing that that if the federal government acts to reinstate benefits to discharged veterans who were denied those benefits solely on the basis of sexual orientation serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, California shall also reinstate to those veterans any state-offered benefits.  The federal government has yet to broadly reinstate such benefits.

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AD-05 Update

Capitol Weekly got all jiggy with the fifth assembly district today, so I thought I’d take a look-see too.  The seat, currently occupied by the termed-out Roger Niello, has a whole army of contenders. This is probably because the district, like Dan Lungren’s congressional seat, is rapidly changing. It’s based in the Sacramento suburbs, with all but a few of the voters coming from Sacramento County; the remaining few are from Placer County.  There are a lot of disillusioned former Republicans and DTS voters here. The partisan breakdown of the electorate is 37.9 Dem, 38.8 Rep, and 19.0 DTS.  Obama won the district by a smidge over four points, so it could very easily be a contested race.

Prop 8 advocate Andrew Pugno is the leading Republican in the district, which perhaps not coincidentally went for Prop 8 by nearly 10 points. Of course, this carries positives and negatives for Pugno. Sure, he’s getting a fair amount in small dollar donations from the right-wing anti-marriage equality crew, but he’s also going to end up with an army of equality supporters dedicated from keeping this guy out of office. It seems a little unlikely that marriage equality folks will get involved in the Republican primary, but expect to see some action if he does end up winning the primary over Craig De Luz, a multi-racial school board member and leader of the Californa Black Republican Council.

On the Democratic side, Richard Pan, a pediatrician, and Larry Miles, a school board member in the San Juan USD are the sort-of name candidates. On the web side anyway, Pan is way ahead with a slick looking (or at least not annoying) online presence.  Pan has also garnered the endorsement of a pretty good list of electeds and party leaders, while Miles has a slightly smaller list of state level electeds, but does have a whole slew of local elected officials.

But, there are four somewhat viable candidates in the race.  There is also An interesting story on Matt Gray, who is looking at the Assembly, and has a history in the Building with John Vasconcellos and lobbying for strip joints.

Finally, you have Andrew Sheehy who has a YouTube video announcing his candidacy and a Facebook page. But, if as Allen Hoffenblum mentions in the CW story, Sheehy is running as some sort of new media friendly candidate, he should think about updating his networks.  But, the YouTube video in front of a random field where there may or may not have been a foreclosure nearby is fun. All kidding aside, his platform is solid, meat to the progressive base kind of stuff. Education, equality, that kind of thing.  And hey, Andy, and all the Dem. candidates, feel free to post an introduction at Calitics. We’ll make sure it makes its way to the front of the site.