A state Senate subcommittee voted Tuesday to delay opening University of California at Merced, for one year, saving the cash-strapped state budget $4 million.
If agreed to by the state Assembly and Gov. Davis, the action would push UC Merced's already reduced operating budget from $11.3 million to $7.3 million and delay its opening from fall 2004 to fall 2005.

University spokesman James Grant said the recommendation by the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education is not final and must be squared with action in the state Assembly. Still, the University of California's latest campus may not be able to accommodate students, some of them already accepted, next year as planned.

All three subcommittee members voted for the cut and delay. The full Senate Budget Committee still must consider the measure. The state Assembly also is working on the state budget, including expenses for UC Merced.

If the Senate and Assembly pass different spending plans for UC Merced, a conference committee representing both bodies will work on a compromise bill.

Grant called the cut "not unexpected," and said the reduced funds should not affect campus construction.

"The campus is being built," he said. "It is going to happen. These are operational funds, not capital funds.

"We are well-aware that all sectors of education are taking painful cuts. Even in taking this action, senators recognized the need for UC Merced last week and this."

The subcommittee vote responds to the state's huge budget deficit. Committee members have said they have trouble approving multimillion-dollar operating expenses for UC Merced, which still has no students, while reduced enrollments are expected at community colleges around California.

Committee members also said UC Merced once had been scheduled to open in 2005, but Gov. Davis in 1999 pushed up the target date one year as a way to energize the San Joaquin Valley's economy.

Now the state economy is struggling and legislators are grappling with a $35 billion budget deficit. UC Merced originally had asked for $15 million in operating funds.

Davis cut that to $11.3 million, and now the Senate subcommittee has trimmed further, leaving roughly half of the original proposed operating funds. University officials said months ago they would have to delay the opening of the campus if the Legislature didn't provide at least $11.3 million.

The threatened cutback also would affect students planning to attend UC Merced next year. Fresno City College, for instance, has 40 students who hold guaranteed transfer agreements, providing for their admission to UC Merced in fall 2004.

Deborah Ikeda, associate dean of students at Fresno City College, said a UC Merced officer visited recently and said he would "work something out" for those 40 students.

"We will work to redirect them to UC Davis, Santa Cruz, Riverside or other UC campuses," Ikeda said. "I know UC Merced is going to honor those agreements.

"I'm very disappointed, though. These are our students who are looking to transfer. And now there's no UC Merced for them."