California lawmakers approved a budget package that avoids proposed cuts to the state's public university systems while restructuring how funding increases will be delivered over the next several years, according to documents provided by the office of Senator Scott Wiener. The budget rejects Governor Gavin Newsom's proposed ongoing cut to both the California State University and University of California systems. Instead, lawmakers chose to defer that 3% amount from 2025-2026 to 2026-2027, providing the university system access to zero-interest short-term loans to cover the temporary funding gap. The California State University system avoided a proposed cut of $143.8 million but will see scheduled funding increases delayed under the budget agreement. A planned 5% base funding increase originally set for 2025-2026 has been split, with 2% now scheduled for 2026-27 and the remaining 3% pushed to 2028-2029. The CSU will receive $100.9 million from the 2 percent increase in 2026-27 and $15...