There’s no sense in calling the UCs public schools if they’re not affordable, as all public services should be. I doubt this will get anywhere by itself, but it’s a good first step, and hopefully, it will encourage students and their families to pressure the state legislature to increase funding.
They can definitely find the money to fund these schools beter—they can redirect funds appropriated towards prisons to the UCs, CSUs, and CCs, for example. We spend too much money on incarcerating people and keeping them locked up anyway.