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The governor said the drastic cuts were unfortunate yet necessary given the state’s dire financial situation.
“California no longer has low-hanging fruits,” Governor Schwarzenegger said at a press conference unveiling the $83.4 billion budget. “As a matter of fact, we don’t have any medium-hanging fruits. We also don’t have any high-hanging fruits. We literally have to take the ladder away from the tree and shake the whole tree.”
The biggest casualty of Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts is the state’s main welfare program, CalWorks. Over 1.3 million people, including 1 million children, are enrolled in the program, which requires parents to work while on public assistance. The ending of the program, which gave families an average of $500 a month, would save the state $1.6 billion. It would also make California the only state in the country without a welfare to work program.
Another $1.2 billion would be saved ending state-subsidized day care, which would affect 142,000 low-income children. Preschool and after school programs would stay in place.
The cuts, coupled with the Governor’s decision to cut funds for foster childcare and veto a $133 million increase to Child Welfare Services, were met with strong opposition from welfare advocates.
“A responsible welfare system is critical to moving California forward, so it is sad that in the budget that will cement his legacy, the Governor has proposed brutal cuts that will reverse 30 years of progress in promoting self sufficiency for impoverished families and successful outcomes for foster children,” said Frank Mecca, Executive Director of the County Welfare Directors Association.
Public health programs will also suffer under the proposed cuts. Drug treatment programs for about 160,000 Medi-Cal patients will be axed and aid to county mental health programs will be reduced by 60 percent. In-home health care for the elderly and disabled will see its budget reduced by one-third.
The budget also calls for counties to take in around 15,000 nonviolent felons, state employees to have their pay reduced up to 15%, and school funding to be frozen at a time when schools were anticipating a $2 billion fund increase.
The cuts would create a big burden for the state’s 58 counties, who themselves are struggling with deficits.
“That ground shaking you feel is the impact of the cuts and costs shifts rolling out of the Capitol and landing at the doorsteps of counties and the communities we serve. If this budget becomes a reality, the devastation upon Californians will be on par with the aftereffects of a major natural disaster,” said Tony Oliveira, President of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and Kings County Supervisor. “Homelessness, hunger, permanent job losses, elimination of mental health and substance abuse treatment, and more Californians driven into abject poverty are just some of the very real possibilities outlined in the Governor’s budget.”
Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal will now move to the state Legislature for approval. Even though they face stiff challenges from the Governor and Republicans in the Assembly and Senate, who have rejected tax increases, prominent Democrats have stated their commitment to finding alternatives to the Governor’s drastic cuts.
“I am disappointed that the Governor has chosen to surrender,” said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) in his response to Schwarzenegger’s Budget Revise. “That he sees California as unfixable and that he proposes a budget that kills the economy and harms so many. It is a non-starter. If God forbid this budget became a reality, California would be the only state in the union to not have a safety net for children. Leadership is not about blaming others. It’s about finding solutions to tough problems to preserve the state and its people.”
Article courtesy of L.A. Focus. For more stories, visit L.A. Focus online.
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