Schwarzenegger Cuts Welfare & Healthcare In New Budget
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made additional cuts to child welfare programs, medical care for the poor and AIDS prevention efforts Tuesday as he signed an $85 billion compromise spending plan that he called “the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto authority to save an additional $656 million that will let the state restore a reserve fund he says is needed for tough times.
The vetoes include $80 million from child welfare programs; $61 million in county funding to administer Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid; $52 million from AIDS prevention and treatment; $50 million to Healthy Families, the low-cost health insurance program for poor children; and $6.2 million more from state parks.
“Those are ugly cuts and I’m the only one that is really responsible for those cuts because the Legislature left, they didn’t want to make those cuts,” he said.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat who negotiated the original budget compromise with Schwarzenegger, immediately questioned the legality of many of the governor’s line-item vetoes.
“We will fight to restore every dollar of additional cuts to health and human services,” Steinberg said in a statement. “This is not the last word.”
Schwarzenegger called the budget package aimed at balancing the state’s budget through June 30, 2010, the toughest since he took office in 2003. Still, the Republican governor said the package included reforms he has long sought and forces government to live within its means.
He said additional cuts were needed to build a $500 million reserve fund after the state Assembly rejected about $1.1 billion in revenues from local transportation funding and by allowing new offshore oil drilling.
With much of state spending tied up by federal and constitutional requirements, the Schwarzenegger administration wants to ensure the state has a cash cushion in case of emergencies such as earthquakes and wildfires.
California’s economy has been hit by the housing market slump and high unemployment, and the latest efforts to close a $26 billion shortfall came just five months after lawmakers and the governor ended months of negotiations to close a previous $42 billion deficit.
The governor and lawmakers hope the revised spending plan will end California’s cash crisis and let the state stop issuing IOUs to vendors.
Schwarzenegger’s finance director, Michael Genest, warned Tuesday that even with the revised budget deal, California likely will need to borrow $8 billion to $10 billion to cover its cash needs this year, and the state is likely to face another $7 billion to $8 billion deficit in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Matt Fabian, a bond analyst at Municipal Market Advisors, based in Concord, Mass., said California’s plan was filled with accounting tricks and will likely do little to improve the state’s poor credit rating.
Fitch Ratings rates California’s general obligation bond debt at “BBB,” which is still investment-grade. Most states have a higher-quality “AAA” or “AA” rating.
The package lawmakers agreed to included about $15 billion in spending cuts, as well as reforms that include tougher sanctions on CalWORKS recipients who don’t meet work requirements. Also, in-home support workers will have to undergo background checks and have their fingerprints taken.
In earlier rounds of cuts, California reduced Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for health care providers and eliminated optional benefits such as dental and eye care for adult recipients.
With the vetoes announced Tuesday, the cut to California’s state parks totals about $14 million, which Genest said will likely force as many as 100 of the state’s 279 parks, beaches and attractions to close.
The additional cuts Schwarzenegger made Tuesday also include $37.5 million from the In-Home Supportive Services program, $50 million from the Early Start program for developmentally disabled children, and more than $6 million in cuts from programs for the aging.
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Wow. Those are considerable cuts, and low blows for welfare for children, and uninsured California residents. I agree that a lot of responsibility needs to be on the parents in regards to welfare, and those that are taking advantage of the system should be ashamed. I’m proud to say that my boys are insured through medicaid, and that they get food stamps. I have no shame in admitting that I can’t put food on the table for my boys right now. I went to school to fix all that, and it’s going to take time to get the ball rolling. I get tired of filling out those applications, and having to go out of my way to prove to those people that I don’t make a lot of money. I personally would like to get off welfare, and a weening program needs to be put in place for parents who are anxious to cut the chord. I totally agree with what blksxylady46 says. More people(especially women)are on welfare for making foolish decisions, and not practicing safe sex. They bring children into this world that they KNOW they can’t afford to take care of. Believe it or not, there are women that purposely continue having children in order to stay on welfare. But, as I’ve noticed, the more children a single woman has, the higher her benefits. I decided to stop having children after my second son, because I knew I could not afford it, and I didn’t want another child of mine being on welfare. I made that difficult decision when I was 24, and I have no regrets for it. My heart goes out to those honest, low income families who are not taking advantage of the system. Those that really need the help are the ones who will suffer from this cut in the budget.
wow he can twitter smoke his cigar in his jacuzzi another rough day for arnie hmm- the poor and disenfranchised will be back….
I’m just so curious…to find out if he cut welfare out completely…would it make these stupid broads be MORE SELECTIVE on who the get IMPREGNATED by!!? Tired of ShaQuisha, TeQuanna, and TeQuila an nem, getting a FREE financial ride with no fiscal responsibility tied to it for making stupid sexual decisions! It’s one thing to help a newly unemployed woman or family who have exhausted all avenues to re-employment…but to simply GIVE to a chick still living at home ON her momma with 4 and 5 kids who never finished jr high, let alone HIGH school and who’s NEVER EVER held down a job…is simply ludicrous!
Get off your back and get a JOB!!!
I am in Cali~This is my state~ not an import~ Born & Bred~ So what I’m about to type comes from the heart~
Cali state tax only went up from 8.25% to 9.25% ya barely feel it….however when we had a chance to recieve more money through taxing nasty a$$ cigs voters rejected it~ Since this “man” has been in office my Golden State has been turned to a corosive faux plated flea market swap meet gold~
BTW if arnold is soooooo damn wealthy and gave half a cent care about this state my state~ He would contribute some of that wealth of his to the budget~ or cut the pay of the senators and those serving in top offices in Sac~ (BTW those folks are the HIGHEST paid state officals in the US of A look it up) While Cali is going broke and they are cutting the jobs of the middle and lower class~ the health care of the elderly~ taking away funding for HIV/AIDS projects~as well as funding for schools/ after school projects~it ain’t right but soon it will be made right~
YOU BASTARD
sadly, the poor and the struggling suffer first. all that money in cali,
tax the rich or take the lottery money and give it to the state. in four weeks of lottery the state would be out of debt..
I live in Cali and want lower state taxes…
I personally kinda agree. Hell there are people who are not citizens who are draining the life out of this state. Not just that if ur on welfare get ur lazy ass up and get a damn job. Hell Im 24, Im a single parent my damn self and I have 2 kids and Im not on welfare. People use the system out here just cuz. They need to review all the welfare cases and kick most of them people off. I seen a girl driving a brand new Cadallic CTS and she was going into the welfare office. WTF??? It should only be there for people who really need it not for the non-citizens or the muthafuccas who drive brand new cars and wanna sit on their asses all day. They are the ones who are fuccin up California and they are the ones fuccin it up for everyone else. Thats real S**t!
I’m a brother who grew up in Harlem, Philly and Boston. The calif gov. is handcuffed by a senate that spends like a drunken sailor on food stamps and goes to dad ( Obama when they’re out of $)I have lived in LA for 25 years and done extremely well paying a grip of state taxes. Live here and then comment, the gov is a billionaire biz man who flies his own crew around the country and houses them and himself on his own dime.(I’m not a fan of him, just real) The cat NEVER spends a dime on his residence or his travel. Look it up in public records. The democrats in sacramento, ca spent cash on special interests and millions flying Nancy Pelosi back and forth to DC on a private jet on weekends when she wants to hit the bay(her crib and she’s a millionaire). Look, we love Michael who was worth millions and LA was past broke and spent 5 mill on his funeral when dad Joe J. could’ve wrote a check for his son’s funeral. Wake up yo! That’s how it is in cali.
MBA at USC from da real hood 113th and Lenox…out!
what do you expect for less fortunate minorities to do whenever they’re sick and can’t afford to even pay for their bill after they leave tha hospital.has this clown arnold lost his mind or what?!it makes no sense to me.
These programs will always be the first to be cut…the poor and the programs that support them will always be considered expendable..They will NEVER go after the real culprits of these problems..Cali was just as guilty inflating this housing bubble, and creating false prosperity, and now that has busted, and all the residual economic benefactors have bottomed out, once again, the innocent bystanders will get hit in the crossfire…
when is his term up coz i did not vote for him to take office coz he is doing too much he is cutting off the stuff we need to survive the republicans never cared about the poor in the 1st place bush messed stuff up and he even worse we need a democrate in office big time
who voted him into office?
Several things I wish to point out. 1) Schwarzenegger does not care for poor people, let alone Black people. In HIS mind, the cuts are hurting Blacks. 2) Schwarzenegger’s father was a Nazi and as such his sensitivity of things are as warped as those his father (taught him) believed in and upheld. 3) He is an immigrant who married into the Kennedy clan but whose views are in opposition of theirs and carries with him his Australian belief system. 4) He is a known misogynist and therefore could care less as to how the cuts will affect poor woman in need of care, specifically pre-natal care. 5) He’s pissed because he thought he could actually become President of the US and one time in his career made the comment: “Give a Black man a country and he’ll run it into the ground.” Well…it appears Schwarzenegger ran Cali into the ground.
I noted in the article they indicated the cuts are needed in order that it is to be used to “save an additional $656 million that will let the state restore a reserve fund.” Uuummm, so they want to use the money as a RESERVE FUND but do tell: What will happen with the stimulus money they receive? Also, in my opinion, the cuts are illegal as they come from a State Black Grant received from the Federal Government in which the money is earmarked specifically for welfare, medical etc. He cannot appropriate the money for use to plug up gaps in his state budget or to use as a reserve fund. As well, some of that money is used to pay for medical aid for recipients of SSI (the state uses federal money to pay a portion of the cost for Medicare parts A and B) and it is illegal to direct federal funds away from a federal program.
This man is a complete lunatic in that he is taking away the only SAFETY NET some of the poorest of the poor have come to rely on. He is not taking into consideration the RIPPLE EFFECT whereby man people will become homeless, utilities will be shut off, they will be unable to eat, clothe themselves etc…. These cuts will also affect businesses as they will have no one able to make purchases causing these very same said businesses to fail, close, shut down and or move else where. All of this leaved me to wonder what his TRUE AGENDA is……..
Several things I wish to point out. 1) Schwarzenegger does not care for poor people, let alone Black people. In HIS mind, the cuts are hurting Blacks. 2) Schwarzenegger’s father was a Nazi and as such his sensitivity of things are as warped as those his father (taught him) believed in and upheld. 3) He is an immigrant who married into the Kennedy clan but whose views are in opposition of theirs and carries with him his Australian belief system. 4) He is a known misogynist and therefore could care less as to how the cuts will affect poor woman in need of care, specifically pre-natal care. 5) He’s pissed because he thought he could actually become President of the US and one time in his career made the comment: “Give a Black man a country and he’ll run it into the ground.” Well…it appears Schwarzenegger ran Cali into the ground.
I noted in the article they indicated the cuts are needed in order that it is to be used to “save an additional $656 million that will let the state restore a reserve fund.” Uuummm, so they want to use the money as a RESERVE FUND but do tell: What will happen with the stimulus money they receive? Also, in my opinion, the cuts are illegal as they come from a State Black Grant received from the Federal Government in which the money is earmarked specifically for welfare, medical etc. He cannot appropriate the money for use to plug up gaps in his state budget or to use as a reserve fund. As well, some of that money is used to pay for medical aid for recipients of SSI (the state uses federal money to pay a portion of the cost for Medicare parts A and B) and it is illegal to direct federal funds away from a federal program.
This man is a complete lunatic in that he is taking away the only SAFETY NET some of the poorest of the poor have come to rely on. He is not taking into consideration the RIPPLE EFFECT whereby man people will become homeless, utilities will be shut off, they will be unable to eat, clothe themselves etc…. These cuts will also affect businesses as they will have no one able to make purchases causing these very same said businesses to fail, close, shut down and or move else where. All of this leaves me to wonder what his TRUE AGENDA is……..
Several things I wish to point out. 1) Schwarzenegger does not care for poor people, let alone Black people. In HIS mind, the cuts are hurting Blacks. 2) Schwarzenegger’s father was a Nazi and as such his sensitivity of things are as warped as those his father (taught him) believed in and upheld. 3) He is an immigrant who married into the Kennedy clan but whose views are in opposition of theirs and carries with him his Australian belief system. 4) He is a known misogynist and therefore could care less as to how the cuts will affect poor woman in need of care, specifically pre-natal care. 5) He’s pissed because he thought he could actually become President of the US and one time in his career made the comment: “Give a Black man a country and he’ll run it into the ground.” Well…it appears Schwarzenegger ran Cali into the ground.
I noted in the article they indicated the cuts are needed in order that it is to be used to “save an additional $656 million that will let the state restore a reserve fund.” Uuummm, so they want to use the money as a RESERVE FUND but do tell: What will happen with the stimulus money they receive? Also, in my opinion, the cuts are illegal as they come from a State Black Grant received from the Federal Government in which the money is earmarked specifically for welfare, medical etc. He cannot appropriate the money for use to plug up gaps in his state budget or to use as a reserve fund. As well, some of that money is used to pay for medical aid for recipients of SSI (the state uses federal money to pay a portion of the cost for Medicare parts A and B) and it is illegal to direct federal funds away from a federal program.
This man is a complete lunatic in that he is taking away the only SAFETY NET some of the poorest of the poor have come to rely on. He is not taking into consideration the RIPPLE EFFECT whereby man people will become homeless, utilities will be shut off, they will be unable to eat, clothe themselves etc…. These cuts will also affect businesses as they will have no one able to make purchases causing these very same said businesses to fail, close, shut down and or move else where. I could go on and on but: All of this leaved me to wonder what his TRUE AGENDA is……..
I WOULD’NT WANT TO LIVE IN CALIFORNIA WITH SO MANY CUTS.ITS GOING TO BE A DIASTER
Cosign @ onyxlvr.
I was about to say the same exact thing.
That is very sad that funding to help the less fortunate were cut….that is ridiculous. Maybe Arnold need to resign and let someone who knows how to govern in office.
It would appear to me that the next budget cut should be the Governor’s job. Its ironic that the first thing on any republicans agenda is to cut programs for the poor and less fortunate. Given these timultuous times due to escalating unemployment and a terrible recession, there is no need to build a surplus to have such a large reserve fund at the expense of human suffering. This is clearly evident if there will still be billions in deficits that will force the state to continue borrowing in the coming fiscal years. Allow the economy to recover. Go after the international bankers and defense contractors. There has to be alternatives other than cutting health and human services budgets to the extreme measures noted. The private sector has to step up and create jobs instead of shipping them overseas and pocketing profits to shore up additional revenue.
thats f**ked up. ppl dont have medicare now? this is a sad sad world.
cali messed up…why not just legalize weed and do all they can to make sure that neverland becomes a tourist attraction whether the residence want it or not. Cali needs all the money they can get. They can just turn the whole california into a resort town. Bigger then dubuai! Better than vegas… I mean the film capitol of the world, the bodybuilding capitol of the world, promote health, fitness, and cleaniness….Go green, get rid of pollution and make it a friendly and viable place to live, vacation, and fun. Florida gives a perception of fun. When in fact cali weather is better, cali has more to do. Step up the nightlife and other things and the state could be saved. Make the whole state planned communities of fitness, health, and easy living.
Lofty I know but it’s a start.