SACRAMENTO — Programs for the poor and sick take the brunt of $4.2billion in spending cuts proposed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown in a budget that hinges on voters approving higher taxes this fall.
Another $5.4 billion in reductions would be imposed if voters reject Brown’s planned November ballot measure to temporarily increase the sales tax and raise income taxes on the wealthy. School funding would be slashed by more than $4.8billion, equivalent to cutting the school year by three weeks.
“This is not nice stuff, but that’s what it takes to balance the budget, and that’s assuming we get our tax revenues,” Brown told reporters at the Capitol, calling on lawmakers to act on some of the cuts by March.
2012-13 state budget
The $94.3 billion general fund plan closes an estimated $9.2 billion shortfall through June 2013. That is significantly less than a nearly $13billion gap projected in November by the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal analyst. Brown said his plan will help end the chronic shortfalls once and for all.
“We've cut the structural deficit substantially, and we now have the possibility of eliminating over the next couple of years the deficits that have plagued California,” Brown said. He spoke at a hastily called news conference after aides mistakenly posted the budget on the Internet, five days before its scheduled release.
Brown’s proposal changes the state’s welfare-to-work program known as CalWORKS. People who do not meet federal requirements of looking for work could be dropped from the program after two years, down from four. The plan reduces child aid for people in CalWORKS from $463 to $392 monthly.
In addition, the number of state child care slots for low-income working families would be reduced from 363,400 to 292,900. In-home assistance for the infirm and elderly also would be cut.
“How can the governor be cutting time limits and assistance for poor families to go to work when we have 11 percent unemployment and people cannot find jobs?” said Mike Herald of the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said his house will wait before considering the cuts sought by Brown. The state’s revenue picture seems to be improving, he said.
“If that trend continues even slightly, we may avoid the need to make the kinds of cuts the governor now suggests,” Steinberg said.
INLAND IMPACT
Inland welfare officials reacted warily to the governor’s proposal.“The initial concept is good, but it is a question of how are they achieving the savings of $1 billion?” said Susan Loew, director of public social services for Riverside County. “And how will that impact the customers we are serving today?”
Between 11,000 and 12,000 families are enrolled in CalWORKS in Riverside County.
“The way the grants have been cut continuously over the last few years, many families are struggling,” she said. “This is the safety net. There is nothing below this.”
San Bernardino County served 51,163 people in the CalWORKS program in June, according to the county’s annual social services report.
That number has increased because of the economic recession, officials said. Further funding challenges will only decrease services as more people seek help, said Kevin Mahany, director of advocacy services at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley.
“What we are seeing is people who are for the very first time having to go to the food bank or the homeless shelter or the welfare office,” Mahany said.
In Riverside County, about 18,000 people participate in the In-Home Supportive Services program. About 13,000 of those would be affected by the governor’s plan to reduce services for recipients who live with someone else. In San Bernardino County, the corresponding numbers are 20,500 and 14,300, respectively, according to the California Association of Public Authorities.
SCHOOLS EYE BALLOT
Brown has proposed a
November ballot initiative that would raise the income tax on those
making $250,000 or more a year and increase the state sales tax by a
half cent. The higher taxes would raise about $7 billion a year and
expire in 2017.Inland school officials welcomed the prospect of more K-12 revenue after several years of reduced or frozen funding.
Yet districts would have to tear up their budgets midyear if Brown’s tax measure fails at the ballot box.
“Local school districts must again build and adopt their budgets based on uncertain state revenue estimates — and again without the legal ability to reduce their costs midyear if needed,” said Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth M. Young. “This is a very poor way of dealing with the state’s continuing budget crisis.”
Mike Fine, deputy superintendent for business services in Riverside Unified School District, said shortening the year would require additional legislation as well as negotiations with teachers and school employees unions.
“I believe the governor’s trying to do the right thing,” Fine said.
But schools’ options are limited, he said. “Our class sizes are already at the maximum. Our staff has been cut to the bone.”
Murrieta Valley Unified School District Superintendent Stan Scheer said the district already faces an $11 million shortfall in 2012-13. “We don’t have any wiggle room if this thing doesn’t pass,” he said of the governor’s tax measure.
Similarly, the San Bernardino County superintendent of schools office is advising districts to have a backup plan in case voters reject the tax increases.
“There’s no way districts can make that kind of cuts once the school year is under way,” said Ted Alejandre, assistant superintendent in the county office. “The advice we’re giving districts is to have contingency plans in place.”
Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, said he liked parts of the governor’s plan. But he criticized what he called the governor’s “tax and hammer” approach.
“He is effectively saying to the taxpayers that we are going to continue spending more than we take in — so you either give me more of your money or I’m going to cut what you cherish most,” Jeffries said.
Contributing to this report: Staff writers Dug Begley, dbegley@pe.com; Dayna Straehley, dstraehley@pe.com; and Michelle L. Klampe, mklampe@pe.com. Also contributing: The Associated Press.
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