Cuts to services were compounded by the governor’s pencil. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed budget adopted by the Legislature on Friday, but he used his veto authority to cut about half a billion dollars more in spending – on top of $15 billion in cuts.
While the Governor and Legislature left oil and tobacco corporations tax free, LA County could lose about $190 million more. Click here to get involved.
Among the additional cuts the governor made on Tuesday are the following:
Child Welfare Services and Foster Care
• Cuts $80 million by reducing funding to counties for hiring of social workers.
• Cuts $26.6 million by reducing rates paid to group homes, foster family agencies, and on behalf of seriously emotionally disturbed children by 10 percent
• Cuts $5 million by reducing the funding available to provide transitional housing services to emancipating foster youth
• Cuts $4 million by reducing funding available to maintain the case management and reporting information technology system used by county social workers
• Cuts $4.2 million reducing funding for health oversight, case planning, and relative search and engagement activities
• Cuts $900,000 by eliminating automatic increases in financial support available to families adopting a child with special needs Prior to this, monthly Adoption Assistance Program grants automatically increased with the age of the child.
Healthy Families
• Cuts $50 million more from the health insurance program for low-income children for a total savings of $178.6 million. Health advocates estimate 500,000 children will lose insurance coverage.
Medi-Cal
• Cuts $60.5 million by reducing administrative costs.
Department of Aging
• Cuts $6.2 million by eliminating two programs – Linkages and Community Based Services –
that help elderly and disabled people stay in their homes.
In-Home Support Services
• Cuts $37.5 million more for a total of $90.5 million in cuts from the program that serves elderly, blind and/or disabled persons.
Public Health
• Adolescent Family Life: Cuts $9 million by eliminating funding for the teen pregnancy program.
• Domestic Violence program: Cuts $16.3 million by eliminating funding of the program to help victims of domestic violence.
• AIDS Prevention and Treatment: Cuts $52 million by eliminating funding for various programs: education and prevention, therapeutic monitoring, counseling and testing, early intervention, home and community-based care and housing.
• Black Infant Health: Cuts $3 million by eliminating funding for the health education and social support program for pregnant black women and mothers.
Developmental Services – Early Start program
• Cuts $50 million from the program that helps families whose babies are at risk for or have developmental disabilities.
Mental Health – Caregiver Resource Centers program
• Cuts $4 million from the program that helps families caring for relatives with Alzheimer’s or other dementias.
Education
• Cuts $705,000 by eliminating Curriculum Commission funding.
• Cal Grants: Cuts $2 million in administrative costs.
• UC Hastings College of Law: Cuts $1 million from the school in San Francisco .
California Conservation Corps
• Cuts $8.2 million
California State Parks
• Cuts $6.2 million more for a total of $14.2 million in cuts that could result in closure of up to 100 state parks.
State departments
• Cuts $25 million that was set aside to pay for increases in employees’ health care costs.
Williamson Act
• Cuts $27 million by reducing tax benefits for landowners whose properties are restricted from development to protect them as open space.
Revenue anticipation notes
• Assumes $92 million in savings from interest payments to 2008-09 notes.