This story was reported for San Diego News Network on July 22, 2009.
Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a two-part series. The first story gives the budget breakdown from what information SDNN was able to obtain Tuesday. The full budget proposal is now public.
Political punches are being thrown from left to right in California and it’s not between political parties – but Californians expressing their angst towards the Big 5 for their budget agreement that was reached Monday night.
The proposal of California’s Big 5 (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and party leaders) is still unraveling throughout Sacramento with legislators scrambling to review hundreds of pages – 31 budget bills – before voting Thursday.
But, for residents who rely on the state for a little cash assistance – the cuts are already known and it’s been hard to swallow.
After searching through multiple documents, SDNN collected a listing of the cuts with the exception of the exact amount cut from state parks; 20 percent of state parks will be closed.
— Local governments: $4.3 billion cut (see chart)
— Schools: $6 billion
— Cal State and UC systems: $3 billion
–MediCal: – $1.3 billion
— State’s Workers Compensation Fund: $1 billion
— Prisons: $1.2 billion
— Reserves: $875 million
— Health and Human Services: $2 billion
— Cal Works: $375 million
Additionally the state gained-$1.8 billion in revenue from a new oil drilling plan off of Santa Barbara, while saving- $1.3 billion from the 3-days-a-month furlough of state employees and $2.7 billion by paying state bills one day late, into the next fiscal year.
Although all the proposals have seen much controversy, perhaps the most contentious proposals are those involving MediCal and CalWorks.
The unhealthy fight
While President Obama and his administration exchange blows over his health care package, the state is seeing its own noxious battle. The Big 5 proposal to cut $2 billion from health and human services (see graph) has received criticism throughout the state. The shave includes a $144 million cut to the Healthy Families program that supplies health care to nearly one million low-income children.
Health Access California estimates the cut would force the denial of health care to about 335,145 children statewide and 29,431 in San Diego County for this fiscal year. Next fiscal year, the number is larger with 443,016 children statewide and 37,206 in the county.
“We’re very concerned about all these cuts,” said Deena Lahn, policy director of the Children’s Defense Fund. “Healthy Families has proven to be cost-effect because it offers preventive care.”
Lahn described the Big 5 move as “shocking and irresponsible,” alleging that children would die and cuts could have been made in other areas of the state government.
“There were alternatives,” Lahn said. “Why couldn’t legislators reduce administration vendor contracts?”
Aside from the Healthy Families’ reduction, a number of cuts would be made to mental health care, care for HIV and AIDS, adult health care and changes would be made to coverage for pregnant women and new mothers, said Health Access California executive director Anthony Wright.
“The cuts are at a scale where it will directly impact hundreds of thousands but will affect every Californian,” Wright said.
The $375 million taken from CalWorks’ budget would affect 40,000 families with 80,000 children, said Frank Mecca, executive director of the County Welfare Directors Association of California.
Local government still battling it out
Elected officials from all 18 cities in San Diego County gathered Wednesday to express their discomfort and disappointment with the Big 5 proposal to take money from local coffers. The $4.3 billion plan includes borrowing $2 billion in property tax revenue, a $1 billion takeaway from gas tax funds and $1.3 billion in property taxes from redevelopment agencies.
Del Mar Mayor Crystal Crawford — whose city is exempt from giving up its $50,000 in gas tax funds because of the size of the city – said it will have to cut another $350,000 from its general fund should the state borrow its property tax revenue. The move comes after the city already reduced its $10 million general fund by 6 percent last month.
“We are scratching our heads as to how we’ll find $350,000 to give to the state,” Crawford said. “This isn’t a valid action by the state. It’s just another glaring indication that the way they’re doing business isn’t working – the, shall we say, creative methods that they have been using for a long time are not working anymore.”
Crawford said the city has already had to combine services, vacate positions and eliminate sub-contracts such as that with the Arc, an organization devoted to finding jobs for those with developmental disabilities whose members once worked for the city.
Crawford and her council has also sent the state a letter of interest to purchase the fairgrounds. Although the possible purchase is still in its early state, Crawford , who is also a Democratic candidate for State Assembly, said Del Mar is planning to move forward with its interest and will examine the benefits it may have to the city.
Related Links: California Budget Crisis | More politics
County Board of Supervisors Chair Dianne Jacob also expressed her discontentment with the state.
“It’s clear that this budget is a missed opportunity on the part of the state to fix its structural flaws once and for all,” Jacob said in a statement. “Instead of comprehensive changes desperately needed to bring spending in line with revenues at long last, this proposal is filled with the same kind of gimmicks that put the state on the road to ruin in the first place.”
Jacob said the “raid” to the county would be about $150 million. But she said those who’ll be suffering are the residents.
“Public safety could be compromised, kids and seniors will suffer and residents can kiss their long-awaited roads projects goodbye,” she said.
Prisons, schools and the oil drilling plan
Among the ways the state will cut $1.2 billion from its prison system is to release 27,000 inmates, including “non-serious, nonviolent, non-sex offenders” and all undocumented immigrant prisoners.
Brian Marvel of the San Diego Police Officers Association said the logic behind this move is “completely irrational.” In addition, several law enforcement agencies that Marvel has teamed up with view the move may affect public safety of Californians for “years to come.”
“The potential for negative long-term effects greatly outweighs any initial savings at the state level,” Marvel said.”Locally, we are working with an already skeletal police force and adding more criminals to the streets will put an even more substantial strain on our efforts to maintain public safety.”
San Diego Unified School District board member John de Beck said the district is still unaware of its portion of the $6 billion cut from K-12 schools and community colleges statewide.
Both the CSU and UC systems have already faced a $1 billion combined cut to their campuses but have not yet addressed the Big 5 proposal to cut an additional $3 billion.
Despite the reductions, the year-old oil drilling proposal known as Tranquillon Ridge involves $1.8 billion in potential revenue coming in, should the budget deal pass. The plan would allow for the first offshore drilling in state waters since the 1960s, with a shut off date: Dec. 31, 2022.
Linda Krop of the Environmental Defense Fund said this will be the first time an oil company would have to agree to a “date certain end of production.”
The best we could do
Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) said she understands the frustration with the number of cuts but party members could not agree on any other alternatives. Specifically, she said taxes could have been made to tobacco and other goods and services, but the Republican caucus did not want it.
“This was the best we could negotiate with both parties and the governor,” Kehoe said. “Our hands were tied.”
The former San Diego city councilmember said a number of Republican leaders are not pleased with the Big 5 proposal and Californians may see another delay.
However, Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Temecula) said he is confident that there will be enough Republican support for the floor vote.
Hollingsworth also said the Big 5 proposal includes major reforms and is pleased that it doesn’t include new taxes.
“We’ll be able to fix the deficit without having tax increases and making substantial reforms to save California money,” he said. “There won’t be a further tax increase and there will be some cuts to services, but it’s necessary to fix the bigger problem of solving the structural deficit.”
The reforms, Hollingsworth said, include greater use of fraud protection programs, changes to CalWorks eligibility requirements and a re-evaluation of the utilization of state assets.
Looking forward, Kehoe said taxes will need to be re-examined and constitutional requirements like the controversial two-thirds majority vote will have to be amended.
“We need a dialogue with voters over California’s budget and the pre-ordained propositions,” Kehoe said. “We need to eliminate the gridlock and delay that has become an annual thing for us. ”
San Diego Councilmember Kevin Faulconer said he isn’t getting his hopes up with the state government.
Faulconer said he’d rather work closely with the rest of the City Council to find solutions.
“I’ve given up predicting what could happen,” he said. “I’m going to work very closely with my colleagues about where we could make cuts but we’re talking about services where the rubber meets the road.”
Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.