This story was reported for the San Diego News Network on February 2, 2010.
It’s a long road to budget recovery, but a recent report shows lawmakers may be taking an even longer road. Meanwhile, the Golden State isn’t as precious for President Barack Obama as he plans to offer the same amount of financial assistance to California as other states. Here’s the scoop on what’s happening in Sacramento.
D.C. helping out a little: President Obama’s budget proposal released Monday offers California $1.5 billion in assistance, significantly less than the amount requested by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the state “had counted on the money as a significant part of the solution to the state’s $20 billion budget shortfall.”
“The governor has warned of the wholesale elimination of social programs for the poor, sick and elderly if Washington isn’t forthcoming with the money.
‘This represents a down payment on what California is owed, and the governor will continue to work with the state’s congressional delegation and federal officials to secure the balance,’ said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Finance Department.
The $1.5 billion California would receive under Obama’s budget plan is part of $25 billion the president has proposed for all 50 states. It represents an extension in an increase of the amount of money the federal government reimburses the state for Medicaid expenses, which was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”
Last month, Schwarzenegger requested $6.9 billion in assistance from the federal government, writing in detail which state programs have cost the state significantly.
Social services cut: California’s recipients of social services aid will likely see another cut in the next budget cycle.
According to The Sacramento Bee, the biggest grant a person receiving federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the State Supplemental Payment (SSP) is “$845, down from $907 a year ago.”
“As California still struggles to balance its budget, the governor is proposing to cut the state’s share of SSI/SSP grants again, to $156 a month for an individual’s maximum grant, from $171 a month. That would reduce the joint federal-state maximum monthly grant for an individual to $830.
In 1990, or 20 years ago, the state’s SSP contribution to an individual’s grant was $244 a month.
As the state makes cuts, the impact falls indiscriminately on the disabled, whether a person can walk or is quadriplegic.”
Despite the likelihood of cuts to social services, the Bee points out that the Legislative Analyst’s Office has encouraged lawmakers to protect those recipients from more cuts.
The long road: California’s Legislature have yet to meet for an emergency session to address $8.9 billion in budget fixes as ordered by Schwarzenegger a month ago.
According to The San Jose Mercury News, lawmakers “appear loath to rush into proposals that will mostly affect next fiscal year’s bottom line.'”
“Nearly a month after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called an emergency legislative session to begin tackling some $8.9 billion in budget fixes, the clock for lawmakers would seem to be ticking louder every day.
But aside from a few lengthy budget hearings and some closed-door huddles, the Capitol’s business has mostly been, well, business as usual. Bills have hatched and died. Cocktails have been downed at campaign soirees. And industry lobbyists have made the rounds – some of them carrying balloons.
Concrete alternatives to the governor’s deep cuts to schools, transit funding and welfare programs will wait until this week. That leaves the Legislature’s leaders with precious little time – three weeks from today – to negotiate a deal before crisis measures kick in and force the rest of the people’s business onto the sidelines. Again.”
But Mercury reporter Denis C. Theriault points out that it’s more than just a delay in making decision. Theriault writes that if a decision isn’t made by March 1, the state may see a larger deficit.
Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.