The legislative conference committee convened Thursday to fast-track a state budget fix, but as they did, the governor dropped a tinsy weensy $5.5 billion bomb.
CW's Malcolm Maclachlan reports, "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presented a new round of possible budget cuts totaling $5.5 billion on Thursday, two days after voters rejected five special election initiatives that would have brought in about that same amount in new revenues.
"Ana Montesantos, an aide to the governor, presented the cuts to the Legislature's Budget Conference Committee on Thursday afternoon. The state would eliminate support for Healthy Families, a program that provides health insurance to hundreds of thousands of low-income children, and CalWorks, an assistance program benefiting low-income families with children.
"These are options we are examaning to get to an addition $5.5 billion, " said H.D. Palmer, deputy director for external affairs at the California Department of Finance. He added, "There is no formal proposal yet."
The proposal got angry reaction from advocates and Democrats alike, who called the govenror's cuts "irresponsible" and "beyond draconian."
The Chron's Matthew Yi adds , "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's finance officials, faced with a growing budget gap, Thursday unveiled more ways to cut spending by doing away with a popular health care program for children, welfare payments to poor families and grants to university students.
"Funding for state parks could also end up on the chopping block, the officials said."
The LAT's Bailey and McGreevey say the poor would be hit hardest by the new cuts.
" Advocates for the poor said elimination of those health
and welfare
programs would come at a steep price. Tens of thousands
of families and
children would be stripped of temporary financial help
and health
assistance, and the state would lose a huge pool of
federal money that
pays the majority of the program's costs.
Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access
California, said
federal dollars cover up to two-thirds the cost of the Healthy Families
program, which is for the working poor. The federal
government pays
about 58% of the cost of CalWorks.
"It's beyond draconian," Wright said. "It's insane. Not just for
dropping 1 million children from healthcare, but also for losing
substantial federal funding."
So, other than that, Gentle Reader, how was your day?
KQED's John Myers and CW's Anthony York podcasted the week's events, wrapping up the election that was and looking ahead and the mess to come.
And this just in: The cities don't like it, either. "California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his efforts to find funds to balance the state budget, has proposed borrowing $2 billion from municipal governments over the next fiscal year, a tactic that is rankling local officials up and down the state," the WSJ's Stu Woo and Bobby White reports.
"Administrators of already cash-strapped cities and counties said the loans would force even deeper cuts in services. Fewer cops and fire engines would be on the streets, they said, and parks and libraries would be closed more often. And some local governments would be forced to lay off workers to keep their budgets out of the red, they said."
And Washington ain't helping much, either. "California needs to solve its financial crisis by itself and should not expect an emergency bailout from the White House, an array of Obama administration officials said Thursday, making clear they had no appetite to step in and provide financial assistance or loan guarantees," the LAT's Peter Nicholas and Richard Simon report.
"Look, we're going to examine what we can do. What we need to do, however, is to treat states fairly and that means uniformly," David Axelrod, senior advisor to the president, said in an interview. "Whatever we do for one state, there will be other states who also will want to do that. And there's a limit to what the government can do."
In fact, the LAT's Richard Simon says divisions in the state's Congressional delegation may slow the flow of federal dollars coming in.
"In California's hour of need -- facing a
financial crunch so severe that the state is poised
to release
convicted criminals and close classrooms early -- how can Washington
seem to be turning an unsympathetic ear to its appeal
for help?
"Especially when almost all of Washington's major power centers are controlled by Democrats?
"The Obama White House insists that its response to
California's fiscal
crisis in no way resembles the tabloid headline when
President Gerald
R. Ford refused to bail out New York City in 1975: "Ford to City: Drop
Dead." But the reaction to a second day of appeals for federal
loan
guarantees was less than enthusiastic -- from the White House or
Capitol Hill.
And two major reasons for the tepid response emerged:
"First, California's representation in Congress may be huge, but it is
famously fractious. On Thursday, the state's 52 sitting House members
(one seat is vacant) were once again split -- mostly along party lines.
"Second, the state is joining a long line of supplicants
-- including
bankers, stockbrokers, insurance companies and Detroit
automakers who
had already tried the capital's patience and stirred a backlash among
voters."
And Bill Lockyer may not be running for govenror, but his wife has formed a committee to run for county supervisor in Alameda.
So, for all of you complaining about just how bad the budget is, here's a story that might make you realize things could be worse. You could be a corpse in Fresno.
"A coroner in central California says his county's morgue is so maggot infested that the larvae are dropping from the ceiling. Fresno County Coroner David Hadden gave a tour so the media could see the working conditions he calls "intolerable."
"He said the deteriorating WWII-era morgue is a perfect breeding ground for flies and their offspring. It's in one of the hottest counties in the state and lacks air conditioning.
"Supervisor Judy Case says she's aware of the problems and pledges something will be done. She says she did not want to approve finances before the state's special election Tuesday to see what money Fresno has available."
We feel better already.