Schwarzenegger: Stop Coddling Your Children!

Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced plans to eliminate or drastically cut dozens of health and social programs for low-income working families, potentially pushing more than 1 million California children into deep poverty.

Schwarzenegger plans to eliminate CalWORKs and Healthy Families, two major health and social programs for low- and moderate-income working families. Additionally, Schwarzenegger proposed deep cuts and restrictions in Medi-Cal, the state's public health coverage program for low-income and disabled Californians.

If approved by the legislature, California would be the only state in the country to eliminate basic welfare for low-income families with children.

These incredible actions would result in:

• Nearly 2 million children losing health coverage and basic income support;
• 22 California different counties with 10,000 or more children losing either CalWORKs income support or Healthy Families health coverage;
• Nearly 700,000 California families losing income support and health coverage;
• The loss of more than $5 billion in federal funds, despite California's huge budget deficit;
• The elimination of $850 million in child care funds, resulting in nearly 200,000 children losing child care;
• The elimination of Stage I child care for thousands of families and more than 45,000 children every month
• The elimination of 1 in 4 children from Stage II & Stage III child care;
• A loss of income for more than 18,000 family child care providers who participate in child care subsidy programs.

The California Budget Project (CBP) has a further breakdown of how the elimination of CalWorks will affect each county.

We need to take action to stop this!

Click to read more ...

Lockyer vs. Genest: Budget Trigger Showdown

Lockyer vs. Genest: March 17, 2009, Sacramento, CA Today is the day that state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and gubernatorial Finance Director Mike Genest could restore $948 million in spending cuts and forestall almost $2 billion worth of personal income tax increases enacted in the most recent state budget.

According to the February 20, 2009, budget, if the two officials find that California will receive at least $10 billion in deficit relief from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act or other federal legislation, then the budget could be adjusted to accommodate the two changes noted above.

An analysis by the California Budget Project (CBP) shows that California will receive more than enough money ($51 billion) from the federal stimulus to reach the $10 billion budget trigger.  

Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Finance Department is being conservative, claiming that the state may be off by $2 billion.  

As it currently stands, the activation of this budget trigger could come down to a matter of politics again, a clash between where progressives want the state to go and the fiscal austerity measures that Schwarzenegger and the Republicans seem intent on imposing on California. 

Update on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 6:28PM by Admin

Lockyer and Genest have decided to postpone their decision until April 1, which is the date that they are legally mandated to issue their determination.

California Budget Project Briefs Child Care Providers United of California

California Child Care Providers United (CCPUnited) of California received a briefing yesterday from representatives of the California Budget Project (CBP) regarding the flawed state budget signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger on February 20.

Much of the information we received was contained in a presentation entitled "Uncharted Waters." 

You can also read an overview of the the social and economic impacts of the 2009-2010 budget here.