Gilroy Social Services Budget Cuts To Come, And Maybe IOU's As Well : View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving, Carmel, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas & Seaside, California
The State of California's financial position was thrown into complete chaos this week. Legislators waited until the last minute--the mandated June 15--to deliver a balanced budget to Governor Jerry Brown, who vetoed it just hours after it was delivered. The budget would have raised local sales taxes by 1% which Brown believed might be illegal--raising taxes normally require voter approval. It also called for the sale of state buildings which Brown had earlier said would be too costly. The front page of the Monterey Herald June 17 blasted, "Brown veto leaves budget in limbo". Governor Brown said that the bill was in fact not balanced. "It continues big deficits for years to come and adds billions of dollars of new debt," he said Thursday when releasing the news of the veto. "It contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings. We can--and must--do better," he said. It's the first time a California governor has vetoed a spending plan since at least 1922 when the modern budget bill was created, state records show. That caused the story to get national attention. The New York Times reported that, "Since the onset of the recession that began in 2007, California's financial problems have grown as outsized as the state itself...In terms of sheer dollars, the steepest cuts affect the most vulnerable in the state, including a $1.7 billion cut to Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for poor families and disabled; a $1.5 billion reduction in its welfare-to-work program; and a $750 million cut from the agency that provides services to those with developmental disabilities. The state's higher education system, including the highly regarded University of California, would lose $1.4 billion. Under Mr. Brown's plan, a raft of state functions, like fire and emergency response, court security, housing for low-level criminals and oversight of adult parolees, among others, would become local or county responsibility." With local and county governments also in financial turmoil, they are likely going to be unable to shoulder further financial burdens. The Wall Street Journal reported that it "raises the specter that the nation's most populous state could begin the July 1 fiscal year without a budget. That could harm the state's ability to pay bills and borrow more money, potentially threatening California's fragile economic recovery." Brown has signed into law $11.2 billion in budget cuts to date leaving a deficit of $9.6 billion which he wants to wipe out mostly with tax extensions which can't go to voters without a bill passed by the legislature with a two-thirds supermajority. He needs to persuade just four Republicans to get behind such a bill, but to date he has been unsuccessful. Where we go next is uncertain. Brown is hoping that he can get a few Republicans to jump over to his side in light of the veto, while many Republicans are saying the veto shows that we need to make more budget cuts. If something doesn't happen soon, creditors of the state will begin receiving I.O.U.'s in July instead of checks, as they did in the summer of 2009 when we were in another budget crisis. Further exacerbating the problem is that many Democrats feel abandoned, some claiming they were blind-sided by the veto. This will only make it more difficult for Democrats and Republicans to come up with a bipartisan solution, and there is even retaliation against Governor Brown from his own party. A Monterey Herald article June 18 entitled Dems fume over Brown veto said that a day after Brown vetoed a budget he suggested was too gimmicky, state Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat, halted all confirmation hearings on the governor's appointments. Tensions are said to be extremely high in Sacramento.
http://www.montereyherald.com/rss/ci_18298471?nclick_check=1
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/national/usstatesterritoriesandpossessions/california/budget_crisis_2008_09/index.html
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to the elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog
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