The Assembly Budget Committee met today to hear three pending items in the special session relating to cash management, social services, and the environment. All three bills were passed out of committee on a bipartisan vote and referred to the Assembly Floor for a vote.
Most of the hearing focused on ABx8 5, which provides cash solutions for both the current year and the budget year. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer testified that the state cannot sell GO bonds until this bill is passed. Inaction on this bill has delayed a $2 billion GO bond offering previously scheduled for next week.
We need to pass this bill in order to bolster market confidence in California’s bonds as investments. This will help us to create jobs by rolling out state infrastructure projects. The committee passed ABx8 5 with a 19-3 vote, conditioned with the expressed intent to author any necessary cleanup legislation.
ABx8 7 restores financial solvency to our state’s recycling program – or the California Beverage Container Recycling (Bottle Bill) Program – for the next sixteen months. It also makes the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, which provides low interest financing for water quality projects, eligible for federal funding. The committee passed ABx8 7 with a 24-0 vote.
SBx8 4 provides statutory changes in developmental services and foster care. The committee passed SBx8 4 with amendments focusing on caseload ratios at regional centers with a 15-3 vote.
As urgency legislation, passing ABx8 5 and ABx8 7 will require a two-thirds vote of the Assembly. So, they cannot pass without Republican votes. I hope that my Republican colleagues join me in supporting these bills, along with SBx8 4 which makes tough but necessary cuts to reduce our budget deficit.
This conclusion simply reinforces the fact that difficult and painful cuts are basically all that are left for us to consider as we continue working to close our budget gap. Therefore, we must proceed with great caution and care in the months ahead.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Plugging the Holes in the California Lifeboat
I met today in my District Office with local advocates for the Children’s Health Initiative. They came armed with some alarming numbers: If the Healthy Families program is eliminated, as proposed by the governor within the 2010-2011 budget, 80,769 children in the County of Riverside will lose their state-subsidized health care, 69,703 in San Bernardino County, 26,687 in Kern County, 23,076 in Fresno County, 80,451 in San Diego County, 90,143 in Orange County, and 242,660 in LA County. Further information available here.
Multiply this by the millions of Californians affected by the unraveling of our state, and you will start to get the picture of the carnage that is being wreaked by the governor’s proposals to address California’s deficit. Well-meaning advocates plead their cases for various important programs proposed for closure or cuts by the governor: each asking that their program be given priority: Healthy Families, CalWORKS, CalGrants, K-12 education, UC students, CSU students, community colleges, game wardens, state parks, public transit, MediCal, community medical clinics, rural hospitals, Every Woman Counts, inter-city rail, family planning, women’s health care, domestic violence shelters, the Williamson Act, firefighting services, local police departments, CHP, HIV/AIDS, local streets and roads, adult day health care, In Home Supportive Services, Black Infant Health, child care, “optional” Medi-Cal treatments such as dental, podiatry, and vision—and the list goes on and on….
When the impacts of the current recession are factored in, over 17% of Californians are expected to be living in poverty. Twenty percent of African-American Californians live in poverty. Poverty rates in certain counties are very high: 19% of Kern County residents live in poverty; 20% of Tulare County residents live in poverty. In Los Angeles, the poverty rate is 15%. For children, the rates are even higher: in Fresno County, 37.3% of children live in poverty. In San Bernardino County, 20.6% of children live in poverty. Overall, nearly 20% of California’s children lived in poverty in 2008, the last year for which data is available. Due to the recent recession, continued increased unemployment rate, and ongoing mortgage foreclosures, that number has surely soared.
Meanwhile, billions of dollars in new corporate tax giveaways are scheduled to go into effect next summer. The governor threatens to veto legislation aimed at tax cheats and tax avoiders. Last year, billionaire tobacco and oil companies ran mail and telephone campaigns opposing even small tax levies on their products to balance the budget. Anthem Blue Cross not only opposes federal health care reform which would solve the biggest part of our state deficit, but it threatens premium increases of 39%.
For the advocates I met with today, and the many like them who work daily to provide basic services to Californians, the message is simple but bleak: we all need to realize that a terrible change is happening here in our state. Our long-time, unified commitment to a basic standard of living and equal opportunity for all Californians is being torn apart. While we face unprecedented levels of debt and deficit, it should be possible for all of us to join together to find solutions that protect the least among us and that keep our fundamentals intact, allowing us to weather this crisis together as a community. Instead, the Governor and his kind use this crisis to drive a wedge between Californians to divide us along economic lines. They would use this crisis to drive more Californians further into poverty, while enriching those at the very top.
Those of us who continue to believe in California’s historic commitment to a common purpose would share the sacrifices while we work toward a better future for all. Last year at this time, our commitment held—we rejected the governor’s proposed shut-down of state services and put everything on life support, funded at minimal levels. We must continue to fight those who would force the poorest and most vulnerable among us to bear the burdens of this recession and do the same this year. We must keep our eye on a collective better future by continuing to invest in public education and providing the most basic care to our children, our elderly, and the disabled in our communities until California pulls out of this recession and we can all do better. No one should be left behind or thrown off our lifeboat.
Multiply this by the millions of Californians affected by the unraveling of our state, and you will start to get the picture of the carnage that is being wreaked by the governor’s proposals to address California’s deficit. Well-meaning advocates plead their cases for various important programs proposed for closure or cuts by the governor: each asking that their program be given priority: Healthy Families, CalWORKS, CalGrants, K-12 education, UC students, CSU students, community colleges, game wardens, state parks, public transit, MediCal, community medical clinics, rural hospitals, Every Woman Counts, inter-city rail, family planning, women’s health care, domestic violence shelters, the Williamson Act, firefighting services, local police departments, CHP, HIV/AIDS, local streets and roads, adult day health care, In Home Supportive Services, Black Infant Health, child care, “optional” Medi-Cal treatments such as dental, podiatry, and vision—and the list goes on and on….
When the impacts of the current recession are factored in, over 17% of Californians are expected to be living in poverty. Twenty percent of African-American Californians live in poverty. Poverty rates in certain counties are very high: 19% of Kern County residents live in poverty; 20% of Tulare County residents live in poverty. In Los Angeles, the poverty rate is 15%. For children, the rates are even higher: in Fresno County, 37.3% of children live in poverty. In San Bernardino County, 20.6% of children live in poverty. Overall, nearly 20% of California’s children lived in poverty in 2008, the last year for which data is available. Due to the recent recession, continued increased unemployment rate, and ongoing mortgage foreclosures, that number has surely soared.
Meanwhile, billions of dollars in new corporate tax giveaways are scheduled to go into effect next summer. The governor threatens to veto legislation aimed at tax cheats and tax avoiders. Last year, billionaire tobacco and oil companies ran mail and telephone campaigns opposing even small tax levies on their products to balance the budget. Anthem Blue Cross not only opposes federal health care reform which would solve the biggest part of our state deficit, but it threatens premium increases of 39%.
For the advocates I met with today, and the many like them who work daily to provide basic services to Californians, the message is simple but bleak: we all need to realize that a terrible change is happening here in our state. Our long-time, unified commitment to a basic standard of living and equal opportunity for all Californians is being torn apart. While we face unprecedented levels of debt and deficit, it should be possible for all of us to join together to find solutions that protect the least among us and that keep our fundamentals intact, allowing us to weather this crisis together as a community. Instead, the Governor and his kind use this crisis to drive a wedge between Californians to divide us along economic lines. They would use this crisis to drive more Californians further into poverty, while enriching those at the very top.
Those of us who continue to believe in California’s historic commitment to a common purpose would share the sacrifices while we work toward a better future for all. Last year at this time, our commitment held—we rejected the governor’s proposed shut-down of state services and put everything on life support, funded at minimal levels. We must continue to fight those who would force the poorest and most vulnerable among us to bear the burdens of this recession and do the same this year. We must keep our eye on a collective better future by continuing to invest in public education and providing the most basic care to our children, our elderly, and the disabled in our communities until California pulls out of this recession and we can all do better. No one should be left behind or thrown off our lifeboat.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Sacrificing Women First
The governor’s plan for solving California’s budget crisis is for low-income Californians to die. And, because of the governor’s cuts to Every Woman Counts, it's ladies first.
As previously explained on this blog, the governor’s first act of 2010 was to take mammograms away from 100,000 low-income women provided through the Every Woman Counts program. This was in direct violation of the Legislature’s direction this summer. We appropriated what the Department of Public Health (DPH) told us was anticipated to be sufficient funding for the year. We denied DPH’s proposal to reduce eligibility for the program because we did not want to cut women off from this life-saving screening.
Yesterday, the Assembly Budget Committee held a hearing on the governor’s cuts. Dr. Mark Horton, Director of the Department of Public Health, testified that the administration’s decision to reduce mammogram access through EWC was strictly a fiscal decision. But testimony from Dr. Jon Grief of the American Cancer Society showed that early breast cancer detection has an enormous financial benefit to our public health system and these cuts will lead to substantially higher state costs. He cited a U.C. San Francisco study, which found that cancer heath care costs increased from $21,320 for women diagnosed with in situ cancer, to $26,747 for localized cancer, $40,096 for regional cancer, and $52,288 for distant cancer. The majority of these increased costs would be paid for by MediCal.
The administration has offered numerous rationales and defenses for the governor’s cuts to EWC. We have been told that Proposition 99, which funds EWC, is experiencing declining revenues; but there is no evidence that Proposition 99 funds are insufficient to support the current program. In fact, the Legislative Analyst’s Office told us that the state had collected $285 million in 2009/10; the appropriation for EWC was roughly $47million. And, the administration further claims that the Legislature authorized these cuts, which is simply not true.
The governor’s budget proposals for FY 2010-2011 shift Proposition 99 funds away from providing mammograms to other programs usually paid for out of the General Fund. It is, therefore, clear that the governor wants to take Proposition 99 funds to solve the state’s budget crisis.
It appears from evidence produced at the hearing that the governor has taken money appropriated by the Legislature for Every Woman Counts and shifted it to pay for other state liabilities. In order to achieve that funding shift, he shut down enrollment for 6 months and limited eligibility. In doing so, he violated legislative authorization, ensured that low-income women will not get life-saving breast cancer detection, and guaranteed the state will incur more costs for treatment.
Dr. Grief posed the question: What is a life worth? That is the question of this state budget debate. And, it’s time to fight back! Women’s lives are at stake. Every one of us is in some way impacted by breast cancer. While we undoubtedly have a state budget crisis, these cuts create a moral crisis as well. We must pursue less deadly alternatives.
As previously explained on this blog, the governor’s first act of 2010 was to take mammograms away from 100,000 low-income women provided through the Every Woman Counts program. This was in direct violation of the Legislature’s direction this summer. We appropriated what the Department of Public Health (DPH) told us was anticipated to be sufficient funding for the year. We denied DPH’s proposal to reduce eligibility for the program because we did not want to cut women off from this life-saving screening.
Yesterday, the Assembly Budget Committee held a hearing on the governor’s cuts. Dr. Mark Horton, Director of the Department of Public Health, testified that the administration’s decision to reduce mammogram access through EWC was strictly a fiscal decision. But testimony from Dr. Jon Grief of the American Cancer Society showed that early breast cancer detection has an enormous financial benefit to our public health system and these cuts will lead to substantially higher state costs. He cited a U.C. San Francisco study, which found that cancer heath care costs increased from $21,320 for women diagnosed with in situ cancer, to $26,747 for localized cancer, $40,096 for regional cancer, and $52,288 for distant cancer. The majority of these increased costs would be paid for by MediCal.
The administration has offered numerous rationales and defenses for the governor’s cuts to EWC. We have been told that Proposition 99, which funds EWC, is experiencing declining revenues; but there is no evidence that Proposition 99 funds are insufficient to support the current program. In fact, the Legislative Analyst’s Office told us that the state had collected $285 million in 2009/10; the appropriation for EWC was roughly $47million. And, the administration further claims that the Legislature authorized these cuts, which is simply not true.
The governor’s budget proposals for FY 2010-2011 shift Proposition 99 funds away from providing mammograms to other programs usually paid for out of the General Fund. It is, therefore, clear that the governor wants to take Proposition 99 funds to solve the state’s budget crisis.
It appears from evidence produced at the hearing that the governor has taken money appropriated by the Legislature for Every Woman Counts and shifted it to pay for other state liabilities. In order to achieve that funding shift, he shut down enrollment for 6 months and limited eligibility. In doing so, he violated legislative authorization, ensured that low-income women will not get life-saving breast cancer detection, and guaranteed the state will incur more costs for treatment.
Dr. Grief posed the question: What is a life worth? That is the question of this state budget debate. And, it’s time to fight back! Women’s lives are at stake. Every one of us is in some way impacted by breast cancer. While we undoubtedly have a state budget crisis, these cuts create a moral crisis as well. We must pursue less deadly alternatives.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Power Plays and Smelly Cheese
The Assembly Budget Committee met yesterday to discuss California’s cash crisis and deficit. State Controller John Chiang testified that we face a cash crunch for a three week period in March and April. He said any solutions we come up with must be “credible and sustainable.”
What’s the governor’s proposal to address California’s cash crisis? Sadly, it’s just another power play. He seeks unprecedented unilateral authority for the Department of Finance to delay almost all state payments at any time during the next two fiscal years. This would include payments to K-12 schools, community colleges, UCs and CSU, trial courts, Medi-Cal providers, all state vendors, tax refunds, and SSI and CalGrant payments. Such broad, unfettered authority would wreak havoc throughout our state because no one would know when or if they could expect payment.
This is part of a continuing pattern of the Administration’s failure to address California’s problems. Despite the State Controller’s numerous warnings that the state lacks a proper cash cushion and may run out of cash, the Administration has no plan to deal with this crisis.
Once again, the governor has punted to the Legislature. If previous patterns hold true, the governor will soon begin whining to the press that the Legislature is failing to act on his proposal to address the cash crisis. Never mind that his proposal is like Swiss cheese—smelly and full of holes.
The Committee expressed bi-partisan frustration with the administration for failing to make a legitimate proposal to assure that the state pays its bills. One member called this proposal “outrageous;” another called it “breathtaking.” I call it irresponsible and insufficient. It utterly fails the Controller’s test of “credible and sustainable.” I told the Department of Finance to return with a real cash management plan.
Last year, California’s cash shortage stopped 5,400 bond-funded projects, putting many people out of work. It also delayed $2.2 billion worth of tax refunds and resulted in the issuance of 450,000 IOUs. We can and must avoid the same problem this year.
Next week we will begin detailed subcommittee hearings and the Legislature will act before the special session deadline of February 22. We will be working with the Controller, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the Department of Finance to develop a serious plan that avoids a cash problem. Once we have that immediate problem behind us, we will focus on enacting a fair, timely, and credible budget for FY 2010-2011.
What’s the governor’s proposal to address California’s cash crisis? Sadly, it’s just another power play. He seeks unprecedented unilateral authority for the Department of Finance to delay almost all state payments at any time during the next two fiscal years. This would include payments to K-12 schools, community colleges, UCs and CSU, trial courts, Medi-Cal providers, all state vendors, tax refunds, and SSI and CalGrant payments. Such broad, unfettered authority would wreak havoc throughout our state because no one would know when or if they could expect payment.
This is part of a continuing pattern of the Administration’s failure to address California’s problems. Despite the State Controller’s numerous warnings that the state lacks a proper cash cushion and may run out of cash, the Administration has no plan to deal with this crisis.
Once again, the governor has punted to the Legislature. If previous patterns hold true, the governor will soon begin whining to the press that the Legislature is failing to act on his proposal to address the cash crisis. Never mind that his proposal is like Swiss cheese—smelly and full of holes.
The Committee expressed bi-partisan frustration with the administration for failing to make a legitimate proposal to assure that the state pays its bills. One member called this proposal “outrageous;” another called it “breathtaking.” I call it irresponsible and insufficient. It utterly fails the Controller’s test of “credible and sustainable.” I told the Department of Finance to return with a real cash management plan.
Last year, California’s cash shortage stopped 5,400 bond-funded projects, putting many people out of work. It also delayed $2.2 billion worth of tax refunds and resulted in the issuance of 450,000 IOUs. We can and must avoid the same problem this year.
Next week we will begin detailed subcommittee hearings and the Legislature will act before the special session deadline of February 22. We will be working with the Controller, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the Department of Finance to develop a serious plan that avoids a cash problem. Once we have that immediate problem behind us, we will focus on enacting a fair, timely, and credible budget for FY 2010-2011.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
IHSS Community: Protect Your Rights, Protect Yourselves
Nancy Riley is the long-time in-home care provider for Michael Condon, a Vietnam veteran who was recently interrogated and threatened at his home by an armed state investigator questioning his IHSS benefits. This alarming incident demands a thorough investigation and I encourage anyone with a similar experience to report it immediately.
Legislation adopted last year calls for unannounced home visits to investigate suspected fraud. However, the legislation also required the Department of Social Services (DSS) to develop protocols for these visits. These protocols have not yet been developed, so it was a big surprise to find out that unannounced visits have already begun with no guidance in place to protect anyone involved. It was also a surprise to find out that the Department plans to purchase Polaroid cameras to photograph IHSS recipients.
These protocols will ensure that home visits are conducted in such a way to protect the integrity of the IHSS program while respecting IHSS clients and providers. DSS has committed to undertaking the requisite stakeholder process, and the Legislature will monitor it to ensure that it does.
In the meantime, I believe these unannounced visits may not yet be legal. Photography is certainly not authorized by law. The governor himself requested this new law and signed it. Now, his administration must abide by it.
Until the home visit protocols are finalized, there is an opportunity for scam artists posing as investigators to come into the homes of IHSS recipients and defraud or abuse them. Therefore, I want to alert everyone in the IHSS community to take the necessary steps to protect yourselves. Confirm the identity of anyone claiming to be a fraud investigator before allowing them to enter your home.
If you are a provider or consumer with concerns about a visit from a fraud investigator, please call the Department of Health Care Services toll free at 1-800-822-6222.
Legislation adopted last year calls for unannounced home visits to investigate suspected fraud. However, the legislation also required the Department of Social Services (DSS) to develop protocols for these visits. These protocols have not yet been developed, so it was a big surprise to find out that unannounced visits have already begun with no guidance in place to protect anyone involved. It was also a surprise to find out that the Department plans to purchase Polaroid cameras to photograph IHSS recipients.
These protocols will ensure that home visits are conducted in such a way to protect the integrity of the IHSS program while respecting IHSS clients and providers. DSS has committed to undertaking the requisite stakeholder process, and the Legislature will monitor it to ensure that it does.
In the meantime, I believe these unannounced visits may not yet be legal. Photography is certainly not authorized by law. The governor himself requested this new law and signed it. Now, his administration must abide by it.
Until the home visit protocols are finalized, there is an opportunity for scam artists posing as investigators to come into the homes of IHSS recipients and defraud or abuse them. Therefore, I want to alert everyone in the IHSS community to take the necessary steps to protect yourselves. Confirm the identity of anyone claiming to be a fraud investigator before allowing them to enter your home.
If you are a provider or consumer with concerns about a visit from a fraud investigator, please call the Department of Health Care Services toll free at 1-800-822-6222.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)