Governor Signs “Good, Bad And Very Ugly” Budget

July 29, 2009

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a budget-balancing package that imposes deeper cuts to child welfare and health care for the poor, using his line-item veto authority.

"The good, the bad and the ugly," is how the governor described the revised budget. He says the "good" is that it doesn't include any new taxes; the "bad" means severe cuts to virtually every state program that serves California's most needy residents; and the "ugly" are additional cuts made to child welfare and health care for the poor.

Edward Augustus, executive director of California's Children's Defense Fund says the additional $50 million cut to the Healthy Families Program will result in nearly one million of the state's most vulnerable population losing health care services.

"Our children, who've never done anything wrong - and to have their health care taken away from them at a time of economic stress all California families are feeling, it is just literally throwing these children to the wolves."

The impacts of the cuts will be felt across the state, Augustus adds.

"We're going to see it in kids who can't go to school, or go to school sicker, pass on their illnesses. We're gonna see this in kids going to the emergency room because they're not getting the kind of preventive care."

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is challenging whether the governor had the legal authority to make the line-item vetoes, saying lawmakers will fight to restore every dollar of additional cuts to health and human services. The governor warns the state is "not out of troubled waters yet," and that more cuts may be needed if revenues continue to drop.

Lori Abbott, Public News Service - CA

Click here for original version of this article

Source: Public News Service