California is Awesome

I haven’t ranted in a long time, mostly due to the arrival of the Little Demoness. Now’s as good as any to start up again, but this time with a discussion, not a rant.

(Written quickly to get this all out before Someone wakes up from her nap.)

I’ve lived in California for almost my entire life. I understand the fiscal crisis my state is in, and I understand that extreme duress sometimes calls for drastic measures. However, Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget cuts seem to bite hardest into the most vulnerable Californians, and my suspicion is that this is because these people cannot muster the money or the clout to pose any political opposition.

What is our governor cutting funding on? Well, as I posted in my LJ earlier, he’s cutting AIDS funding to pre-1985 levels and effectively eliminating funding for victims of domestic violence.

So, what else is going down?

The Parks budget has been cut by $14 million, which could lead to the (temporary?) closure of over 100 state parks. $3 billion in cuts to the UC and CSU programs, with the CSU system approving a 20% hike in fees. There is a $1.4 billion dollar cut to MediCal, which will no longer cover adult dental services, podiatry, or optometry. Roughly 14,000 In-Home Support Services recipients will have their care reduced, and some 1200 recipients will be dropped completely. Alamenda County will lose $2.8 million in Prop 36 (Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act) funds, which puts drug offenders into substance abuse treatment programs instead of jail. The Healthy Families program was cut by $178.6 million, and will not accept new children. Because the federal CHIP pays $2 for every dollar that CA spends, this amounts to, in total, a loss of almost half the Healthy Families program’s annual funding. There is a $528 million cut in CalWORKS, which includes a reduction in employment and child care services. There is a $79 million cut to Child Welfare Services. A $50 million cut to Early Start programs.

I know that California is in deep shit, but there must be alternatives to drastically cutting the funding on so many programs that affect low-income Californians, children, the elderly, and victims of violence.