SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed a $99.1 billion budget plan yesterday and proposed cutting billions of dollars from public health and welfare programs to help pay for it.
Without cuts or increased taxes, California is expected to face a $14 billion deficit by June 30, 2005, the end of the upcoming fiscal year.
Mr. Schwarzenegger did not include any new taxes in his budget plan, but in addition to the cuts, he requested higher state park fees and tuition increases of as much as 40 percent for college students.
“For the past five years, the politicians have made a mess of California’s budget,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said. “Now it’s time to clean it up.”
The biggest cuts are aimed at the state’s Medi-Cal program, which would lose close to $900 million next year under the governor’s proposal. The state’s program to bring welfare recipients into the work force is also targeted in his plan with a $800 million cut.
City and county governments, already upset by the loss of about $4 billion they were expecting from a car-tax increase that Mr. Schwarzenegger repealed, also would lose out.
The governor proposed taking an additional $1.3 billion that the local governments are counting on and instead use it to pay state expenses. The move is a shift from his previous pledge to protect the local governments, though he said yesterday that he would still find a way to replace the lost car-tax revenue.
“We need to know what else is piled on top of it,” said Pat Leary of the California State Association of Counties.
Mr. Schwarzenegger’s budget is built on a rosy economic picture next year, projecting $2.9 billion in additional tax revenue to be available in 2004-2005.
Getting support for the spending plan won’t be easy. Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, have said the burden of the state’s fiscal crisis shouldn’t fall on the poor and disabled.
The blow to public health under Mr. Schwarzenegger’s plan would include caps on enrollments for the state’s health insurance program for the poor and elderly and the elimination of some medical benefits for the poor and disabled.
University students would see higher fees under the proposal, with undergraduates paying 10 percent more, graduate students paying 40 percent more, and middle-income students being offered less financial aid.
Community college students would be asked to pay $8 per unit more — from $18 per unit to $26.
Some social service advocates say tax increases should be used instead of spending cuts to solve the state’s problems.
“I expect that there will still be hard hits on health programs that will hurt children and working families very hard,” said Catherine Teare, spokeswoman for the Oakland-based advocacy group Children Now. “I just don’t see how this all gets done.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.