The Senate Republican Plan 09/08/2008

• Imposes a cost of $100/month on low-income seniors and disabled who have annual incomes under about $13,000/yr in order to maintain their Medicare Part B coverage.
• Eliminates podiatry, audiology, and optician services for adults in Medi-Cal. These services are primarily used by the elderly and disabled and are important in maintaining their ability to function and remain in their homes and communities.
• Reduces the SSI/SSP couples grants to 125-percent of the federal poverty level (currently the grant level is at 131-percent). This change is out of step with rising food and other living costs and is exacerbated by the state and federal COLA suspensions also assumed in the proposal.
• Eliminates domestic and related services for In-Home Supportive Services recipients who have a functional index score of 2 or 3 and would impact 83,000 of the 415,589 recipients. These tasks include cleaning, laundry, shopping and errands, meal preparation, and meal clean-up for a population deemed to be health-compromised.
• Imposes a share-of-cost of $427/month for 7,125 IHSS recipients. These low-income, senior, and disabled clients are unlikely to have the disposable income needed to maintain these services and pay the share-of-cost, likely resulting in their provider ceasing services mid-month due to non-payment.
• Cuts the Adult Protective Services program by $6.1 million, harming an already underfunded program that responds to emergency needs for the frail and elderly.
• Cuts Education by $5 Billion
  

Proposed Cuts from 2008-09 Governor’s Budget

Education Cuts…

• Force school districts to lay-off teachers and increase class room size by eliminating $2.6 billion in school funding.
• Reduce Special Education Funding by $358 million, forcing schools to rely more heavily on federal funds.
• Eliminate 8000 slots for kids in Child Development Programs by cutting $200 million.
• Eliminate money for Before/After school programs by cutting $60 milliion. 

Veterans Cuts…

• Reduce $1.5 million from the National Guard’s budget to sustain, maintain, and repair Military Department facilities.
• Eliminate $18 million from the State’s Veterans’ Homes, reducing the quality of care for our state’s veterans.
• Impact the Department's ability by $1.3 million to render appropriate military honors for California's deceased veterans.

Agriculture Cuts…

• Eliminate pet food inspections by cutting $1.3 million from CDFA’s inspection program.
• Eliminate research on Avian Virology by eliminating the $1.4 million budget of the research facility.
• Reduce Williamson Act reimbursements to counties by $3.8 million.

Senior Citizen Cuts…

• Reduce the Senior Citizens' Renters' Tax Assistance Program by $15 million
• Reduce the Senior Citizens' Property Tax Assistance Program by $ 4 million
• Reduce the Senior Citizens' Property Tax Deferral Program by $2.5 million.

Public Safety Cuts…

• Eliminate 4,132 Prison Guards to save $30.2 million 
• Diminish the Citizens Option for Public Safety/Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act Program by $23.8 million.
• Significantly reduce Booking Fees reimbursements by $3.5 million
• Reduce the Small/Rural Sheriffs Program by $1.9 million
• Slow the prosecution of death penalty cases by eliminating 1.2 million from the State Public Defender.

TOTAL CUTS: $2.7 Billion
Source: www.ebudget.ca.gov