SACRAMENTO – "Grandma and grandpa are not a special interest group."

Senior citizens and state lawmakers took odds with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposal Wednesday, saying it unfairly increases the tax burden on older Californians while reducing their benefits.

Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, chair of the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, joined Budget Committee Chairman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, Gary Passmore of the Congress of California Seniors, and a group of aging advocates to call for fairness as the state solves its budget problems.

"Seniors are our mothers and fathers, our grandmothers and grandfathers," said Berg. "They are not – as the governor wants us to believe – some big bad 'special interest.' Your grandma and grandpa are not a special interest."

The governor's proposed budget would limit or eliminate renters and homeowners tax credits for middle-income senior citizens, effectively raising their tax burden by $140 million.

The proposal also seeks to withhold a $37-a-month increase for aged, blind and disabled people of very low income. Under the governor's plan, their monthly stipend would remain $812 a month, instead of rising to $849.

The governor also seeks to dramatically cut the wages of workers who tend to the in-home needs of the frail elderly and people with disabilities. The plan would either shift a $195 million burden onto already struggling counties, or force people to live without the modest help they need.