On Saturday, I actually had a moment to read the paper. It was breakfast time and I was sitting at the table with the Hobbit and Two. The paper was the San Francisco Chronicle, and when I opened it I found the following picture and list of programs that were cut in the just-passed California budget. Damn, I thought as I took it in. First there was the picture – all those faces! – and the knowledge that all those people would be affected. I’d seen the picture before, a few weeks back, when the Chronicle ran an article profiling some of the programs that were set to be eliminated in the budget, so I knew that it was a day program where adults living in one of San Francisco’s most under-resourced neighborhoods went for health services, meals, socializing. What would they do now? I wondered.
Then there was the list itself and those stark line-items standing out there alone without jargon or spin. They left me with a strong sense of the tough days and nights ahead for the people who receive services and the people who provide them. As these are people who already have been living through tough days and nights – I suddenly I imagined them coming under increased pressure and stress. I thought of the homeless people I used to work with and how most of them were just fragile people who had been pushed too far. And I thought of some of these people cracking under the pressure.
I know budgets are tight. I know. And I know cuts need to be made, and that no one wants to drive businesses out of state by raising taxes, and that no one wants to pay more in taxes period. But the vulnerabilities are real. And the money is there. It doesn’t feel like it is because everyone’s belt is tighter than it used to be. But it is.
Al Williams waits for lunch at the Bayview-Hunters Point Adult Day Health Center. The state cut all funds for such programs.
| Health and Human Services | |
| Medi-Cal co-pay for hospital admissions of $200 and co-pay for each day in the hospital of $100 | $151.2 million |
| A 10 percent reduction in what the state pays for Medi-Cal patients at all long-term care facilities | $172.3 million |
| A 10 percent reduction in what the state pays to physicians who see people on Medi-Cal | $567 million |
| A cap on Medi-Cal visits to doctors of seven per year, unless otherwise medically necessary | $44.9 million |
| Medi-Cal co-payments of $3 (generic) and $5 (brand name) for prescription medications | $140.3 million |
| An increase in premiums and co-pays, benefits, and elimination of vision care for the Healthy Families program | $30.5 million |
| A broad cut to services for the developmentally disabled, including to regional centers | $568.6 million |
| Reductions to the In-Home Supportive Services, a program that’s an alternative to nursing home care. | $486 million |
| Eliminate Adult Day Health Care programs, which provide rehabilitation and social activities for elderly, disabled people. | $90 million |
| General reduction for the medical supply stockpile and mobile field hospitals for major public health emergencies | $5.8 million |
| Shift from early childhood development fund to the general fund for Medi-Cal expenses | $1 billion |
| New Medi-Cal co-pay for physician and clinic visits of $5 per visit | $152.8 million |
| Welfare and child care | |
| Cut welfare grants for families by 8 percent | $300 million |
| Reduce welfare limits from 60 months total to 48 months | $171 million |
| Reduce all state contracts for child care, including pre-school, by 15 percent | $267 million |
| Eliminate some child care services for 11- and 12-year-old children | $38.5 million |
| Reduce state reimbursement for child care by 10 percent | $109 million |
| Colleges and Universities | |
| Unallocated cut to UC | $500 million |
| Unallocated cut to CSU | $500 million |
| Unallocated cut to Hastings College of the Law | $1.5 million |
| Unallocated cut and a fee increase of $10 per unit for community colleges | $510 million |
| Natural Resources | |
| Reduce number of firefighters on Cal Fire engines from four to three | $30.7 million |
| Closure of a yet undetermined number of state parks | $11 million |
| Eliminate state funding for fairs and agricultural districts | $30 million |
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/18/BA5B1IENKI.DTL#ixzz1HIH8xLPG
I know too well how hard these cuts are on those most in need. We are on the board of the Jewish Home in Danville and are trying to juggle our budget and come up with private funding to make up for the cuts. Last night on 60 minutes they did a piece on US companies who have chosen to have their corporate headquarters oversees so they can pay 15% instead of 35% in taxes. Their justification…..just running an efficient business and being responsible to their shareholders. It made me sick! They would still make plenty of money if they paid the higher tax. We are talking about billions of dollars. So much for having pride in and taking responsibility for your own country.