State Budget
How would you balance the budget?
How would you balance the California state budget? The California Budget Challenge is a nonpartisan Internet tool that lets you roll up your sleeves and create your own state budget. You call the shots on how much to spend on schools, the environment, healthcare, prisons and other state programs – and how to pay for them. Should we levy a carbon tax? Restructure Prop 13? Cut income taxes? YOU DECIDE! Take the Budget Challenge Now!
Update from Children’s Advocates Roundtable
Below is some background information on the budget cuts and the project the Children’s Advocates Roundtable has put together in response to these budget cuts “Our Children, Our Duty, Our Future”.
Unfathomable Cuts Jeopardize Child Safety and Well-Being
A 10% cut in County funding translates into 1,051 fewer county social workers to protect abused and neglected children.
With proposed cuts, over 16,000 cases of neglect and abuse toward children will go unanswered and investigated.
Proposed budget cuts in CalWORKs of more than 20% reduce vital services to the state poorest families with children.
More than 350,000 children will lose health coverage with proposed budget cuts, forcing families to seek services in emergency rooms.
The 10% across-the-board cuts proposed by Gov. Schwarzenegger would indeed save the state 10% — but remove about 15% in social services.
Proposed Cuts Exacerbate Historic Underfunding
California is spending 25% less than it did 15 years ago on welfare services.
For the more than 78,000 children in foster care the monthly reimbursement rate for families is less than it costs to kennel a dog.
Proposed changes in the Quarterly Status Reporting will result in 157,400 children losing Medi-Cal coverage in FY 08/09, and a cumulative total of 286,600 children will lose coverage in FY 09/10.
Cuts Thwart County and Legislative Improvement Efforts
The problem is this: if we don’t pay now we’ll pay much more later in everything from hospital care for under weight and premature babies to possible incarceration of youngsters who fell between the cracks because programs for vulnerable children were cut, such as CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, child care, and foster care funding.
The California legislature is reviewing the Governor’s proposed cuts right now and we need your help to protect Our Children. Visit www.children-duty-future.org and click on “sample letter to legislators”. The Roundtable is urging you to pass this sample letter and information on this website on to friends, families and others who will be affected by these cuts and have them send this letter to the following legislators.
California Youth Crisis Line
The California Youth Crisis Line (CYCL), which CCY has operated for over 20 years, is working its way through the legislature up to the Governor to fight the proposed 10% cut in state funding, which the Governor has proposed. The CYCL answers over 12,000 calls every year from youth and youth allies from throughout the state and maintains a database of over 5,500 programs and services statewide that they connect those callers to!
CCY is asking for letters of support to fight these budget cuts. Click here for a template letter for the Assembly and click here for a letter for the Senate. Please complete letters for both the Senate and the Assembly Budget Committees.
Please return your letters of support ASAP and CCY will do the rest (copies, distribution, etc.) to fax: (916) 440-8801 or email klewis@hrdowden.com. If you have any questions, please contact Heather Dearing at (916) 340-0505.
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