When Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown entered office a month ago, he faced a $26.6 billion deficit—the largest in California’s history. He proposed dealing with the shortfall in two ways: a radical $12 billion slashing of the budget and a public vote on a continuation of sales and personal taxes, which should bag approximately $12.5 billion to fill the gap.
The people of California have never had to face cuts like these before. The cuts are so widespread; they’ll likely affect everyone.
The state Legislature was legally obligated by March 11 to decide whether to put Brown’s tax extension proposal on the June ballot. That deadline, however, has come and gone.
One of the programs on the chopping block is Transitional Housing Placement-Plus (THP+), a statewide project that provides housing, job training, and other services to youth who have aged out of the foster care system.
Without the tax extension, THP+ would no longer be able to provide services to thousands of foster youth, said Family Care Network CEO Jim Roberts. Family Care Network runs the THP+ program in San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties.
As result, anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 teens would be forced out onto the streets, Roberts said.
“There’d be no resources for the kids who don’t have families,” he said. “There’d be no place for them to live.”
THP+, he explained, provided independent foster youth, aged 18 to 21, with affordable housing and the skills to make a living outside of the system.
“The good news is that we have strong support in the Legislature to keep the program running,” he added.
The bad news: THP+ is just one program on a long list of programs facing cuts or even eradication.
Gov. Brown proposed a $1.7-billion cut to Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program that provides 7.7 million people with health care at no or low cost. He also wants a $750 million cut from the Department of Developmental Services, which will impact the 244,000 people with developmental disabilities who largely depend on government support.
Cal-Works, the welfare-to-work program, is facing a $1.5 billion cut. This would be accomplished by limiting the period families can receive assistance from five years to four.
The Cal State University System and University of California would each have to make do with at least $500 million less than the year before.
The prison system would face a cut of $563.8 million. Additionally, the state is trying to place approximately 37,000 prisoners back in the care of county jails. That could amount to several hundred prisoners added to the already overcrowded Santa Barbara County jail. High-risk juvenile offenders who are usually housed in state facilities could also be returned to the local level.
Family Care Network’s Roberts said he’s well aware of the current state of the economy. However, he said not extending the tax measure would make matters even worse.
“I know there is a lot of [political disagreement] out there, but we have to compromise and put aside our idiosyncrasies and ideologies,” he said.
If people don’t do that, he said, “it’s going to have an even bigger impact on the economy, and there are going to be more people without jobs and more people on the streets.”
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2011.