STATE BUDGET: Governor Schwarzenegger has released
his proposed revised budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The budget addresses
an expected revenue shortfall of at least $16 billion, with a potential to be as high as
$22 billion. This includes eliminating the Williamson Act backfill payments to the County
for loss of property tax revenues, as well as borrowing eight percent of County property
tax revenues. This would have a big impact on County General Funded Department budgets,
(Sheriff, District Attorney, Public Defender, library, County Counsel, Clerk, Assessor,
Auditor, Treasurer, Administrator, jail, probation, etc.) In addition, he proposes to send
State prisoners convicted of low-level crimes back to local jails. (Our jail is at
capacity with a waiting list for some offenders up to six months.)
He proposes cuts to Proposition 36 funding (jail diversion to drug
treatment,) reducing funds for: domestic violence; maternal, child and adolescent program
funding; foster care; child group home funding; adult day care; child welfare programs;
and payments to Counties to administer welfare benefits. He also proposes to change
eligibility for healthy families insurance to 200% of the federal poverty level and to
eliminate in-home support services for the elderly and disabled who just need supervision
or who have minimal physical disabilities. The proposed budget would also limit funding
for children’s dental disease prevention.
According to the Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC,)
Schwarzenegger has declared that the State can no longer afford its Medi-Cal/Medicaid
program as currently structured and governed by federal rules and regulations. The federal
stimulus package currently requires that recipient States maintain programs as they were
in 2008. The State will petition the Obama Administration for a waiver for the ability to
reduce eligibility levels, scope of services and provider rates.
RCRC also
indicates that the Governor’s proposal includes reductions in CalWorks benefits for
families by discontinuing safety net payments after 60 months unless work participation
requirements are met and reducing the maximum aid payment standard by six percent.
Medi-Cal for all undocumented or illegal immigrants would be limited to emergency
services. All undocumented immigrants in State prisons would be turned over to the federal
government.
The State budget fails to include any
reimbursement to the Counties for costs of the current special election.
The Governor also proposes to levy a surcharge on the insurance of
all residential property owners in State and Local Response Areas of 4.8 percent to fund
Cal-Fire and local response agencies participation in the mutual aid system. It is
estimated that this will add an average of about $48 to the cost of insurance.
COLLEGE OF THE
SISKIYOUS COUNTYWIDE RURAL HEALTH MEETING: On
May 26 at 7 p.m., COS will be holding a teleconferenced meeting in sites throughout the
county to discuss the results of their community health survey. (Close to 600 surveys have
been received.) The survey asked county residents what they would like to learn online
from the new COS Rural Health Sciences program. (Subjects like healthy living, medication
information or navigating the health care system.) The meeting will utilize distance
learning technologies at the High Schools in Etna, Dunsmuir, Butte Valley and Tulelake. In
Happy Camp, the meeting will be at the Community Computer Center. There will also be
meeting sites at Yreka and Weed campuses of COS. The technology allows multi-way
participation among all the sites. (And is really neat.)
For more information contact 938-5201
CALIFORNIA
WATER PLAN UPDATE: A
workshop for the north coast region on the 2009 California Water Plan update will be held
on May 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Yreka. The agenda and
other documents can be found online at: http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/materials/index.cfm?date=may2809 |
