Overall Schwarzenegger 2008 Budget Program

$14 billion shortfall projected by July, 2009, $3 billion from this year, $11 billion from 08-09.
* Schwarzenegger plan: balance thru cuts. 
* Nunez plan: balance thru ½ cuts, ½ revenue increase.
* Republican Governor Pete Wilson in 1991-92 budget crisis: 1/3 cuts, 2/3 revenue increase.

Education:

• Approximately $5 billion in Prop 98 funds to be deferred (Calif. Is 46th in US in per/pupil funding.)

Healthcare: 

• $1 billion cuts to Medi-Cal alone, half from cuts to provider payments

• 10% cut in Medi-Cal payments to doctors, hospitals, clinics, and HMOs.
  (California payments to doctors, hospitals, and clinics are already among lowest in US.  Six million Californians are on Medi-Cal, about 1/6th of State. California has 46 primary care providers who accept Medi-Cal per 100,000 patients – compared to 60 to 80 per 100,000 nationally.) (more)

• Require re-registration for Medi-Cal every three months for both kids, adults. (This is being done to knock 100,000 adults and kids off Medi-Cal.)

• Cuts in “optional” Medi-Cal benefits (adult dental, optometry, audiology, podiatry, psychology, speech therapy, and acupuncture, all with high impact for seniors and people with disabilities.)

• Medicare/Medi-Cal recipients will lose help in paying Medicare Part B premium payments.

• Cut in payments to Counties to administer Medi-Cal and determine eligibility, or sign up new recipients.

• Cuts to long-term-care facilities

• Cuts to private hospitals to offset uncompensated care costs

Seniors

• IHSS: A 20% cut in hours per month  for non medical service (meal prep, laundry, bathing)
  and cuts to county programs administering IHSS programs.  (more)

• Suspension of state’s COLA for SSI/SSIP until 2010 (Affecting 1.3 million seniors/disabled.) (more)

• Cuts to Department of Aging Nutrition Program (Provides home-delivered meals.)

Healthy Families

• Families 150-200 pct of Poverty Level will have a premium increase from $9 to $16 per month.

• Families 200-250 pct of Poverty Level will have a premium increase from $15 to $19 per month.

• Co-Payments for medical visits for illness or injury treatment will increase from $5/visit to $7.50/visit.

Cal/WORKS (old AFDC/welfare)

• 75,000 families will loose all assistance

• Elimination of cash assistance for kids of parents who are reaching the 5 yr. limit.

• Elimination of cash assistance for kids of parents not eligible for Cal/WORKS:
  (Citizen kids of undocumented parents, drug felonies, parents not meeting work quotas)

• State Welfare funding flat since 1997, and $12 billion has been diverted to other uses.

Food/Hunger Programs 

• Cut  state reimbursement to school districts for free/reduced meals.

• Cut County Funds to administer Food Stamp programs

• 10 % cut for Calif. Food Assistance Program (food stamps for undocumented immigrants)

• 2.9 million adults in California were “food-insecure”.
  Half of food assistance recipients are families with kids.
  In 2003, food assistance programs covered ½ million in California.

Source: California Budget Project, "Legislature Passes Mid-Year Cuts," Feb. 15, 2008 (pdf)

Read California Budget Project's "Two Steps Back," on why California should not use cuts as the way to solve its budget problem.