Schwarzenegger Delivers His Final State of the State Address to the California State
Legislature
In his
final state of the state address, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered his
policy priorities for California citing job creation and education as his top
two priorities. Although the Governor
seemed optimistic about California's future, the forecast for the coming year
is dismal since it is projected that California will not bounce back from the
economic downturn anytime soon. California
is facing yet another shortfall for the current budget year of about $6.6
billion and another $13.3 billion for the 2010-2011 budget year.
As a
result, the Governor is proposing the "California Jobs Initiative" a $500 million package to create 100,000 new
jobs in California. His new jobs program
would train over 130,000 individuals, includes proposals to stimulate
construction by expanding tax credits for first-time homebuyers, making it easier
to streamline new construction for projects that already have a completed environmental impact report, eliminate sales taxes on green tech manufacturing equipment, and includes a proposal to eliminate frivolous lawsuits that punish California's small businesses..
The Governor also proposes to protect education funding by vowing not to
make further education cuts and protecting higher education funding by
proposing to privatize California's prisons to promote competition.
To accomplish this, the Governor is seeking a constitutional amendment.
The
Governor also challenged the Legislature to implement tax and budget reforms this
year as proposed by the Commission on 21st century economy and
California Forward. The Governor stated
that California's tax and budget systems are out of date and reform is needed
to bring both systems into the 21st century. He also warned Legislators that it is better for
the legislature to take the initiative to implement such reforms before the
voters seek reform through the initiative process. Although it is unclear what steps the
Legislature will take this session on these proposals, it is likely that the
Legislature will seek to implement some type of reform this year. For more information on the proposals
mentioned in the Governor's address, please visit www.cotce.ca.gov
and www.caforward.org.
Finally,
the Governor stated that deep cuts will need to be made this year. By prioritizing education, there is little
room to make the significant cuts in the state's budget this year which leaves
health and human service programs particularly vulnerable.
As we await the Governor to release his final
budget proposal this Friday, LCHC will keep you updated as more details become
unveiled.
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Governor to Call for
Mid-year Cuts and Release the 2010 Budget This Friday
Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger has indicated that he will make a special budget speech
this Friday to call for mid-year cuts to address a $ 6.6 billion budget deficit
in the current year. If the Governor
proceeds with this announcement, then under Prop 58 the Legislature has 45 days
to act on his proposals or vote on their own set of cuts and revenue
enhancements to address the shortfall.
If the Legislature fails to address the shortfall within the 45 day
window, then they are precluded from addressing any other issues and cannot
take up other policy considerations until the budget deficit is addressed in
Special session.
In
addition, the Governor has stated that he may propose eliminating entire
programs to address the $13.3 billion budget shortfall expected for the
2010-2011 budget. It is rumored that the
administration may propose eliminating programs such as the In Home Supportive
Services Program, which is a program that provides services to the elderly and
disabled, and proposes the elimination of the CalWORKs program, which is the
state's welfare to work program. Both
proposals would have devastating impact on individuals who rely on these
programs to be self sufficient. |
Governor
Schwarzenegger Asks the Federal Government for Health Policy Changes to Implement Health Care Reform in California
In a letter
dated December 22, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a letter to House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking for specific policy changes in order to help
implement that national health care reform proposals. The Schwarzenegger administration would like the
federal government to allow more flexibility in the cost of the state's
Medi-Cal program. It is anticipated that
approximately 2 million new enrollees would be added to the state's Medi-Cal
program as a result of the national health care reform proposals.
Some of the
changes the Governor seeks include: Lowering the rates paid
to persons who provide medical care under the program
Limiting benefits to
patients Increasing co-pays Changes in the federal
Medicaid reimbursement rate for state
No word yet on how
the federal government will react to Schwarzenegger's request, however, he is
calling for major reforms and federal funds to help California implement health
care reform. In fact in today's state of
the state address, the Governor asks California's congressional delegation to
urge a "sweetheart" deal for California like the one Ben Nelson garnered for
Nebraska which would have the federal government pick up the tab for covering all
adults up to 133 % of the federal poverty level in Medicaid. The Governor also urged that the delegation
either fight for some perks for California and make some changes to the
proposal or vote against it.
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Senate
and House to Negotiate Health Care Reform Proposals
Top
legislative leaders will turn to good old fashioned negotiations instead of
gearing up for conference committee as they return from their winter
recess. Democrats from both the House
and Senate are scheduled to meet and negotiate the two bills from each chamber
rather than opting for negotiations to take place in conference committee to
avoid further delays by Republicans. If
legislative leaders proceed with this strategy, it is expected that the House
will take the first step to amend the Senate version of the health care reform
bill before taking the bill up for a vote in the House and allow the Senate to
do the same in its chamber.
Although
it is anticipated that the bill may make its way onto the President's desk as
early as February, it is unknown what process will be used to finally merge the
two bills into a final package for the President. Democrats seem to be taking steps to avoid
possible filibusters by Republicans, and at least one congressional leader is
hinting at the prospect of avoiding conference committee may be likely as
congress returns to Washington next week.
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