CDCAN Advocacy Without Borders :: One Community

• Budget Conference Committee Will Meet At 11 AM Thursday –Focus on Health Items Including Medi-Cal & Mental Health
• Reviews Human Service Budget Issues – Keeps Most Items Open Including IHSS – But Directs Department of Social Services to Convene Stakeholder Group To Look At Ways To Achieve Targeted Savings of Possibly 10%

SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN) [Updated 06/09/2010  04:25 PM  (Pacific Time)] -  The budget conference committee adjourned Wednesday afternoon (June 9^th) just before 4:30 PM after completing a first pass through on human services budget issues including CalWORKS and In-Home Supportive Services, keeping most of the items “open” to revisit probably next week.  The Budget Conference Committee, chaired by Sen. Denise Ducheny (Democrat – San Diego), will reconvene Thursday morning (June 10), at 11:00 AM, at the State Capitol in Room 4203, covering health budget items (including Medi-Cal, mental health, regional centers).  That time could change depending on when the Assembly floor session adjourns.

All budget conference committee hearings are open to the public and televised – though public testimony is not taken at these hearings.

CDCAN will issue later today a full report and more details about today’s budget conference committee hearing.

Assembly and Senate Budget Chairs Want IHSS Stakeholder Group to Look At “Realistic” Ways To Reduce Spending With Possible Target of 10%

The budget conference committee took no formal votes on any of the major human service budget issues on the agenda, including In-Home Supportive Services, but the budget conference committee chair (Denise Ducheny) and conference committee member Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (Democrat – Van Nuys), chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, said that the IHSS stakeholder group needed to be convened  “immediately” and have other advocacy groups and legislative staff included.

Ducheny said the IHSS stakeholder group working with the Schwarzenegger Administration, similar to the budget stakeholder advisory group that was created last year by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), would need to come up with ideas that were “realistic” and report back those recommendations or ideas to the budget conference committee, though did not indicate a date.  Ducheny praised the work of the budget advisory workgroup composed of certain stakeholders that was convened last year and this year by the Department of Developmental Services for its ability to identify budget savings that she said mitigated or reduced harm.

A Schwarzenegger Administration official told the budget conference committee that a stakeholder group had been meeting earlier with the Administration to begin identifying some options for possible IHSS program changes, but said the group has not scheduled any additional meetings.  The official did not identify who were members of the stakeholder group but did say that reductions and other changes to the IHSS program that were enacted last February and July as part of the 2009-2010 State Budget but have been – at least for now – blocked by pending lawsuits, were not being considered by the stakeholder group as options to achieve the targeted proposed savings.

Both Ducheny and Blumenfield said repeatedly that the goal of the stakeholder group would be to help identify possible solutions and ideas to save the State (reduce funding) with a goal of about 10% - not the proposed $750 million reduction in state general funding to the program that the Governor proposed in May or even the elimination of the program as the Governor previously proposed.

Blumenfield said that a 10% target [in reductions to the IHSS program] would be “reasonable” but that he didn’t want members of the stakeholder group to feel “strong armed” into some larger reduction and repeated that the stakeholder needed to have included other stakeholders and appropriate legislative budget staff.

Ducheny agreed saying that she was “tired of [the Legislature] making policy decisions that don’t work” – referring to the numerous lawsuits that have – at least for now – blocked many of the reductions proposed by the Governor and passed by the Legislature dealing with IHSS, Medi-Cal and other services.  She said that the stakeholder group should view the 10% as a target – but didn’t want stakeholders to think the target is higher, such as 50% or outright elimination of the program – neither option she said was “realistic”.

While the budget conference committee proceedings have largely been conducted on a very cordial and even friendly basis, today’s hearing had a brief but sharp exchange between Ducheny and Sen. Bob Dutton, vice chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and the new incoming Senate Republican Leader about the need for major spending cuts and preserving human service programs like IHSS at a certain level of spending.

Budget Conference Committee  Only Deals With Issues Where Both Houses Took Different Actions on Budget Items

As previously reported, only those budget issues where the Assembly and State Senate took DIFFERENT actions are issues on the conference committee agenda.

Budget issues where both houses took the same actions are, for now, part of Governor’s proposed 2010-2011 State Budget, as revised – but still requires approval of both houses of the Legislature and the Governor.  

Given the major differences that Legislative Democrats and Republicans and the Governor have on resolving the budget deficit, passage of a budget will not happen anytime soon, most Capitol observers agree.

At this point in the budget process, the Governor’s proposed 2010-2011 State Budget that includes changes that both the Senate and Assembly Democrats passed in recent weeks, is contained in AB 190.  After the budget conference committee phase ends, that bill number will likely change as the process moves forward (CDCAN will report any changes).

Agenda for All Conference Committee Hearings On CDCAN Website

The agendas for the conference committee  total hundreds of pages long, though the budget conference committee has broken up the agendas by general budget areas.  The portions specifically focused on health budget items (46 page pdf file) and education (50 pages pdf file), human services budget issues (9 page pdf file) and transportation (30 page pdf file)  and other budget items can be viewed and downloaded from the CDCAN website at www.cdcan.us

JUNE 10, 2010 – THURSDAY

BUDGET CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

11:00 AM – State Capitol – Room 4203

Note:  meeting time depends in part when the Assembly floor session adjourns. 

Fourth conference committee hearing on the budget – AB 190

AGENDA AVAILABLE:  YES – copies of  46 page pdf file covering Health budget items can be viewed and downloaded from the CDCAN website at www.cdcan.us

PUBLIC TESTIMONY AT THESE HEARINGS:  No  – but all hearings are open to the public and people can comment on budget items and issues by writing the conference committee members, the legislative leadership and also their own legislators. 

PRIORITY: VERY HIGH

CDCAN COMMENT:    

• Budget conference committee takes up those budget issues where the Assembly and State Senate took different actions on a specific budget item – many which impact people with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind, seniors, low income families and workers who provide supports and services.
• The conference committee has gone and will continue to go through a long agenda organized by department budget item number and then go through each budget item under that department  where each house took a different action and attempt to resolve the differences. 
• While all hearings are public and televised – no public testimony is taken at these hearings, though people can write to the conference committee members expressing their concerns. 
• Even when the budget conference committee finishes its work – sometime on or before June 11^th, it is unlikely that any agreement to pass a State budget will have been reached, with the Governor, Legislative Democrats and Republicans sharply differing on how to resolve the immediate and on-going state budget crisis.

CDCAN’S ACCOUNTABILITY WITH ACTION TRAINING

JUNE 14, 2010 – MONDAY  1:00 to 3:15 PM

IN SACRAMENTO - SPACES LIMITED

FIRST HANDS ON TRAINING OF A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO ADVOCACY

IF INTERESTED IN ATTENDING THIS FREE TRAINING

PLEASE SEND RSVP TO MARTY OMOTO AT:  martyomoto@rcip.com