CDCAN Advocacy Without Borders :: One Community

Headshot of Marty Omoto: Marty Omoto Headshot

SACRAMENTO  - The Governor said yesterday (September 17) in Fresno that he would veto the budget bill passed by the Legislature on Tuesday because it did not contain true budget reforms and that "enough is enough".

Well, he is correct on one thing: enough is enough.   But he is wrong to delay a budget any second further.

The budget delay, now in its third month and the longest in State history, must end - and it must end now.

The delay itself - never mind the process that is flawed that caused it -  is more than just an embarrassment, it is disgraceful, it is irresponsible and most profoundly, it is causing widespread fear and harm to so many Californians, especially with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors and low income children and families and workers.

The Governor and the Legislature can work the very second after a budget is signed on other things like budget reform.  They can work every day and every hour on that if they like and choose to. But the delay of a budget at this point in time, three months late, in the name of reform, only harms people.

At this point in time, whether it is the budget passed by the Legislature on Tuesday, or the additional proposals that the Governor wants, it is clear that California lacks a budget proposal that is compassionate, that reflects the needs and responsibilities of California.  It is clear California needs to reform its budget process and the budget itself.

And what else is new?

This is not the first time that California has a flawed budget, and it is certainly not the last.  Does anyone really believe that in a matter of days, even if the Governor's demands are met and a veto is avoided, that California will have truly reformed the budget process and the budget itself?

Did we all just drink the Kool-Aid and think that something will change in just a matter of days, that has not happened for decades?

But something is happening now.

People are being harmed NOW by further delay of a State budget. The time has long passed for further delay.

Community organizations, facilities, workers who provide supports and services to children and adults with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors, low income children, their families have had state funding owed to them cut off because of the budget delay.  Critical services and supports are being threatened, and in many cases already cut off or reduced.

We cannot allow people who have become such believers of the religion of budget reform that they now are willing to (albeit unintentionally) sacrifice other people's lives to prove it.

It is possible to do budget reform after a budget is passed and signed into law.  It is not like California just started a day ago.  There have been budgets before that have passed each year for decades, without the reforms that we need.  But now, three months late, we need a budget.

Budget Reforms Can Happen After A Budget Is Signed.

Responsible people can do the responsible thing and seriously tackle budget reforms, including a better process to propose, review and pass a budget, and reforms for a more effective government and oversight one second after the budget is enacted.  Many of us think that is what government is for in the first place.

But there is nothing remotely responsible about suddenly putting the proverbial foot down on a problem now,  and seeking to solve it three months after the start of the new budget year, when those problems have been pushed off and not addressed for years and years.

It does seem that the people who are willing to push for a "better budget" or reforms and risk further budget delay at this point in time, 3 months after the start of a new budget year,  are people who are not at risk when there is a delay.  Perhaps their position on the issue of delay at this point in time might be different if they were at risk too.

Or put it another way:

For all those newspaper editorial boards, political columnists, even some advocates, who support delay of the budget and support the Governor's veto, because we need a better budget or one that includes real reforms, and who think delay in and of itself is not killing people now, not harming people now, not causing fear and anxiety, then match your opinion with some the pain that we face:

1. Take out of your bank account three months worth of your paycheck and everyone else in your home that also receives a paycheck. Have the bank write out a cashiers check to you.
2. Burn it.  Burn it right in front of your family or other loved ones
3. Refuse any further paychecks.
4. Take out loans - if you can - to cover the lost money, though without any idea of how long you will need loans to cover your living expenses.
5. And during all that time, just talk about reform and wait for it. Or worse, wait and have to listen to others talk about it (and do nothing).
6. When reform happens, go back to the bank and hope that they will replace the cashiers check.

If you are not willing to do that, and do that right this second, then frankly, any point about delay and reform is really about doing those things on some one's else's life.

But if you are willing to do that (and actually do it) then you might feel the fear, the pain and the total anguish that our communities feel and face.

But maybe not.  Maybe a person would still be willing to wait and talk about reform while their house is foreclosed, their families go without food, healthcare, or their workers go without paychecks, or their organization must close down. But unlike AIG, unlike Fannie Mae and blessed organizations like that, there is no government bail-out waiting, so reforms can happen later.

Budget Delay At This Point In Time Causing More Harm

Is the budget passed on Tuesday by the Legislature bad? Yes - though, it could have been much worse in terms of cuts.

Does it defer and kick the budget problem down the alley, as the Governor and others have said?

Yes - though that is nothing new, at least not to those of us in the State who feel left out of any reforms and promises.  Budget reforms is not just about balancing a budget or controlling costs or making cuts.

Budget reform is also about reforming a process and a budget that addresses the needs and respects and enforces the rights of Californians, especially those left out every year, to live in ones own community and home, regardless of one's disability, mental health need or age.  That has not happened, even in good budget times.

And the Governor - along with previous Governors and Legislatures, have been kicking ALOT of things down the alley for years. Like healthcare reform.  Like promises to implement and fully comply with the 1999 US Supreme Court "Olmstead Decision".  Like the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act.  Like rights of children to special education.

Do we need to change the process and push for reforms? Absolutely.

But not on the lives of people with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors, low income children, and the thousands of community organizations and workers who do the State's work to provide services and supports.

But the budget delay itself now - at this point in time, is causing major problems.

Enough is enough.

As the budget stand off goes into its 80th day, it is just 16 weeks before the next budget is proposed.

And we know and remember this:

When a budget is proposed - we are at the top of the list of any budget cuts.
When a budget is stalemated -  we are in caught in the middle.
And when a budget is finally passed - we are at the end of the line of budget priorities.

The delay in the budget that harms our communities is disgraceful, harmful and irresponsible.  So are the constant proposals year after year that seek only to cut in the name of reform.

It is not budget reform when the Governor and Legislature cut 15 times in the last 19 years, the state money owed to the lowest income people with disabilities, the blind, the lowest income seniors who receive SSI/SSP (Supplemental Security Income/State Supplemental Payment) that is the basic means of survival, then it is no longer a hard choice to make. It is an easy target - and an easy answer.

But now, three months into the new budget year, the time is critical and the time is past for further delay.

The delay must end.  The Governor needs to sign the budget - and then, with the Legislature, work for real budget reforms.

Legislators and the Governor cannot expect community organizations and workers who serve people with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors and others to bear the burden of last year's cuts, then the burden of taking out loans or scrambling to pay costs because the State is not responsible in paying its bills and keeping its promise - and then within months, face all of that again and again.  That is not reform in any sense of the word.

California is better than the proposals that harm its own people. It is better than delaying a budget that harms its own people.  And the Legislature and Governor can be better than that too.  They have a responsibility to show us that they are and they can do that in the coming year.  And as voters, we need to remember if they don't.

End the delay. Now.

SOME SUGGESTED ACTION STEPS:

CALL THE GOVERNOR

Call the Governor's office and let the Governor's representatives know that vetoing and delaying a budget at this point in time - 3 months - is wrong and harms Californians.

Capitol office  (916) 445-2841
Fresno field office:  (559) 445-5295
Los Angeles field office: (213) 897-0322
San Diego field office: (619) 525-4641
San Francisco field office: (415) 703-2218
Riverside field office: (951) 680-6860

CALL THE FOUR LEGISLATIVE LEADERS

Call them and ask them to override the Governor's veto, and that we need a budget now.

Call the Senate President Pro Tem's Office
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (Democrat - Oakland, 9th District)
Capitol Office: (916) 651-4009

Call the Assembly Speaker's Office
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (Democrat - Los Angeles, 47th District)
Capitol Office: (916) 319-2047

Call the Senate Republican Leader's Office:
Sen. Dave Cogdill (Republican - Fresno, 14th District)
Capitol Office: (916) 651-4014

Call the Assembly Republican Leader's Office
Assemblymember Mike Villines (Republican - Clovis, 29th District)
Capitol Office: (916) 319-2029

CALL YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS AND TV STATIONS

Several local newspapers and media have editorials in support of the Governor's veto. Let them know that the Governor should not veto the budget bill and that further delay of a budget is causing widespread harm to children and adults with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors, their families, low income children, community organizations, facilities and workers who provide supports and services.  Let me know that talks and efforts on budget reform can happen ONE SECOND after a budget is signed into law.  Tell them to hold the Governor and Legislature accountable for that to happen - but not on the lives of our communities.