In response to Desert Sun inquiries, Assembly Speaker John Pérez provided this assessment of the governor’s budget proposals.  More job loss: In total, the governor’s budget eliminates more than 430,000 private-sector, school and local government jobs. Cutting jobs, as outlined below, make chances of a strong jobs recovery much worse.

Schools are facing layoffs of 35,000 teachers and other important school jobs, yet the governor underfunds Proposition 98.

Local governments have shed more than 20,000 jobs including public safety. The governor proposes no relief for these community jobs.

The governor proposes elimination of child-care programs, which will force tens of thousands of working poor parents to leave the work force and put more than 50,000 small-business child-care providers out of business.

The governor proposes elimination of Welfare-to-Work, which strips critical employment services and takes more than $5 billion out of the state’s economy (mostly by losing available federal funds). All told, this will result in more than 140,000 lost jobs in the private sector.

The governor proposes $2 billion in health care cuts, losing $1.2 billion in federal funds. This translates into 25,000 lost jobs.

The governor proposes to cut In-Home Supportive Services spending in half, which, if achieved, would mean the loss of 161,000 jobs.

Devastates education: The governor cuts $4.3 billion in Proposition 98 spending to schools and childcare. The legislative analysts office reports that the governor’s level of funding does not meet Proposition 98 required minimums.

Punishes the working poor: The governor wipes out critical child care and employment services that enable the working poor to stay in the work force, and instead forces tens of thousands out of work.

Billions in hidden borrowing: The governor hides $5 billion in borrowing in his budget (in addition to $2 billion in acknowledged borrowing). The governor’s attempts to violate Proposition 98, wipe out safety net programs and underfund In-Home Supportive Services will only lead to cost shifts to other parts of the budget and to courts overturning the cuts, These cuts are unachievable and the state will ultimately pay for the costs.

Protects “big oil” and corporate loopholes: Keeps California as the only oil-producing state that lets big oil companies take oil out of our ground and not pay a fee; also protects billion- dollar corporate loopholes.

Assemblyman John Pérez is a Democrat who represents the 46th District in Los Angeles. E-mail him via his website, asmdc.org/speaker

Story published in the Desert Sun  July 15, 2010