The potential elimination of redevelopment agencies is dominating local attention, but three of the desert’s lawmakers are raising awareness for other programs on the state budget chopping block.

Sen. Juan Vargas last week organized a rally on the Capitol steps to protest proposed cuts to the In-Home Supportive Services program.

The San Diego Democrat was joined by home care providers and a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers that included Republican Assemblyman Brian Nestande.

“We must fight so that home care providers can continue providing dignity and care to our state’s elderly,” Vargas said in a statement.

“Forcing seniors into nursing homes would impact our state’s budget by increasing the cost of care by more than five times what it costs to keep them comfortable in their own homes with IHSS.”

Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez will try to rally support around enterprise zones at a press conference that’s being planned for this Friday.

The event will be held in the desert and include stakeholders of the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone in the eastern part of the valley.

Pérez told The Desert Sun the state should be looking to improve the enterprise zones, not eliminate them.

“Job retention and creation is essential for our economic recovery, and eliminating the state’s last economic development tool has significant ramifications for the state,” Pérez said in an e-mail.

“Proposed budget solutions that trigger business closure and job loss do not help us solve our economic challenges, and this is particularly true in our rural, under served, or disadvantaged communities, many of which are served by the (enterprise zone) program.”

Enterprise zones and the IHSS program are two of the many programs eyed for cuts under Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal.

His plan includes about $12.5 billion in spending cuts, calls for voters to approve a five-year extension of current tax increases and shifts more responsibilities for state programs to counties and cities.