Governor’s Proposal (January 2011)

Governor Jerry Brown submitted his budget to the state legislature on January 10, 2011. Faced with an unprecedented deficit of $26.6 billion, the Governor proposed approximately $12.5 billion in spending cuts, approximately $12 billion in increased revenues and approximately $1.1 billion as a reserve. The spending cuts included a $486.2 million reduction to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program. This reduction was achieved by a combination of across the board cuts ($127.5 million), the elimination of domestic and related services for most recipients ($236.6 million), the elimination of services for those without a physician’s certification ($120.5 million), and the elimination of state funding for IHSS Advisory Committees ($1.6 million).

The Governor also proposed an expedited 60-day timeline for the Legislature to approve his budget proposals. This was done in order to hold a special election on his revenue proposals in June.

Legislative Actions (February and March 2011)

Assembly and Senate budget subcommittees began meeting to discuss the Governor’s budget on January 27^th. Ultimately, both houses voted to reject the majority of the Governor’s proposed cuts to IHSS, though the savings target of $486.2 million remained. On March 17^th, the legislature passed budget legislation that included the following provisions related to IHSS:

• A requirement that all recipients obtain certification from a licensed health care professional that without IHSS services the recipient is at risk of being placed in institutional care (estimated savings of $120 million).
• A mandate for the state’s participation in the new Community First Choice Option available under Federal law as of October 1, 2011 (estimated savings of $128 million).
• The elimination of the mandate and most of state funding for IHSS Advisory Committees (estimated savings of $1.4 million).
• A mandate for the implementation of the Medication Dispensing Pilot Project beginning July 1, 2011. The goal of the pilot is to reduce hospitalization and institutionalization resulting from medication noncompliance among high-risk Medicaid recipients. There is a stipulation that should the requisite savings not be achieved by July 1, 2012, there will be a mandatory across the board reduction in service hours for all IHSS recipients (estimated savings of $140 million).

Current Status

Though the Legislature approved budget reductions totaling nearly $14 billion, there has not been any movement in terms of the Governor’s revenue proposals. The Governor needs a 2/3 vote of the legislature to move ahead with placing his revenue proposals on a June special election ballot. To date, he does not have the votes needed to secure this majority. It is unclear if there will be a special election held in June. If the Legislature does not approve additional revenue, it will necessitate an additional round of spending cuts.

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• Update March 29, 2011: Governor halts Budget Negotiations
• More Information on our State Budget Page
• Specific Information on 3.6% Cuts already enacted