Governor Brown:

Governor Proclaims California is “On The Move Again” in his state of the state address calls special session on health care…

CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT 
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
#006-2013 – January 24, 2013 – Thursday Night

Advocacy Without Borders: One Community –
Accountability With Action

State Capitol Update:

GOVERNOR BROWN: “CALIFORNIA IS ON THE MOVE AGAIN!”

  • Calls Special Session on Health Care Reform Implementation 
  • Says California Must Live “Within Our Means and Not Spend What We Don’t Have” 
  • Proposes New Education Funding Formula To Help Low Income Children, Children in Foster Care and Children from Homes Where English Is Not Primary Language

 

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 01/24/2013 11:05 PM] – Governor Jerry Brown, while cautioning that the State must “live within our means” declared triumphantly that California “is on the move again” in his “State of the State” address delivered Thursday morning in the Assembly chambers in the State Capitol.  Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Completes Actions Sunday Evening on Remaining 50 Bills – Took Action in Sept on Total 767 Bills, Signing 649 and Vetoing 118; Veto Messages on SB 411 and AB 889

CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
#164-2012 – September 30, 2012 – Sunday Night 

Governor’s Actions:

GOVERNOR COMPLETES ACTIONS SUNDAY EVENING ON REMAINING 50 BILLS ON HIS DESK

  • Governor Took Action On Total 767 Bills In September  – Signs 649 Bills And Vetoes 118 Measures
  • Veto Messages for SB 411 Home Care Act of 2012 and AB 889 Domestic Work Employees Bill

  Read the rest of this entry »

Governor and Democratic Legislative Leaders Reach Agreement on Remaining Budget Issues – Vote on Remaining Budget Trailer Bills Likely Tuesday Jun 26th

CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT 
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
#118-2012 – JUNE 21, 2012 – THURSDAY

 

State Budget Crisis:
GOVERNOR & DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATIVE LEADERS REACH AGREEMENT ON REMAINING BUDGET ISSUES

  • Assembly and State Senate Floor Votes on Final Remaining Budget Trailer Bills Likely Tuesday – Senate Budget Committee Hearing Likely Monday on Remaining Trailer Bills Not Yet Released
  • Governor Has Until June 27th to Sign or Veto Main Budget Bill Though Approval Is Certain Now With Agreement And Final Vote on Trailer Bills Set for June 26th
  • Senate Budget Committee Hearing on New Trailer Bills Could Happen Monday

 

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 06/21/2012  11:45 AM] –  Governor Brown and Democratic legislative leaders have reached agreement on key State budget issues, clearing the way next week likely on Tuesday (June 26th) for final votes in the Assembly and State Senate on the remaining budget trailer bills.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tell the Governor to SIGN THE BUDGET

Please call the governor TODAY!

Last Friday June 15, after many of you “rocked the capitol” with your voices, the California State Legislature passed a budget with NO substantial cuts to homecare. Governor Jerry Brown is deciding whether or not to sign this budget RIGHT NOW. That is why we need you to speak out immediately and help push it through the finish line.

Dropped from the budget are Brown’s proposed 7 percent across the board cuts to IHSS services and elimination of domestic and related services for the 250,000-plus recipients who live with another adult. The current 3.6 percent cut passed and signed into law during the fall of 2010 will be continued for one more year in the Legislature’s budget plan.

This budget is fair and balanced. It eliminates the terrible cuts proposed by Governor Brown earlier this year. Last week you put pressure on the Legislature with your calls, letters, and rallies at the capitol. Together we are changing how homecare is viewed. After years of painful cuts to the program, home care is finally being seen the way it should be–as a caring and compassionate budget solution–not a problem. This program saves lives and saves money for taxpayers.

Please call the governor right away to let him know
you want this budget signed!

Governor’s Office: 916 445-2841

Darrell Steinberg defends CA budget, aims for completion this week

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, defended the Legislature’s deadline passage of a main budget bill Friday without most of the implementing language, responding to critics who suggested lawmakers had rushed through a plan to maintain their pay. 

“You know what?” Steinberg said. “I gotta tell you, I work about 15 hours a day. And we passed a budget that is balanced in the budget year, the second year, the third year and with a surplus in the fourth year. So we’re doing our work. And we’re going to continue doing our work.”

Read more

California Democrats ready to send Gov. Jerry Brown a budget that rejects $1 billion in cuts

Sacramento Bee, June 14, 2012

Photo credit; Sacramento Bee.  Rich Pedroncelli / AP

Left: Speaker John Perez sees differences in the governor’s budget proposal and lawmakers’ plan as “bridgeable.”

Legislative Democrats are poised to send Gov. Jerry Brown a budget that avoids deep new cuts in safety-net programs while reducing state worker pay and taking funds from courts and counties.

To help bridge a $15.7 billion deficit, the Democratic governor has asked his own party’s lawmakers to overhaul welfare-to-work, slash in-home care and require low-income students to earn higher grades for scholarship aid.  Read more

Democrats continue talks amid protests over cuts

Orange County Register
By JUDY LIN, Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrats in the state Legislature said Tuesday that they are less than $500,000 apart from Gov. Jerry Brown in negotiations over proposed cuts to help close California’s $15.7 billion deficit, even as advocates for the poor protested at the state Capitol.

Ten people were arrested at the state building during a protest over the Democratic governor’s proposal to cut $225 million from the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program, which provides care for the sick and disabled in their homes.

The protesters locked arms and refused to move from the entrance to Brown’s office, prompting California Highway Patrol officers to move in and arrest them one-by-one.

Hundreds of supporters chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho, these budget cuts have got to go,” as each arrested person was led away.  Read more

Revenue ballot measure vital to save Calif. public services

Revenue ballot measure vital to save Calif. public services

With help from AFSCME members, Calif. Gov. Brown is gathering signatures for a critical ballot initiative to raise state revenue and forestall deep cuts in public services

With help from AFSCME members, Calif. Gov. Brown is gathering signatures for a critical ballot initiative to raise state revenue and forestall deep cuts in public services (Photo: Randy Bayne / Creative Commons)

Californians could face massive cuts in public services—including in-home and elder care, education at all levels and social safety net programs for the very poor—if voters do not approve a statewide revenue measure on the November ballot. Just last week, a coalition of AFSCME and other union members submitted 300,000 signatures toward the 807,615 required to qualify the measure. Read the rest of this entry »

Federal Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction That Continues To Stop State & Feds From Implementing 20% IHSS Cut

Also see IHSS Lawsuits & Litigation

Thursday, January 19, 2012

UDW joins with protesters braving the rain outside of courtroom in Oakland

A federal district court judge in Oakland, as expected, issued a court order that will continue blocking the Brown Administration and the federal government from taking any steps to implement the 20% across-the-board reduction in service hours for hundreds of thousands of children and adults with disabilities – including people with developmental disabilities – and seniors who receive In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). The reduction would have also impact hundreds of thousands of IHSS workers. US District Court Judge Claudia Wilken issued the court order – called a “preliminary injunction” during the hearing held today in her court room in Oakland. The State will likely appeal the court order. Read the rest of this entry »

MORE PAIN AHEAD: GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED 2012-2013 BUDGET CALLS FOR FURTHER CUTS IN IHSS

Even as UDW and other IHSS stakeholders fight through the courts to prevent a 20 percent across the board cut in IHSS already mandated in the current state budget, Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed 2012-2013 budget recommends even more cuts to the program.

Among his recommendations, the governor is reintroducing a cut he proposed last year to eliminate domestic and related services for all IHSS consumers who live with someone else (even if those they are living with are NOT their providers).  This will affect approximately 300,000 IHSS consumers who would lose an average of 17 hours on top of the 23 hours that would be cut with the 20% and an earlier 3.6% cut.

UDW quickly criticized the governor’s proposals, claiming that “just like his predecessor, Gov. Brown continues to try to use the IHSS program as a ‘piggy bank’ for budget cuts.  IHSS cuts were wrong in 2008; they are just as wrong in 2012.” Read the rest of this entry »

BUDGET TRIGGER PULLED BY STATE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

Enacted in July of this year, the state budget included an assumption that the state would receive $4 billion in additional tax revenue during the fiscal year (July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012). This estimate was based on what appeared to be a growing trend of increased tax collections. The budget, however, also included provisions that should revenue not materialize at the anticipated levels it would “trigger” additional spending cuts to account for that lost revenue. The budget instructed the Department of Finance to determine by December 15, 2011 if these trigger cuts would take place.  

Unfortunately, the additional tax revenue did not materialize at the expected levels. This problem was first addressed by the Legislative Analyst’s Office in a report released in mid-November (click here to read LAO report), and was confirmed today by Governor Brown during a press conference. According to the Department of Finance, the state’s updated revenue estimate for the current fiscal year will be $2.2 billion below the revenue anticipated in the July budget. Even though this estimate is higher than what was predicted by the LAO in November, it still results in the implementation of the “trigger” cuts, which will total approximately $981 million dollars (click here the read the 2011-2012 revenue forecast). Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Brown to Seek Ballot Initiative $7 Billion Temporary Tax Increase for November 2012 Ballot

Home > State Budget News Category

CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT 
#195-2011 – DECEMBER 5, 2011 – MONDAY    
California Budget Crisis:

Proposes Five Year Temporary Income Tax Increase on Wealthy Californians and 1/2 Cent Temporary Increase In State Sales Tax - Funding Would Be Dedicated for Education and Public Safety

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 12/05/2011  03:00 PM] -  Governor Brown will seek to place on the November 2012 general election ballot an initiative that proposes to raise $7 billion through a combination of temporary tax increases on the wealthy and a temporary increase of the state sales tax, targeting the increased revenues specifically for education and public safety and “not to other programs we cannot afford.”  The Governor did not specify what those other programs were that the State cannot afford. Read the rest of this entry »

Mercury News editorial: Brown should call Legislature back to find ways to avert trigger cuts

Mercury News Editorial
Posted: 11/16/2011

 

So, Gov. Jerry Brown, what’s the plan now?

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office on Wednesday released its budget forecast for this year and beyond. The grim bottom line: Revenue for the current fiscal year is projected to fall $3.7 billion short. If the state finance department concurs in its report due next month — a likely scenario — the deficit will trigger at least $2 billion in midyear cuts, including more than $1.3 billion to public education. That would translate to five school furlough days between February and June and the elimination of bus transportation.

Meanwhile, the Legislature remains in recess until early next year. Brown should call lawmakers back into a special session to deal with this calamity.

Plenty of people saw it coming. Economists said the revenue projections for the state budget were wildly optimistic, and several reports earlier this year raised alarm. Yet Brown and Finance Director Ana Matosantos expressed confidence that the midyear trigger wouldn’t need to be pulled.   Read more

IHSS Consumer’s pride & solidarity

Click to see larger imageWhen Joey Rowland from San Luis Obispo heard about UDW’s efforts (and victory!) stopping the waste of taxpayer dollars on fingerprinting for timecards (passage of SB930), he wrote us the following email:

“Now this is the U.D.W. Union that makes me proud to be a member, and not only a member but a proud citizen of California governed by a caring man by the name of Mr. Brown. Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication! Know that I and everyone involved in the I.H.S.S. program is thankful for your loyalty, dedication, love, and time. Please keep up the great work, and I hope to hear more victories to come. Thank you from the very bottom of all our hearts especially mine.”

— Joey Rowland (Disabled citizen that receives IHSS services.)

Joey also sent us his tongue-in-cheek “visitors guide” artistic collage, shown below along with his comments: Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Signs SB 930 that Would Repeal Fingerprint Requirements for IHSS Recipients

CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
Report #175-2011 – OCTOBER 9, 2011 - SUNDAY

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 10/09/2011 01:00 PM] - Governor Jerry Brown today signed  SB 930 by Sen. Noreen Evans (Democrat – Santa Rosa, 2nd State Senate District) that will repeal the requirements that In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) recipients provide fingerprint images on IHSS worker (provider) timesheets and repeals the prohibition against IHSS workers from uysing a post office box address to receive their paychecks.  The bill will impact the over 450,000 people with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind, seniors who receive IHSS and the over 405,000 persons who work as providers in the program across the State.  The legislation also would made other changes regarding certain appeal rights for IHSS workers and their use of a post office box to receive paychecks. Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Brown Signs Main Budget Bill

CDCAN Report #141, Thursday June 30, 2011

GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNS MAIN BUDGET BILL – MAKES ONLY $23 MILLION IN LINE ITEM VETOES – KEEPS FUNDING FOR ADULT DAY HEALTH CARE

SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN)  [Last updated 06/30/2011  12:50 PM  ] -  Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 87, the main budget for the State’s 2011-2012 budget year that begins on Friday, July 1.   A full CDCAN Report on the Governor’s actions will be issued within the hour.  The Governor kept in the budget the funding restored by the Legislature for Adult Day Health Care but deleted a provision in the budget that requires a specified spending level for the program during the 2011-2012 State Budget year because “it does not consider other services available to these individuals [using Adult Day Health Care] that preserve their ability to remain in the community.” Read the rest of this entry »

What the New Budget Means for IHSS and UDW

So far this year, UDW–in partnership with our allies–has been able to prevent the worst of Gov. Brown’s proposed cuts in IHSS: A massive across-the-board reduction in IHSS service hours and the elimination of domestic and related services for most recipients.

Nevertheless, the cuts that were approved by the Legislature, including a 3.6 percent across-the-board cut from last year, continue to deeply affect providers and recipients. Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Brown & Legislative Democratic Leaders reach budget agreement without Republican support – budget plan won’t contain tax extensions

CDCAN Report #133-2011,  Tuesday June 28

Higher Revenue Projections and Additional Cuts to Higher Education Will Close Budget Gap  in Democratic Plan – “Trigger” In Budget Plan Would Be Pulled If Revenues Don’t Come in As Planned By Next January That Could Impact Health and Human Services, Education and other Budget Areas – Vote on Budget Could Happen As Early As Tuesday or Wednesday – Governor’s Position on Adult Day Health Care Not Clear Yet

SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN)  [Last updated 06/28/2011  3:50 AM] -  Giving up on winning support from Legislative Republicans, Governor Jerry Brown reached an agreement late Monday afternoon with the Legislature’s two Democratic leaders, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (Democrat – Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker John Perez (Democrat – Los Angeles) with a budget plan that will not contain his proposals to extend for five years the 2009 temporary tax increases scheduled to expire June 30, 2011 but instead counts on $4 billion more in revenues that he hopes California will bring in next year.  The agreement will mean that there will be no special election in 2011 and that any proposal to increase taxes for voters to decide will be placed on the November 2012 general election ballot by petition rather than by a 2/3rds vote of the Legislature that would require at least 2 Republican votes in the State Senate and the Assembly (assuming all Democrats voted for it). Read the rest of this entry »

Opinion: Budget must not abandon Californians trying to escape poverty

By Stella Kim and Judy Patrick, Special to the San Jose Mercury News

Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed the Democrats' budget, things are even more desperate. While we commend him for pushing back against gimmicks, unless we get agreement on how to increase revenues, we will be looking at an all-cuts budget. Californians simply cannot afford that.

People like Michele Marino will already be paying a high price when we enact the cuts that have been made. A Cal State Long Beach student, Michele is determined to get an education and make a better life for her two sons. Fed up with her abusive partner, Michele decided to leave even though her low-wage job didn't provide enough income. She sought help and began participating in CalWORKS, our state's welfare-to-work program. Now, she also helps other women who want to leave abusive relationships.

Unfortunately, recent cuts to CalWORKS jeopardize Michele's dreams. Instead of receiving $533 per month, Michele would get just $492. That's $42 dollars less, which may not seem like much. But that $42 helps Michele get food on the table and pay for gas that allows her to drop her kids off at school, drive to class and ultimately get off CalWORKS.  Read Article »

Governor Brown Issues Statement Halting Budget Negotiations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Governor’s Press Office
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 (916) 445-4571

 

SACRAMENTO – Governor Jerry Brown today issued the following statement on his decision to halt budget negotiations:

“Yesterday, I stopped the discussions that I had been conducting with various members of the Republican party regarding our state’s massive deficit.

The budget plan that I put forth is balanced between deep cuts and extensions of currently existing taxes and I believe it is in the best interest of California. Under our constitution, however, two Republicans from the Assembly and two from the Senate must agree before this matter can be put to the people. Read the rest of this entry »

Republicans hold taxpayers ransom; will not allow public to vote on budget reform unless their demands are met

The following is the list of 53 budget demands issued by Senate Republicans they want in exchange for voting in favor of legislation to place tax extensions on a statewide ballot.  Senators Dutton (R-San Bernardino) and Huff (R-Riverside) released the following list to reporters on Friday, March 25th with their notes on the status on negotiations with Brown for each item. 

  Read the rest of this entry »

‘An avalanche effect’ — senior advocates worry state cuts will disproportionately hit seniors, dependent adults

Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard  March 29, 2011

A series of budget cuts signed last week by Gov. Jerry Brown will force many Humboldt County seniors to live below the federal poverty line and gut many of the services they depend on.

The reductions — which hit everything from Supplemental Security Income to Adult Day Health Care — also may lead to more seniors going into assisted living and nursing home facilities, according to a host of Humboldt County senior advocates, who believe the cuts may cost the state more money in the long run.

”We’re into a classic penny-wise, pound-foolish situation here,” said Cynthia Denbo, executive director of the Area 1 Agency on Aging.

Denbo and others said it’s also imperative to view the cuts’ cumulative affect and not to look at each in an isolated vacuum. Read the rest of this entry »

Governor signs budget trailer bills

On Thursday, March 24th, Governor Jerry Brown signed 13 budget trailer bills, enacting $11.2 billion in solutions to the ongoing state budget deficit. $8.2 billion was in the form of spending cuts, many of which begin on July 1, 2011. The bulk of those cuts will be in health and human services programs that provide essential services to low-income children and adults and individuals with disabilities. Changes to the IHSS program were contained in SB 72, the human services trailer bill, and amounted to a $486 million reduction to the program. For information on these changes, click here.

The Governor has yet to sign the main budget bill (SB 69) as well as any revenue-related bills. These include his controversial proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies, his proposal to extend increased tax rates, which are scheduled to expire in June, and the elimination of certain corporate tax loopholes. This is because the legislature needs a 2/3s majority vote to pass any bills that raise taxes and as of this point the necessary votes have not been garnered.

Brown, key lawmakers close on spending cap

By John Howard, Capitl Weekly. March 24, 2011

Gov. Brown and legislative negotiators were nearing agreement on a five-year spending cap, Capitol sources said, a critical piece of any budget package requiring Republican support.

The cap, long sought by GOP lawmakers, would limit spending to a level reflecting cost-of-living and population growth.

The proposal was one of “several moving pieces” in the governor’s budget package that appeared to be nearing fruition Thursday afternoon, sources said. Read the rest of this entry »

Family Caregivers Should be Thanked, Not Ridiculed

Kenneth Jones Huffington Post, March 21 2011

Kenneth Jones, IHSS Provider

I am a small businessman from California, a retired Air Force Reserve member and a lifelong Republican. I am also a single dad and an In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care provider for my 29-year-old daughter Barbara.

Our lives changed forever one dark night in 1996 when Barbara — then only 14 — was involved in a horrific accident caused by a drunk driver. While she survived, she had to have a portion of her brain removed. From that day on, she has been physically disabled and requires 24-hour constant care. Read the rest of this entry »