Post 15: Governor's budget cuts

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger revealed his budget Friday (today) -- a budget that hits children and those on welfare hard.

The plan would cut $83.4 billion from the state budget. From everything I've read thus far on the budget cuts, most of the newspapers are pretty biased against the governor's decision. The paper seem to victimize the poor and everyone else affected by this plan.

Personally, I think the budget crisis is forcing the governor's hand to do something that probably should have been done a long time ago. I know I kind of go against the flow of most Californians, and even Christians who let compassion overrule their common sense when it comes to politics.

Another prong of the governor's plan would pull 60 percent of state money from mental health programs. 

Unfortunately, people don't understand that there are simply things that must be done to fill the gaps of the $20 billion mess that this state has run itself into. 

It's also fascinating to me to see other states paying attention to California. California has always been a bit of a trendsetter, and other notice it, whether we think about it much or not. I saw articles in newspapers from New York and Michigan, just to name two, that featured pieces on the state budget crisis and Schwarzenneger's recent announcement. 

Here are a few of the numbers on the governor's new plan:

-- 60 percent of state money for mental health programs will be pulled

-- 1.3 million people on CalWorks will no longer receive government aid

-- $63.71 million will be cut from in-home care programs

-- $2.8 billion from K-12 education

Personally, I'm more than fine with the governor's decisions. However, I do have some problems with the things that "won" in the state budgets.

Parks was one of them, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Now, I'm all for cuts in essentially any area. But it does concern me that the budget seems to favor things like parks over people.

Something else that concerned me perhaps more than anything was the moving of 15,000 inmates -- only the non-violent ones, mind you -- from state prisons. That would save another couple billion dollars.

Unfortunately, just because an offender is labeled as "non-violent" doesn't mean they are not harmful to society. 

One area I was pleased with, however, was the governor's attention to colleges and higher education. State school systems as well as Cal Grants will see more favorable funding in the 2010-2011 budget.

The fiscal year officially begins July 1.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/05/schwarzeneggers-budget-eliminates-welfare-cuts-other-programs.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/14/MNO81DETHB.DTL