Assembly Budget Committee Addresses State Spending for Programs for Residents With Developmental Disabilities

The Assembly Budget Committee on Thursday held a hearing to discuss proposals to reduce costs or improve efficiency in programs that provide services to state residents with developmental disabilities, the first in a series of hearings on proposals to avoid spending reductions proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in his fiscal year 2004-2005 budget, the Sacramento Bee reports (Benson, Sacramento Bee, 3/12). Schwarzenegger has proposed to reduce state spending for health care programs by more than $900 million in his FY 2004-2005 budget proposal (California Healthline, 2/17). Committee members "made little progress paring the programs" for state residents with developmental disabilities but considered proposals to increase requirements used to determine which services that the state will fund, shift some costs to parents of children with developmental disabilities and restructure some programs to obtain as much as $100 million more in annual federal funds, the Bee reports. Over the past five years, state spending for centers that provide services to residents with developmental disabilities increased from $1.4 billion to $2.6 billion. Committee members asked state officials next month to report to the committee proposals to reduce costs for the Department of Developmental Services. Subsequent committee hearings will address Medi-Cal fraud, child services, the state prison system, state purchasing practices and tax shelters (Sacramento Bee, 3/12).