Assembly Democrats Likely To Reject Some Cuts in Budget Plan
On Friday, California's Assembly Budget Committee likely will reject some of Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) most controversial proposed health and human services cuts, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Rejecting Cuts
Democrats on the budget committee are expected to take similar steps that the Senate Budget Committee took on Wednesday. Specifically, Assembly Democrats are expected to reject:
- Eliminating the adult day health care program;
- Placing caps on physician visits and prescription drugs for beneficiaries of Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program;
- Reducing In-Home Supportive Services care hours by 12%;
- Eliminating welfare aid for children after a four-year time limit; and
- Cutting welfare grants by 13%.
Implementing Other Changes
However, committee members do plan to:
- Impose a four-year time cap on welfare for adults;
- Cut welfare grants by 5%;
- Require IHSS beneficiaries to obtain medical certification;
- Introduce alternative IHSS changes; and
- Drop the state reserve fund from $1 billion to $300 million to help replace savings lost from rejected cuts.
Next Up
Both legislative houses are expected to convene joint budget committee meetings starting next week.
Brown wants lawmakers to approve his budget plan by March so voters can decide in a June special election whether to approve tax extensions for five years (Yamamura, Sacramento Bee, 2/18).
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