Senate Approves $1 Billion in Midyear Budget Cuts, Excluding Health Care Expenditure Reductions

The Senate on Thursday voted to approve two bills that would eliminate about $1 billion from the fiscal year 2003-2004 state budget, about half of the midyear budget reductions proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), the San Francisco Chronicle reports (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27). Schwarzenegger had proposed $1.9 billion in midyear budget reductions. His $99.1 billion proposal would reduce state expenditures for health care programs by more than $900 million, with about $880 million in reductions for Medi-Cal; the proposal would reduce Medi-Cal reimbursements for providers by 10% (California Healthline, 2/20). The Senate voted 34-1 to approve a bill that would authorize a $145 million in state fund shifts and voted 30-1 to pass legislation that would decrease the amount of funds owed to cities and counties as a result of the repeal of the vehicle license fee increase. The state will repay the funds to cities and counties in the FY 2006-2007 budget. Schwarzenegger likely will sign the bills in the next two weeks, the Chronicle reports (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27). KQED's "California Report" on Friday reported on Schwarzenegger's plan to cap enrollment in Healthy Families as part of his proposed midyear budget reductions (Goldberg, "California Report," KQED, 2/27). The complete segment will be available online in Windows Media and RealPlayer after the broadcast.