Survey: Many Calif. Voters Take Issue With State Spending Plan
Many surveyed California voters take issue with several aspects of the state budget plan signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) last month, according to a new poll, the Los Angeles Times reports.
For the poll, the Times and the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences surveyed more than 1,500Â voters in July (Halper, Los Angeles Times, 7/22).
Background
The $85.9 billion general fund budget includes several changes that will affect health and human services programs. The plan includes a 10% cut to health care providers' reimbursements for Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, among other health care-related adjustments.
The budget also assumes that the state will receive about $11.8 billion in stronger-than-expected tax revenue (California Healthline, 7/5).
Key Findings
The poll found that once voters were told the details of the state spending plan, 55% said the budget was unfair to people like them.
About half of survey participants indicated their opposition to cuts made in health care and other services.
All survey participants expressed concern about the billions of dollars that could be cut from areas such as health care and education, should expected tax revenue fall short. Sixty-four percent found the possibility of more cuts to be unacceptable.
The poll also found that:
- More than 80% of participants approved of Controller John Chiang's (D) decision to dock legislators' pay for initially failing to pass a balanced budget;
- 65% would like California legislators to work part time;
- 48% approved of Brown's job performance;
- 44% said the budget was completed more easily this session than in past years; and
- 25% approved of the work of the Legislature, up from 21%Â in April (Los Angeles Times, 7/22).