When I was speaking to Asm. Nava last week, he mentioned that all cuts are not created equal.  Some, like cutting the state parks, end up with very little net benefit to the budget. You end up losing sales tax dollars and hurting the local economy in park areas.  Other cuts wind up losing far more in federal matching dollars than you are saving (CalWORKS, DentiCAL, etc.), and you are then left with the question of how to provide services to the people cut from the state budget.

For example, the California Report did a great story on DentiCAL this morning, and the question that inevitably comes up with health services is how do we pay for the emergency care? People don’t just stop having dental problems when you cut their insurance. And pretty much down the line, there is just not a whole lot of smarts in Arnold’s budget cuts.

But, perhaps a little more slowly than some would have preferred, there is now a movement to fight these cuts. First, there was the SEIU TV ad arguing for a balanced approach, and now a few unions are coming together to fight the cuts.

As the deadline for state budget solutions draws near, a coalition of statewide organizations will launch a campaign to mobilize support for a fair state budget that protects middle-class families, seniors, kids, and people with disabilities.  Supported by organizations representing educators, school and public employees, nurses and home care providers, and workers in the building and construction trades, the six-figure fair budget campaign will release the first two in a series of mailers to Asm. Steve Knight’s constituents which say “enough is enough” to deep state budget cuts that hurt local families.  The mailers and planned protests in Knight’s district will draw attention to the Republican assemblyman’s support for budget cuts that harm middle class families and vulnerable populations.  

The activities in Knight’s 36th Assembly District will mark the beginning of an aggressive campaign to push legislators to halt deep cuts to schools, health care, home care, and vital services that middle-class families rely on.

Members of the coalition include AFSCME, CFT, and CSEA. Steve Knight, you might remember ended up in an election that was a lot closer than expected.  Knight, the son of Pete Knight, who put Prop 22, the anti-gay marriage prop that was struck down by the Supreme Court in In Re Marriage Cases, garnered only 51.7% of the vote against an underfunded, but surprisingly good candidate, Linda Jones.

These labor initiatives are important, especially if/when they decide to shore up any wavering Democratic legislators.  That being said, the traditional progressive power brokers are just not going to be enough now.  If you have a moment, flip on over to FixTheBudgetNow.com. They have a bunch of resources for not only writing Dem and Rep legislators, but also tips on organizing your own rally.  Also, the CDP has some resources to help promote grassroots action on the budget.