I’m walking across the West Front of the Capitol in the pouring rain, after attending the governor’s budget news conference where he announced he is all  but destroying our state’s safety net.

I’m thinking about his threat to completely eliminate the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) homecare program. This will force thousands of elderly, blind and disabled Californians into nursing homes, which will cost taxpayers at least five times more than home care. Or, as an alternative, they can go without any care. Bad choices, either way. And, of course, it will throw nearly 400,000 low income caregivers out of work.

Now the governor did promise that he would not eliminate IHSS altogether, but rather  cut it by just 80 percent, if he gets $7 billion in federal funds. What he didn’t say was that the $7 billion includes federal reimbursement for the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants.  

Every governor since Deukmejian has asked for that reimbursement and has been turned down. Why does this governor think that he’ll get the money from the feds? Or is this just a cruel shell game where he knows the money won’t be there, giving him an excuse to slash and burn health and human services program?

Judging by the positive reaction of the education community to the governor’s state of the state message, he’s also succeeded in driving a wedge between the education lobby and health and human services advocates. Perhaps before unilaterally endorsing the governor’s proposal to protect education funding, educators ought to think about who will suffer because of it.

As I continue to walk, I’m approaching the Capitol Christmas Tree. It’s sitting there, bedraggled, forlorn, and dark. Perhaps the tree is a metaphor for the state of our state in 2010