The Assembly Budget Committee is going all bonkers today, reviewing various proposals from the Governor. Fortunately, for the time being, Brown’s proposals seem to be more of a ceiling than a floor:
The Assembly Budget Committee plans to approve much of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget today, but it will reject some of his most controversial cuts to social service and health programs, according to a document released Thursday by the committee.
In particular, Assembly Democrats will not eliminate welfare aid for children after a four-year time limit, and they plan to cut grants by 5 percent rather than 13 percent. They will, however, impose a four-year time cap for adults proposed by Brown.
As Senate Democrats did Wednesday, Assembly Democrats will reject Brown’s proposal to cap doctor visits and prescription drugs for Medi-Cal patients. They will also reject Brown’s plan to eliminate Adult Day Health Care.(SacBee)
You can watch the proceedings live here. If you want a more twitteriffic experience, the community college league has a good recap of the action.
Right now, the 10-cap Medi-Cal maximum, a cruel cut if there ever was one, won’t survive very long. I’ll try to update this a little bit more throughout the day. If you see anything interesting, put it in the comments.
I’m glad the Legislature is apparently proposing to cut the prison budget, and restore some of the most inhumane and counterproductive cuts, but what on Earth explains Gov. Brown’s proposals in the first place?
LA Times Jan. 11: One place where Gov. Jerry Brown is prepared to spend more is California’s chronically overcrowded prisons: the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s budget would climb from $8.9 billion this year to $9.1 billion in the coming budget year under the new governor’s plan.
SF Chronicle 1/27: Poor people with chronic illnesses such as kidney failure, cancer and HIV face the prospect of dying due to budget cuts proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, lawmakers and health advocates said…. The Governor has proposed limiting most people on the state Medi-Cal program to 10 doctor visits per year… That limit applies to dialysis patients…. Those people would hit their limit in a matter of weeks….”