Legislature Takes Action on Mid-Year Budget Cuts

Sacramento – Today, the California Legislature took action on several bills that resulted in substantial cuts to critical programs. These historic mid-year cuts signal the seriousness of California´s budget situation for the current and 2008-09 budget years. Governor Schwarzenegger called an emergency special session of the legislature to review and act upon his proposals for mid-year cuts for the first time since enactment of Propositions 57 & 58 in 2004. Most critical were cuts to provide a sufficient reserve to provide State cash flow through the Fall and reassure the financial markets that the State is on sufficient footing to meet its financial responsibilities.

"The cuts approved today are substantial and regrettable. We trimmed education spending by $506 million and lowered Medi-Cal provider rates by 10 percent. We also cut services to the developmentally disabled and delayed cost of living increases for the poor and disabled. These are painful cuts, but the people of California must take them seriously as we begin the debate for the 2008-09 budget and decide what kind of California our people want. We´ve done our absolute best to limit the impact, but cuts are cuts and they will be felt," stated Ducheny.

The Governor called Special Session in January to make a series of cuts to bring spending in line with the state´s revenues, which have fallen short of projections made in passing the budget last summer. "We have a responsibility to pay the bills. Like it or not, we have a job to do here," said Ducheny.

"These cuts are the first steps in a rugged journey. We did find ways to limit the impact of education cuts on actual classrooms, and defer some payments instead of permanently eliminating programs, but any way you slice it, this will hurt everyone. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us for the upcoming budget year. We are faced with grave decisions that will shape California´s future for years to come," stated Ducheny.