Governor first budget plan cuts deep into health, county services

By: ERIN WALSH - Staff Writer | Tuesday, November 25, 2003 9:49 PM PST ∞

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's first budget proposal would slash millions from San Diego County police, courts, parks, animal shelters and libraries and would leave hundreds more poor and disabled families in North County without medical care, local officials said Tuesday.

The proposal, which would cut $1.9 billion from this year's budget and another $1.9 billion from the state's 2004-05 spending plan, is Schwarzenegger's attempt to reduce a state deficit projected to reach $17 billion by mid-2005.

The movie-star-turned-governor pledged during his campaign to trim that deficit without raising taxes. On Tuesday, as lawmakers hurried to come up with spending cuts and put a $15 billion state loan on the ballot, the trimming turned into a sudden whack at local governments and state-funded medical care.

"This is not going to be easy, but we have to face reality," Finance Director Donna Arduin told legislators Tuesday. Ignoring the need for big spending cuts, she said, would "put the state's future at risk."

Opponents, especially in the health-care field, said the cuts will endanger the poor, disabled and elderly and may cost the state more in the long run than the programs being cut.

"Cuts to the poor, the elderly, and the children of our state are the wrong way to go," said Peter Warren, spokesman for the California Medical Association. "It's unwise to think cutting programs will make the problems ---- or the costs ---- go away in the long term."

Relatively unscathed is the state's prison system, which is in line for just $2 million in reductions over the next 19 months from a budget that spent $5.2 billion last year.

The governor's proposal also generally spares public education: Public schools that serve grades kindergarten through 12 would suffer no immediate cuts under the plan.

"You never know what will happen with the budget, but right now, we are breathing a big sigh of relief," said San Diego County Office of Education Finance Director Lora Duzyk.

However, the plan cuts $1.3 billion from other children's programs over the next year and a half. It makes its deepest cuts in county services and health and welfare for the poor, but officials said almost every person in the county will feel the cuts ---- including city dwellers and the region's most affluent residents.

Schwarzenegger's proposal would cut more than a half-billion dollars from doctors who take patients covered by Medi-Cal, the government insurance for low-income Californians. That cut is likely to keep doctors from accepting poor patients, health officials said, which could force Medi-Cal patients to use emergency rooms instead of doctors.

"This problem affects the poor, but it also will ripple to people with all the money in the world," said San Diego Medical Society spokesman Tom Gehring. "No matter how rich or well off you are, you can't get into the emergency room if it's clogged with patients who should really be at their doctor's office."

One of the most sweeping policy changes would impose budget caps on programs for poor residents, including low-income families, AIDS patients, migrant workers and disabled people. The programs will be forced to stop admitting more patients under the budget plan, which caps enrollment on a handful of state-funded public service programs currently open to anyone who qualifies, regardless of cost.

"Entitlements must be budgeted every year to a level the state can afford," Arduin said of the enrollment caps. "Through attrition, new people will be able to come into the programs. ... Those people who are most in need will be able to come to the front of the line."

Health advocates said the caps would create a system that prevents some eligible Californians from getting state services.

"They'd essentially be creating a waiting list and saying, 'You can't get on these programs unless somebody dies,' " Warren said. "That's just wrong."

Local governments, which provide law enforcement, public health offices, public parks and dozens of other services, would also take a billion-dollar hit this year under the plan, said county Chief Financial Officer Bill Kelly.

County residents should expect to live in a "very different county" if the governor's plan comes to fruition, Kelly said. The budget plan threatens $195 million of the county's $600 million unrestricted budget, he said. It would probably force cuts to public safety and the courts, which together make up more than half of the county's budget, he added.

"It's probably safe to say in a county where 53 percent of the budget goes to public safety, our safety forces would take a hit, " Kelly said. Unincorporated areas and cities that contract with the county for Sheriff's Department services ---- all North County areas except Oceanside, Carlsbad and Escondido ---- would see part of that cut, he said.

A myriad of other county services would be affected by the new budget.

"We will provide essential services, but not everyone has the same idea of what's essential ... mental health, restaurant inspections, library hours, parks and camping, all of these are essential to people who use them," Kelly said.

The Cal State University system's general budget would take a cut of about $40 million in the next 19 months, or about 1.6 percent of its $2.5 billion general fund budget, according to the proposal. But cuts to the statewide university system would actually add up to more than $90 million because $52 million in other, more restricted funds would also be reduced.

"It's only 1.1 percent on paper, but it's a lot more than that," said Terry Allison, planning director for Cal State San Marcos, which uses about 2.5 percent of the Cal State system's budget. "These cuts looked OK at first, but when you dig into the details, they could be painful after all."

The University of California system's funds from the state would be cut by nearly $107 million over the next year and a half under the proposal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact staff writer Erin Walsh at (760) 739-6644 or ewalsh@nctimes.com.

Here's a look at new Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's three-prong plan for breaking California's boom-bust spending cycle:

Immediately cut spending by about $1.9 billion. Use executive orders and new budget-cutting powers to trim as much as an additional $2 billion from current spending. Present additional cuts during his Jan. 10 budget address.

Among the $1.9 billion in cuts he proposed to legislators:

Postpone transportation projects. Savings: $530 million.

Cut higher education. Savings: $160 million.

Reduce Medi-Cal provider rates 10 percent. Savings: $152 million.

Eliminating state wage assistance to the staff of long-term care facilities. Savings: $46 million.

End respite care and recreational activities for the developmentally disabled. Savings: $69 million.

Postpone vehicle license fee reimbursements to local governments: Savings: $475 million.

Postpone flood control reimbursements to local governments. Savings: $105 million.

Persuade voters to borrow $15 billion to replace about $13 billion worth of bonds approved by the Legislature in the current budget, but which face court challenges. The administration says the remainder also would replace unspecified current borrowing.

Change the California Constitution to cap spending at the rate of inflation and population growth. The governor could spend the resulting "rainy day" fund in a fiscal emergency, and could trim spending midyear unless two-thirds of lawmakers approved an alternative.

--- The Associated Press

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