There is more of the budget cuts in Kalifornia. You are right, kittybowtie, about the Governor of Illnois. ;-)
From LA Times:
Schwarzenegger kills a $55-million initiative that helps the mentally ill, then signs the budget. Counties and cities can fund it, an aide says.
Among the cuts: $1.3 million to track hospital efforts to eliminate infections, which kill more than 7,000 Californians a year; $30 million for state parks; and $6 million to compel drug manufacturers to discount medicines for lower-income people.
He also struck a $17.4-million plan to protect seniors.
Counties across the state, however, are facing the slow erosion of their traditional mental health budgets; state Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), who created the just-eliminated program in 1999, called the cut "unconscionable."
He noted that despite the allegedly strapped conditions of the state, legislators managed to preserve a tax break for some purchasers of yachts, planes and recreational vehicles -- a measure that could cost the state as much as $45 million."
A $45-million tax break for yacht owners stays in the budget," Steinberg said.
"And a nationally recognized, incredibly effective program to end homelessness for those living with mental illness gets thrown under the bus."
The program served as the blueprint for Proposition 63, the 1% "millionaires' tax" established to overhaul the mental health system.
It is known as Integrated Services for Homeless Adults with Serious Mental Illness or "AB 2034," after the bill that created it.
3 comments:
Losers to the Gubonator budget:
-the mentally ill
-tracking hospital infections that kill more than 7K a year
- state parks
-incentive for drug manufacturers to discount meds for lower income people
-senior protection plan
-more mental health programs
Winners:
- preserve a tax break for some purchasers of yachts, planes and recreational vehicles
At least Blagojevich is adding affordable health insurance to his plan
Not so fast--Blago cut the funding for the group that is supposed to monitor wasteful spending out of his office, as punishment for blowing the whistle on his excessively expensive plane us.
Speaking of whistleblowers. On an unrelated topic, the people who try to stop fraud get burned.
Yup, the Gerbil turned this country into 1984. You speak up and defy King George then the King will imprison you and make life miserable.
I had to raise my eyebrow on the tax breaks for the yacht owners that is still in Arnold's budget. I have a feeling that alot of Californians will have a bone to pick with the governor.
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