[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The California Budget Project has created a nifty 14 page table that provides a good overview of the Schwarzenegger Administration’s proposed budget, the Senate passed budget, and the Assembly passed budget together with links to additional information.

In columns, side by side, there are short paragraph or sentence descriptions of areas to be reconciled of these three different versions as the legislature’s conference committee on the budget works its way through them. The conference committee began its work Friday, following passage of different versions of the state budget by the two different houses after more than 100 hearings of budget subcommittees and committees starting early this year.

You can watch the Conference Committee on the California Channel for live results and view past meetings through the archives of the California Channel. Of note, there also is a press conference by Assembly and Senate Democrats on the budget shortly before the Conference Committee began its work.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

California already spends less in Medicaid than all states except Louisiana and Georgia

By Frank D. Russo

This is not something that makes one’s breast swell with pride about the state of California in the 21st Century. Governor Schwarzenegger has rolled out the “Year of Education” and proposes to cut needed spending, so our educational system will only worsen and the future for our kids will be dimmer. You’ve read about this here and in all newspapers in the state--the resulting pink slips to cherished teachers, stories about other states recruiting those who will not have jobs with these cuts, and the outpouring of parents, kids, teachers, and busineses who need a trained workforce who have been appearing in their local communities where the cuts are felt.

But still within memory of last year’s blockbuster “Year of Health Care” directed and produced by our Governor, his budget would increase the numbers of uninsured in our state--including children--cut hospitals and access to medical care for millions of Californians, and end up costing us more in the loss of Federal dollars than it “saves us.” You’ll be reading more about this as the budget moves forward.

by Paul Rosenberg [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]