[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Proposals include eliminating various Medi-Cal benefits including dental
• Also: Cuts to safety-net hospitals, community clinics, and children's enrollment
• Votes will take place after Governor’s May revision
• May budget numbers look grim, Schwarzenegger warns

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Yesterday, both the Senate and Assembly budget subcommittees that oversee the public programs for health coverage reviewed cuts proposed by the Governor. The committees held off on big ticket items pending the May Revision of the budget – which will be released in a couple of weeks.

SENATE BUDGET SUBCOMMITTEE

Sen. Elaine Alquist presaged the Senate budget subcommittee hearing by saying that “all cuts were on the table,’’ even if members of the committee did not like them.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jeremy Bearer-Friend

Last Friday, the Department of Corrections succeeded in fleecing another $2 billion from the State, thanks to the rubber stamp of the State Public Works Board. The money will provide interim financing for California's meteoric prison expansion bill, AB 900.

At 10am on March 14th, a standing room only crowd peppered with party reps and journalists from across the state awaited the start of the session. By 10:30 am, the Board had approved interim financing for all three AB 900 bonds in three separate 5-0 votes.

A letter from Senator Carole Migden, Legislative Adviser to the Public Works Board and Chair of the Democratic Caucus, explained, "Due to the State's current financial crisis, I do not believe it is fiscally prudent to authorize lease revenue bonds which will increase the State's structural deficit." Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Education, submitted a similar letter requesting a delay.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In this week’s Democratic weekly radio address, Assemblymembers Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) and Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) argue that protecting our state’s schools from drastic budget cuts should be a top priority during ongoing budget negotiations.

You can listen in English or Spanish. The transcript is below.

Hello. This is Assemblymember Julia Brownley, chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Education.

Today’s global economy provides many opportunities, but it also means our children are competing for jobs with countries like China and India, which long ago made education their top priority.

Parents understand that education is critical to future generations of Californians and don’t want shortsightedness in Sacramento to hold their children back.

For this reason, California voters overwhelmingly support Proposition 98, a ballot measure that was designed to protect vital funding for schools and teachers.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The California Labor Federation has released its 2007 scorecard with 14 Democratic legislators garnering perfect scores.
 
The Labor Fed ranked legislators on 35 votes. They ranged from health care reform to child care provider protection to the four gaming compacts.
 
One hundred percent ratings in the Assembly went to: Assemblymembers Julia Brownley; Mark DeSaulnier; Mike Eng; Edward Hernandez; Dave Jones; Mark Leno; Fiona Ma; Ira Ruskin; Lori Saldana; and Sandre Swanson. In the Senate, perfect grades went to Senators Ellen Corbett, Christine Kehoe, Carole Migden, Darrell Steinberg, and Patricia Wiggens.
 
Lowest scoring Democrats were Senator Lou Correa and Mike Machado (53 percent), Assemblywomen Cathleen Galgiani (61 percent) and Nicole Parra (67 percent).
 
Scoring the lowest were Republican Senators Tom McClintock, Sam Aanestad, and Bob Margett at 3 percent.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Once again, homophobic forces are attempting to write homophobic discrimination into California's Constitution via a ballot initiative -- less than a week after California lost a teen to hate violence. On February 12, 2008, 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot in the head twice at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, CA by a 14-year-old classmate who had reportedly bullied King because of his perceived same-sex orientation and gender nonconforming behavior. The murder will be charged as a hate crime which will provide for enhanced sentencing.

Days later the "National Organization for Marriage" opened a California office, partnered with the group "protectmarriage.com" and will comb the state to obtain the signatures necessary to qualify a November ballot initiative that would amend the Constitution to include discriminatory rhetoric.
 
Perhaps NOM and protectmarriage.com should take a lesson from real Californians on how to properly memorialize a tragic death. Yesterday Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) adjourned the Assembly floor session in memory of her constituent Lawrence King, emotionally conveying the horror behind this hate-motivated murder.

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