[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.

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

The big news out of Sacramento this week, aside from the worsening budget situation, is movement on health care reform. As was liveblogged here yesterday, Sheila Kuehl's Senate subcommittee held a public hearing and vote on AB 8, the less ambitious effort to reform health care by bringing more people into private insurance. As that hearing revealed, one of the most common statements from groups offering conditional support was that cost containment was a necessity - without it the bill was worthless, and many of the groups present would come out in opposition to it.

Cost containment is the key to AB 8. It's the devil that lurks in the details. It's worth a further look, if we are to believe that AB 8 is something that we who support real health care reform should help with our time and effort.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

In a party-line vote, Senate Democrats rejected Arnold's proposal to divert $1.3 billion in public transportation funding. The issue was heard in a Senate subcommittee and is just the first in a series of votes the more controversial pieces of the governor's budget will face. Chron:

Transportation officials and environmental groups have argued that the money should go toward projects to increase bus and rail service that also will help the state's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing the number of cars on the road. Bay Area agencies have complained that riders are getting shorted by the governor's plan. Golden Gate Transit, for instance, had planned to use some of the money to help refurbish a berth at the San Francisco Ferry Building. And BART had hoped to use the state money to hire more police officers and boost service on nights and weekends.

Arnold had wanted the money to go to early payments on the transportation bonds and to switch responsibility for school bus funding. The issue now moves on to a conference committee, which will tackle "the most controversial issues in the budget."