This article originally appeared in the March-April 2008 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

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Pushing for a fair budget

Parents and advocates mobilize to fight the proposed state budget cuts

By Elyce Petker

California faces a $14.5 billion deficit. The governor’s January budget proposes to close this deficit by cutting 10 percent from most state programs—plus more cuts to health care, CalWORKs, child care, and schools (see Children's Advocates Roundtable).

Advocates for children and families are outraged. The proposed budget “balances California’s books on the backs of the neediest people in the state,” says Cliff Sarkin, senior policy associate for the California Children’s Defense Fund. “We need to show (legislators) how cuts (would impact) the lives of real people, to give a face to the child who will not be receiving help.”

Parents and advocates from around California are coming together to fight for a budget that raises revenues rather than cutting services for children and families.

“Mobilizing families”

“California is the fifth wealthiest economy in the world,” says Nancy Berlin of the California Partnership. “To say we don’t have enough just isn’t true. We need to make the pie bigger (by raising revenue), not just scramble for crumbs.” (see Toward Budget Fairness)

“(We are) mobilizing families against these harmful cuts,” adds Berlin. “We held coordinated actions in January in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. We are attending budget hearings to make sure voices of families are heard.”

Parent Voices “will be going to Sacramento throughout the budget year to meet with our legislators and testify at hearings,” adds statewide Parent Voices organizer Mary Ignatius.

Parents and Students for Great Schools—a coalition of educational justice organizations—plans to mobilize “parents and youth to attend committee hearings, rallies, and other advocacy events in the spring,” says Solomon Rivera, executive director of Californians for Justice.

Cuts “would cause so much harm”

“Many of the (budget) cuts are targeted at children,” says Berlin. For example, the governor’s budget would cut aid to children on CalWORKs who reach the 60-month time limit (this currently only applies to adults), “leaving thousands of children with no assistance,” she says.

“The governor also wants to take aid away from families whose parents have trouble meeting all the work requirements”—but when other states have done this, families have been less likely to have enough to eat and more likely to have trouble paying rent or be homeless, adds Berlin.

Proposed changes would also mean “more kids fall off the rolls” for free- and low-cost state health insurance, adds health policy specialist Mari Lopez from California Partnership. Families would have to prove they are eligible for Medi-Cal four times a year instead of just once a year—if they forget or have trouble filing the forms, their children will no longer be covered. The budget also reduces the already-low reimbursement rates state health insurance programs pay doctors, so fewer doctors “will take patients with government coverage,” she adds.

The proposed cuts to schools are “unacceptable,” says Rivera. “It’s far too large a burden to put on public education (and would have) a devastating effect on students. (Already) students of color are five times more likely to have an unqualified teacher.”

“The same kids and families will experience so many cuts that will cause so much harm,” says Kim Wade McCoy, executive director of the California Association of Food Banks—cuts to “basic needs grants, foster care, child care, schools, parks.”

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Toward Budget Fairness

Advocates for families call on the state to

• Balance the budget fairly—wealthy individuals and corporations must pay their fair share. Currently, lower-income Californians pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes.

• Close tax loopholes—“ Disneyland pays no property tax, yet it rakes in millions in profit annually,” says Lopez.

• Bring back vehicle license fees for cars worth more than $15,000—the well-being of California’s children is more important than reducing these fees, which were in place until a few years ago.

• Bring back 10 and 11% income tax rates for high-income Californians—but don’t raise sales taxes, which would further hurt low-income families.

• Reduce prison spending with more early releases for non-violent offenders

• Think about the long-term effects—cutting services for poor and disabled children may save money today, but it will cost California much more in the long run.

Sources: LIFETIME, California Partnership, California Budget Project

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Families speak up

Jenny Wang:
“We should get something back”

“Life is hard,” says Jenny Wang, an Oakland mother and Parent Voices member. She lives with her 80-year-old parents, husband, and two-year-old daughter. “My husband supports the whole family. I want to work, but there’s not enough money (for child care). I’ve been on the waiting list since the baby was born.”

Wang joined other Parent Voices members in Sacramento to protest the governor’s proposed budget cuts. They showed “legislators and the media the real faces of the families who would be impacted,” says Ignatius.

“We pay our taxes,” adds Wang. “We should get something back.”

Fanny Reyes:
“It would be as if my world closed up on me”

“Health insurance (cuts) worry me because (uninsured) parents would have to pay high doctor bills,” says Fanny Reyes, San Francisco mother of two and member of Parent Voices. “If I didn’t have health insurance, it would be as if my world closed up on me because my daughters have asthma. I am a single mother, and poor.”

“If you don’t protest (the cuts) for everyone’s benefit, they will never take into account our needs,” she adds.

Angelica Ceballos:
“More money for programs”

“I’m a mother of three, a full-time student, and a part-time organizer for LIFETIME,” says Artesia mom Angelica Ceballos. She gets aid for school books through CalWORKs, she says. “Without (that) I wouldn’t be able to buy my books. It was $180 for my Spanish books. I (also) have a disabled son with a heart condition—it costs twice as much to eat healthy (even with) food stamps and coupons,” she adds.

“If the budget cuts passed, I’d have to work more—and be away from home longer,” she says, “or cut back on school. (But) if corporations paid more taxes, there would be more money for (state) programs and we would have the means to be the (people) we want to be.”

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To get involved

• Parent Voices: 415-882-0234, www.parentvoices.org/action.htm

• California Association of Food Banks: 510-272-4435, www.cafoodbanks.org

• LIFETIME: 510-352-5160,
  www.geds-to-phds.org/statebudget.html

• California Partnership: 213-385-8010, www.california-partnership.org    

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Extra resources from the Children’s Advocate bulletin

• The California Budget Project offers several analyses of the Governor's proposed budget, including how the proposed cuts would affect schools, child care, and health.

To stay informed about new and upcoming Children’s Advocate articles, related resources, and advocacy opportunities, sign up for our Children’s Advocate bulletin

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