Advocates React to Sen. Democrats’ $4.9 Billion Revenue Package
Advocates from the Health and Human Services Network of California voiced their support for a new $4.9 billion revenue solutions package introduced by Senate Democrats on Monday.
Advocates say these combined revenue solutions would allow the state to forego harmful cuts proposed in the Governor’s May Revise budget, in turn saving the state hundreds of thousands of jobs. A recent policy brief from the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education showed the significant number of jobs lost for every $1 billion in spending cuts to some of California’s most vital health and human services programs, including:
- In-Home Supportive Services: 215,000 jobs lost;
- Healthy Families: 39,500 jobs lost;
- Medi-Cal: 35,900 jobs lost;
- CalWORKS: 23,200 jobs lost
Total: 313,600 jobs
“The Western Center on Law & Poverty supports the proposal by Senate Democrats to repeal corporate tax loopholes and bring in revenues that prevent devastating cuts to children, preserve thousands of jobs and marks the beginning of serious budget discussions,” said Michael Herald, Western Center on Law & Poverty.
“California needs to prevent the worst of these job-killing cuts, cuts that limit care, undermine our health system, and impede our economic recovery. Not only will these new revenue solutions help keep hundreds of thousands of Californians at work; new revenues will also protect the vital safety net from devastating cuts that would otherwise severely limit access to care for more than 7 million Californians, and unnecessarily undermine the foundation of health reform,” said Anthony Wright, executive director, Health Access California.
“As hundreds of mothers come to testify at Senate budget hearings tomorrow in hopes that the committee will reject cuts to child care and CalWORKs, it is refreshing to know that revenue options are on the table. If cuts to child care went through it would impact 200,000 children, the employment of 100,000 parents who are working because they have child care assistance, and 130,000 jobs in the child care industry. These programs contribute to the economy and shouldn’t be cut and with news of this revenue package it feels like we are finally going in the right direction,” said Mary Ignatius, Parent Voices.
