January 2007
I wish I were a State budget expert. I wish I were one of those people who could read all of that technical jargon and instantly understand all of the implications for people and programs. Who am I kidding? I can’t even download songs onto my IPOD or shoot a video with my cell phone, but I digress….
The Governor released his 2007-2008 State Budget on January 10th and ever since then advocacy organizations have been grappling with the language trying to analyze it from every angle. What do we support? What do we oppose? What are the impacts for people with disabilities?
Well, here’s what we know so far. The Governor proposes to put a cap on the State share of wages and benefits for workers in the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program at the level that was in effect in each County as of January 10, 2007. Counties would not receive additional funding for any wage/benefit increases that occurred after that date.
The State currently pays into wages and benefits that do not exceed $11.10 an hour. State law requires that wages and benefits be automatically increased to $12.10 an hour because the revenue growth for 2007-2008 is expected to exceed 5 percent. This measure is the so-called “budget trigger.” The Governor proposes to “freeze” the $1 an hour increase. The Administration estimates that this freeze will “lead to significant future cost savings.”
Several questions arise from this proposal. The most obvious are, can anyone really support themselves on $11.10 an hour in California? Shouldn’t we be working to increase these wages, not decrease them? Isn’t an increase of $1 an hour a step in the right direction? If the increase is already a part of State law, shouldn’t we honor that? Wasn’t that the point of the trigger in the first place? Do we have any guarantee that these “significant future cost savings” are actually going to materialize?
The disability community is asking those questions and others as we consider this proposal and it is important to remember just that. It is a proposal. It must be approved by the Legislature before it goes into effect. We won’t have a realistic picture of State revenue until the May Revision of the State Budget when we know how much income tax has been collected. We will have a chance to voice our opinion.
On the positive side, the Governor proposes to provide a Cost of Living Increase (COLA) and to “pass through” the Federal COLA for the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) grants. The grant for an individual will increase from $856 to $892 a month and the grant for couples will increase from $1,502 to $1,565 in January 2008. For more information on the Budget Proposal, log on to www.cbp.org.