Gov. Brown Says Deficit Could Be Bigger Than Estimated, Calls for Cuts

CAL/AAEM News Service calaaem.news.service1 at gmail.com
Sun Apr 29 01:39:51 PDT 2012


 

 

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: CAL/AAEM:
California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine

 

April 16, 2012

 

Gov. Brown Says Deficit Could Be Bigger Than Estimated, Calls for Cuts

 

 

CaliforniaHealthline
<http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2012/4/16/gov-brown-says-defic
it-could-be-bigger-than-estimated-calls-for-cuts.aspx#ixzz1sd4g49R7> 

 

 

On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) acknowledged that California's budget
deficit likely is larger than he previously estimated and called for state
legislators to enact significant spending cuts, the Sacramento Bee's
"Capitol Alert" reports.

 

Brown's Comments

 

The governor -- in an interview with San Francisco Bay Area radio station
KGO  -- said the deficit is "probably bigger now" than the $9.2 billion he
estimated in his fiscal year 2012-2013 budget plan. He said, "That's why the
Legislature has to man up, make the cuts and get some taxes, and we'll make
it" (Siders, "Capitol Alert," Sacramento Bee, 4/13).

 

A spokesperson for Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg
(D-Sacramento) said Democrats plan to wait until state income figures are
released next month before considering deep cuts to state services (York,
"PolitiCal," Los Angeles Times, 4/14).

 

Brown's Proposed Cuts 

 

Brown's $92.6 billion spending plan calls for cutting:

 

$946.2 million from CalWORKs -- the state's welfare-to-work program -- by
limiting the amount of time most adults could be on the program from four
years to two years;

 

$842.3 million from Medi-Cal -- California's Medicaid program -- by merging
services for beneficiaries eligible for both Medi-Cal and Medicare;

 

$163.8 million from In-Home Supportive Services -- which provides services
for the elderly and people who are blind or have disabilities -- by
eliminating domestic assistance for beneficiaries in shared living
environments; and

 

$64 million from Healthy Families, California's Children's Health Insurance
Program, by moving children out of the program (California Healthline,
2/28).

 

Compromise Tax Plan

 

In the KGO interview, Brown also promoted a compromise tax plan that he
developed along with supporters of the "Millionaires Tax" ("Capitol Alert,"
Sacramento Bee, 4/13).

 

Brown recently announced a deal to merge the two proposals into a new single
initiative for the November ballot.

 

The newly revised tax plan includes a smaller sales tax hike and a larger
personal income tax increase on the wealthy than Brown initially had
proposed.

 

The new proposal would:

 

Increase the personal income tax by one percentage point for individuals who
earn $250,000 annually or couples who earn $500,000 annually and by two
percentage points for individuals who earn $300,000 annually or couples who
earn $600,000 annually;

 

Extend the income tax increases on wealthy residents from five to seven
years; and

 

Increase the sales tax by a quarter of a cent, down from Brown's original
half-cent increase.

 

The sales tax hike would expire in four years, as called for in Brown's
original plan.

 

The merged plan would raise an estimated $9 billion over the next fiscal
year, $2.1 billion more than Brown's original proposal.

 

The compromise plan is rivaled by a plan by attorney Molly Munger, called
"Our Children, Our Future." Munger's plan aims to raise income taxes for all
residents, with the highest earners seeing the largest hike. Most of the
funds raised would support education programs 

 

 

 

 

Bryan Sloane
Deputy Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

 

Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service



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