May 18, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – An estimated 800 to 900 teachers and supporters demonstrated in front of the Grossmont Union High School District board meeting on May 13th to protest proposed cuts in salary and health benefits.
 
Wearing red T-shirts, marchers carried umbrellas to urge that trustees spend “rainy day” reserves. Teachers,  counselors, parents and others shouted “It’s raining, it’s pouring and class size is soaring!” The district is facing huge deficits due largely to state budget cuts in education.

 
By Assemblyman Joel Anderson
 
March 2, 2010 (Sacramento)--The RGP Prosthetic Research Center, a San Diego company that provides artificial limbs for California Children's Services, is in danger of having to stop providing these critical services for children in need... again.
 
I recently spoke with Mr. Thomas Guth, the company's President. Guth is understandably worried. Last Monday, California State Controller John Chiang warned the legislature and Governor that unless they found "cash solutions" by March, California would be unable to pay its bills. A grim reality looms ominously above California taxpayers once again - IOUs.

By Sylvia Hampton
 
August 2009 (San Diego) -- I was born in Chicago and grew up in St. Louis Missouri. Back in “the day” I thought California was the coolest state with the best of everything---youth, sun, beauty, film making, innovation, and good government. It had the best schools and led the way on bright ideas. Then along came the anti-tax, anti-environmental protection, anti-public schools, anti-gay, anti-evolution, pro-assault weapon, pro-three strikes, flat earth society crowd to change all that. They took great advantage of their minority status to make demands on the majority because their votes were needed to get that pesky two thirds super majority vote to pass the budget. Now we are cutting education funding, environmental protections and social services and to hell with the consequences.

California is no longer the “golden” state, but the state of chaos.

 
 
By Miriam Raftery
 
July 30, 2009 (Sacramento)—Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently told the New York Times that he felt “perfectly fine” and said that no matter what happens with California’s budget crisis, he would still " sit down in my Jacuzzi tonight” and “lay back with a stogie.”
 
Now the Governor has wielded his veto power to terminate or drastically reduce funds for programs that help the most vulnerable Californians--including sick children, the disabled, AIDs patients, the poor, and others in need. His actions have triggered a massive backlash of protest reaching from San Diego to the State Capitol, including a potential legislative effort to override the Governor’s vetoes.

PLAN INCLUDES DEEP CUTS IN EDUCATION, HEALTH & WELFARE PROGRAMS, ELIMINATION OF SOME AGENCIES & SALE OF PROPERTIES; MOST STATE PARKS SPARED CLOSURE

By Miriam Raftery
 
July 26, 2009 (Sacramento)—Both houses of the California Legislature have approved a package of bills to close the state’s $24 billion budget gap. Two provisions were removed by the Assembly: a proposal to allow oil drilling off Santa Barbara’s coast and a proposal to take $1 billion in gas tax revenues from local governments. Local governments had called the gas tax diversion illegal and threatened to sue the state.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has indicated he will wield a blue pencil this week to make line-item cuts in order to balance the budget. State officials indicate it may take weeks before California can cease issuing IOUs, which the state began issuing on July 1st.

By Miriam Raftery

July 22, 2009 (San Diego's East County)--Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a knife-wielding video to exemplify his willingness to sign a budget with deep cuts to services for Californians. The latest budget, negotiated by legislative leaders in both parties, proposes to close the $24 billion budget gap in part by forcing cities and counties to loan the state money for three years, with interest. “It would raid municipal funds for $1.9 billion, mostly county money,” the L.A. Times reports. Cities and counties would lose another billion dollars in transportation money and redevelopment agencies would be ordered to pony up an additional $1.7 billion.

July 17, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)—Over a thousand letters poured into the office of Assemblyman Joel Anderson in just three days. The letters came from concerned citizens, mostly in the Borrego Springs community, in response to a state budget proposal that would close almost all state parks, including Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, as a cost-saving measure. A poll by East County Magazine found area residents overwhelming opposed to closure of two East County jewels: Anza-Borrego and Rancho Cuyamaca State Park.

 
By Ryan Lescure
 
July 1, 2009 (San Diego)--Faced with the prospect of closing 220 state parks, including two in East County (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park), the California Legislature passed a bundle of tax and fee increases by a simple majority, though a two-thirds majority is required to raise taxes. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto the budget, which did not meet the two-thirds majority due to lack of Republican support for tax increases on tobacco, alcohol and other items proposed by Democrats.

 
By Miriam Raftery
 
June 23, 2009 (San Diego)-- An estimated 200 to 300 people turned out to protest state budget cuts in San Diego, outside Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office downtown. Some carried coffins and a skeleton sign—grim symbols of the consequences they believe will result from severe cuts to health and social services programs.
 
Ann Menasche, a lawyer with San Diego Disability Action Coalition, said the cuts will be “devastating” to disabled individuals. “People already don’t have enough to live on,” she said the predicted, “With cuts to SSI and Medicare, we are going to see more homeless people and more hunger.”
 

An Editorial By Miriam Raftery
Editor, East County Magazine

June 3, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)—If California ever needed an action hero at the helm, it’s now. Instead, Arnold has taken the “girlie man” way out –balancing the budget on the backs of the poor by proposing to eliminate healthcare for children and welfare-to-work programs. He also wants to close 80% of state parks, release prisoners, and slash school spending.

Granted, a grid-locked Legislature, Republicans who pale at the words “raise revenues,” Democrats who were split on ballot initiatives and fed-up voters who failed to pass the measures have left him few easy choices. But Arnold has one ace left in the hole: star power. Here’s how he can use it to debut the most important road show of his career: “Save Kaleefornia.”

CONSERVATIVES CALL FOR DEEPER CUTS, PROGRESSIVES LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO ALLOW MAJORITY TO MAKE BUDGET DECISIONS IN SACRAMENTO

By Miriam Raftery

Voters resoundingly defeated Propositions 1A-E at the polls, passing only 1F, a measure to freeze legislators’ pay when the state is running a deficit. But what message was the public really trying to send to elected representatives? Does the public want deeper cuts in state spending (and if so, where?) or do voters want an option not presented on their ballots: raisng revenues to protect vital state services?

 
By Miriam Raftery
 
February 18, 2009 (San Diego) -- Efforts to pass a $40 billion state budget plan collapsed over the weekend due to Republicans refusal to support the plan, which fell one vote shy of passage in the Senate. The state has halted refund checks to taxpayers and payments to vendors, stopped 2,000 public works projects and announced plans to stop payments for foster parents and other social services because California has no more money. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered furloughs for state workers and tonight said he will send lay-off notices to 20,000 people on Tuesday. Loans are no longer an option due to the state’s bad credit rating.
 
“I don’t know what it takes for people to believe this really is a crisis,” said Senator Denise Ducheny, (D-San Diego), chair of the Senate Budget committee, whose district includes Lemon Grove, Spring Valley, and some eastern portions of San Diego.