California's no-new-taxes, limited-borrowing $117.3-billion budget, signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger July 11, was called "disappointing but not draconian" by Catholic lobbyists lamenting cost-of-living suspensions for some welfare recipients as well as the lack of any new funding for naturalization programs.
A fiscal bright note for living wage proponents was the unexpected raise for IHSS in-home health care workers, previously threatened with reductions in state support to minimum wage levels in early budget proposals. According to a budget summary report on the California Department of Finance website, effective July 1, 2005, state participation in IHSS provider wages and health benefits increased from $10.10 per hour to $11.10 per hour based on the projected growth of general fund revenues.
"We made some good progress, and we were able to keep certain issues [relating to the poor, disabled and in-home health workers] before the legislators," said Carol Hogan, lobbyist for the bishops' California Catholic Conference. Commenting on the COLA suspensions and nixing of increased funding for naturalizations programs, Hogan responded: "We are disappointed but philosophical that politics is compromise."
Though two-year cost-of-living suspensions are earmarked for some welfare and State Supplementary Payment (SSP) recipients, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients received a 3-month COLA delay for the next two years instead of a suspension. A report posted on the Western Center on Law and Poverty website said that, in the last 19 years, CalWORKS/AFDC grant levels have either been frozen or reduced 11 times with SSP COLAs reduced or suspended 12 times.
According to Hogan, lobbyists from several organizations were instrumental in focusing attention on issues affecting the working poor. She said members of the Western Service Workers Association and the Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals, who have also joined forces with the CCC in an anti-assisted-suicide coalition, were very effective in lobbying efforts to keep living wages for in-home health care workers.
As far as the lack of increased funding for naturalization programs, many of which are conducted around the state by Catholic Charities organizations, Hogan remains upbeat: "All is not lost. Two years ago, there was no money for naturalization programs. With continued lobbying by community-based organizations like Catholic Charities, we hope to increase naturalization funding next year."
In the new budget, naturalization funding will be kept at $1.5 million. Steve Pehanich, executive director of Catholic Charities of California, said he was especially disappointed with the zero increase in naturalization funding since 2.7 million California legal immigrants are eligible to become citizens.
"This budget sailed through," Pehanich noted. "Legislators were getting their ducks in a row for the special election in November. Some people struggling [on welfare] are going to have to struggle even more with the COLA suspensions. It's a cumulative effect over many years."
Plight of the poor
An improving economy has not done much to reduce poverty in Southern California, say local charitable agency staff working with the poor and homeless. "The need is always growing no matter how you paint the picture," commented Brian Pickering, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Council of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul. According to Pickering, demand for assistance from the charitable organization continues to climb every year.
During the 2003-04 fiscal year, he noted, the society's financial assistance provided to needy clients rose $35,000 from the previous year, bringing the total to $994,929. In the same time period, St. Vincent de Paul distributed household items valued at $625,000 to families in extreme need --- amounting to a whopping $520,000 increase from the previous year. Its shelter on Los Angeles' skid row provided 154,000 bed nights for homeless people, a one-year increase of 3,500. And, volunteers working for the charitable organization clocked 5,000 more hours than the last reported year bringing the total to just over 200,000 hours.
"The number of clients we serve has increased substantially," confirmed St. Vincent de Paul executive director, Jose Rossier. Reports gathered from the 100 local St. Vincent de Paul conferences show that, during fiscal 2003-04, the society assisted more than 850,000 adults and children, nearly doubling its assistance from the previous year when it aided 431,000 individuals.
"We're helping more homeless people, many abused women, many people who are mentally ill. And, we're seeing a staggering new trend: men with children asking for assistance," said Rossier.
Staff members at St. Francis Center soup kitchen and food pantry near USC in Los Angeles say they are getting more referrals for people requiring basic essentials. "A lot of people struggle with getting enough food, especially the elderly," said Ramon Calzada, St. Francis Center's executive director. And, a growing problem is evictions from rehabbed buildings as the neighborhood undergoes gentrification.
Every day, the center serves 150 meals to the homeless. "Since we serve the poorest of the poor, we are always busy," said Calzada. "When families do better and move out, others move right in." |