Budget Action Items

ISSUE #1: Anticipated new federal dollars required to balance the DDS Budget; failure to realize this revenue would greatly increase pressure for additional cuts to the system.

 

BACKGROUND:  The Governor’s Budget anticipates continue federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds as well as continued enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP/federal matching funds) and continue increased federal funding in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C, which funds a portion of the Early Start Program. The increase totals $195.6 million.

 

RESPONSE: Without these new funds, the nearly $200 million hole that would be blown in the DDS budget exposes services to potential new cuts.

 

Some members of the California Delegation have already made comments critical of the Governor’s claim that California does not get its fair share of federal dollars compared to other large states such as Florida and Texas. Similarly, some in Congress take exception to the Governor’s remarks that allocation of federal resources has too much to do with politics and not enough to do with need and fairness.

 

POSITION: The CDSA Public Policy Committee endorses a major application of Association resources to working with members of the California Congressional Delegation to make sure that these funds are realized. This will involve letters, grassroots lobbying and similar efforts on Congress that in the past has been more focused on members of the California Legislature.

 


ISSUE #2: The Governor’s Budget calls for an additional $25 million in reduction to the DDS Budget.

 

BACKGROUND: In past years and in light of the serious economic situation facing California, CDSA has reluctantly agreed to support DDS sharing in the impact of budget cuts so long as 1) those cuts were as far from the lives of people with disabilities as possible, and 2) that the cuts focused at least as much on bureaucracy and paperwork as on services.

 

The actual implementations of cuts have not met these standards. Far greater impact has been visited on people with disabilities and the agencies that support them than on DDS Headquarters, Regional Center operations, and the State-owned and –operated developmental centers. In fact, as developmental center caseload has dropped dramatically since the mid-1990’s, the actual expenditures have risen.

 

In addition, the latest cuts totaling $334 million were severe and even today it is unclear exactly how big the cuts will be by category notwithstanding the supposedly targeted nature of these cuts. Until we know exactly the impact of previous cuts on the quality and availability of services, it is premature and irresponsible to further target services.

 

In addition, the cost of housing people with disabilities in state-owned facilities is three times that of serving similar clients in community settings. Closure and consolidation of these antiquated facilities must be the first priority of planning a future for this system. At the very least, the nearly $700 million spent to house just over 2,100 consumers should be reduced proportionally by the caseload reduction each year and that calculation should be made retroactive to the beginning of this current economic crisis. California can’t afford featherbedding nor can it afford to fund the developmental centers high overhead any longer.

 

Finally, new so-called programs or initiatives have provided back-fill dollars for regional center operations and for new positions at the DDS headquarters that nearly negate the impact of their share of the most recent cuts. The 4-part system (HQ, regional center operations, POS and developmental centers) should be viewed as a single large budget and cuts should be applied to all portions appropriately. There can be no sacred cows.

 

POSITION: The CDSA Public Policy Committee does not like the thought of any additional cuts to the direct service component of the system. The Committee believes that should occur, they should be targeted at the overfunding occurring in the State Developmental Centers.