A network of California advocates for the poor said the Governor’s budget announced on Thursday is a step in the right direction, but it’s also a disappointment.
Mike Herald from the Western Center on Law and Poverty said the budget doesn’t include any new cuts to health and social services, but it makes no attempt to restore public programs reduced in years past.
“We’re not restoring adult dental care for example and it’s really hard if you’re a CALWORKS mom to get her teeth fixed so she can go on a job interview and get a job," explained Herald. "So some of these cuts work against some of the other policy that we’ve created.”
Herald said budgets have cut $15 billion dollars in government services in the past five years, such as state public assistance programs, Medi-Cal and In-Home Supportive Services.
Governor Brown said he wants to avoid situations in which public benefits are promised, and then taken back when the state is in another deficit.
