Homecare cuts symptom of bigger problem
As a long-time homecare provider here in Kern County, I have a personal and compelling interest in our state's serious budget problems.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed severely cutting or completely eliminating the In Home Supportive Services homecare program. This would deny care to nearly 400,000 low-income elderly, blind and disabled Californians, or force them into nursing homes, which would cost taxpayers far more. It would also throw nearly 400,000 low-wage homecare providers out of work, increasing the state's unemployment rate by almost 2 percent.
Yet, as horrific and shortsighted as these cuts may be, they are merely symptoms of the greater crisis that all Californians are facing. For many of us, the California dream has become a nightmare.
The governor and a minority of legislators are seeking $20 billion in budget cuts to schools, parks, libraries, infrastructure, safety net programs and other public services. These cuts threaten California's long-term prosperity and are a departure from the core values that have made California the eighth-largest economy in the world.
We need to understand that these cuts are not one-year, temporary cuts that will go away once the economy recovers. Their impact will haunt California for a generation:
* Families that file for bankruptcy because they can't afford their child's medical bills will never get their life savings back.
* College students who can't afford skyrocketing tuition and fees or can't get into the courses they need to graduate may have to postpone their education indefinitely.
* The pain of seeing a disabled loved one forced into an institution won't go away.
* Schoolchildren will not get to retake the third grade even if their classroom was too crowded and unruly for them to learn.
* Eliminating rehabilitation programs for prisoners and then turning around and releasing them early will be a recipe for disaster.
On Saturday, a group of marchers left Bakersfield on a 260-mile, 48-day March for California's Future. Supported by a broad coalition of labor, education and faith groups, the marchers will be joined by teachers, police and firefighters, homecare workers, nurses and other public servants in towns and cities up and down the Central Valley. The march will end with a rally at the State Capitol in Sacramento on April 21.
The marchers bring with them the message that in order to secure our state's future, we must restore:
* Quality public education and public services;
* A government and an economy that serves us all; and
* A fair, stable tax system to fund California's future.
Now, some people may ask why we chose the Central Valley for this March instead of more "liberal" areas of the state. There's a simple answer: Those of us who live in the Central Valley -- just like all other Californians -- know that something is seriously wrong in our state. Republicans and Independents as well as Democrats can agree that our system is broken. Conservatives and moderates as well as liberals can see that our political leaders lack compassion, courage and creativity.
If the people of Kern County look closely enough, they will see that the choices made by the governor and the legislature are not inevitable.
When they understand, for example:
* that our current leaders have chosen to close schools, health centers and fire stations instead of corporate tax loopholes;
* that the Legislature has imposed more than $12 billion in tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations over the past 15 years while slashing funds for education and public services;
* that California ranked 47th in the nation in K-12 per-pupil spending even before last year's tax cuts; and
* that California ranks 48th in the nation in the number of state employees per resident (no wonder we have to stand in line at the DMV!);
We believe that they will reject the draconian, cuts-only budget proposed by Schwarzenegger and his allies.
But the purpose of this campaign is not to spotlight problems; it is to find solutions. We will reach out to people of good will, regardless of their political party or ideology. We will work with them to find creative solutions to our state's problems.
To paraphrase President John F. Kennedy: We will not restore the California dream by the end of the march to Sacramento. We will not restore quality education and public services by the end of this legislative session. We will not fix our broken government or create a fair, stable tax system by the November election or even the one two years from now.
But here in Bakersfield this week, we began.
Margarita Jaramilla is a homecare provider from Bakersfield. She serves as chairwoman of the UDW Homecare Providers Union's Kern County Chapter and as a member of UDW's statewide executive board.
