Schwarzenegger Eyes End To Calif. Welfare Program
Saying that the state is "backed into a corner," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed $5 billion in deep spending cuts.
Among the most controversial is his proposal to eliminate funding for the state's welfare-to-work program — known as Calworks.
John Myers reports for member station KQED.
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MELISSA BLOCK, host:
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
We've been reporting for months now on the desperate financial troubles of the country's most populous state. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing almost $19 billion in spending cuts to help erase the largest deficit any state has ever had. This week, Schwarzenegger unveiled a radical proposal, the complete elimination of welfare assistance. Our story comes from John Myers of member station KQED.
JOHN MYERS: California's welfare-to-work program is known as CalWORKs, and it serves more than half a million families across the state - offering temporary cash payments and employment training. This week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called for ending the entire CalWORKs program.
Governor ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (California): I can tell you, if we don't make those cuts, I think that we will face catastrophic consequences, because the state would simply run out of money and get insolvent, which we can't afford to do.
MYERS: Schwarzenegger defended his massive spending cuts as the only way to get California out of what might be a $22 billion hole over the next year. But dismantling the welfare-to-work program only saves $1.3 billion. The state has actually already cut the welfare program, CalWORKs, over the years, to help pay for other parts of government.
Ms. JEAN ROSS (California Budget Project): CalWORKs has actually been a solution to California's budget problems. It hasn't been the cause.
MYERS: Jean Ross of the non-profit, California Budget Project, says the timing of the governor's proposal couldn't be worse - with the economy making it even harder to find and keep a good job.
MS. ROSS: If the CalWORKs program were to be ended, we would see a number of parents being forced to leave their jobs because they'd have nowhere to keep their children.
MYERS: The governor's plan faces stiff opposition and even outrage from members of the state legislature.
Ms. NOREEN EVANS (Assembly Member, California): What we're really doing here is debating the kind of California that we want for our future. This used to be the Golden State, now it's a sorry state.
MYERS: State Assembly Member Noreen Evans, the chair of the legislature's joint budget committee, says ending all welfare-to-work is not the only option.
Ms. EVANS: The governor's made it very clear. He'd rather throw women and children out of the lifeboat before he raises taxes.
MYERS: But for now, Schwarzenegger and his fellow Republicans in the state legislature say a tax increase is off the table. And that means welfare assistance may not be the only part of the social safety net that California has to cut free to balance its budget.
For NPR News, I'm John Myers in Sacramento. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
