| State Budget Hits Del Norte County |
| As many of you know, the State government has an incredible budget issue to resolve. A severe revenue deficit has Legislators, the Governor and local government officials struggling with the current 2002/2003 deficit of 26 Billion dollars and an anticipated shortfall of about the same magnitude for the upcoming 2003/2004 fiscal year. A primary target for reductions are the State Department of Education’s Child Development Division. This is where most of our child care funding originates. The Governor will push for what is called a realignment of State funds to the counties in the form of block grants. This basically means they give a lump sum to counties with some expectations of how counties should spend it but not much detail. The counties are reluctant to accept this realignment because 1) not ALL the funds will be dumped down. Some funds will pay for the State’s deficit in Sacramento and 2) there are few counties that can afford to take the shortage from their general funds to make up the difference. The Legislature & Governor have offered a few taxes to help counties make up the difference: Vehicle Licensing Fees and more taxes on tobacco products are currently being considered. However, there are no guarantees that the taxes will cover the difference or that they will always be available to the counties to impose. What does this mean for child care in Del Norte County? We believe that the January 2003 recommended cuts of Stage 3 subsidies and the 50% reduction of Resource & Referral funds have been avoided through June 30th. Our programs will be intact until then. We have also been given the impression that the realignment to the counties will occur in some form but it is not clear what level the funding will be. As of this point in time, this is what we believe might happen: 1) Subsidies for child care may be reduced including Stage 3 and all of those services funded by the Resource & Referral contracts will diminish. The Hansell Child Development Center will have reduced subsidized slots available. Any of the other services funded by the Child Development Division will be at risk. Basically, the Governor is recommending the dismantling of a State division that has been in existence for over 46 years. Resource & Referral Program Director Charlene Blackburn and myself went to Sacramento this week to speak to our county’s representatives to the Senate and the Assembly. Although we were only able to speak to Assemblywoman Berg in person, we advised her and Senator Aanestad’s staff person that the impacts on Del Norte families would be great. There are over 300 subsidized children in our county that need continued support. Annually, there are over 4,000 parent referrals and informational questions that need to be answered. There are over 50 licensed child care homes and 10 centers that need full funding to continue operation. If California’s economy is supposed to grow in order to turn the deficit around, child care for working families should not be reduced. We need your support to keep child care services strong in our county. Below is the contact information for our State representatives. Please write them (handwritten letters get attention) and let them know how much the State Child Development Division funding means to you and ask to keep the funds at State level. We will continue to keep parents and providers posted as the next year’s budget takes shape. State Representative Contacts: Email: Assemblymember.Berg@assembly.ca.gov Mailing address: Phone: (916)319-2001 Fax: (916)319-210
Email: Senator.Aanestad@sen.ca.gov Mailing address: Phone: (916)445-3353 |
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