Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issues an executive order requiring recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to meet basic subsistence needs. GOP legislators call for the cash to be returned.
By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times
June 25, 2010
California welfare recipients using state-issued debit cards withdrew more than $1.8 million in taxpayer cash on casino floors between October 2009 and last month, state officials said Thursday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order requiring welfare recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to "meet the basic subsistence needs" of their families. The order also gave the state Department of Social Services seven days to produce a plan to reduce other types of "waste, fraud and abuse" in the welfare program.
The moves came after The Times reported Wednesday that officials at the department failed to notice for years that welfare recipients could use the state-issued cards to withdraw taxpayer cash at more than half of the tribal casinos and state-licensed poker rooms in California. The state initiated the debit card program in 2002.
Casino withdrawals, which represented far less than 1% of total welfare spending during the eight months for which the department released data, averaged just over $227,392 a month.
Schwarzenegger has already ordered the vendor that runs the state welfare system's ATM network to prohibit the cards from working at casino machines. Republican lawmakers are now calling on the administration to track down the people who withdrew cash at gaming centers and recover the money.
"I'd say that $227,000 per month is an astounding waste of taxpayer dollars," said Seth Unger, spokesman for Assembly Republican Leader Martin Garrick of Solana Beach. "To me it is absolutely clear that the department failed in its duty to provide oversight. We should explore all options to get the money back."
The electronic benefit transfer cards allow welfare recipients to access two accounts: cash offered through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and an electronic version of food stamps, which comes with strict rules governing how the money can be spent.
The cash benefits, however, can be withdrawn and spent just about anywhere. A Times review of state records found that the cards work at ATMs in 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms.
Most of the ATMs impose a withdrawal limit of about $300 a day. The monthly cash grant for a family of three ranges up to $694, while families with more than 10 people can get as much as $1,469, documents from the Social Services Department show.
Some Assembly Republicans called Thursday for assurances that welfare recipients can't access ATMs at other "seedy" businesses. "If they're going to shut down … the casinos, why not also shut down the ATMs at liquor stores and bars?" Unger asked.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the point of the executive order was to force the department to examine the program for all manner of abuse, but did not specify any other kinds of businesses that might be weeded out of the network. "We're going to eliminate any waste, fraud and abuse that makes sense to eliminate," he said.
Democrats, who have been fighting to preserve the state's fraying social safety net in the face of a $19-billion budget gap, angrily rejected a Schwarzenegger proposal last month to eliminate the cash portion of welfare.
That was before anyone in Sacramento realized the money could be withdrawn by someone strolling from a poker game to a blackjack table.
Democratic leaders steered away from specifics while discussing calls for reform.
"We will conduct timely legislative oversight," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). "We want to make sure all families are spending the money on the children it's intended to serve."
jack.dolan@latimes.com
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
State Lawmakers Debate Golf and Rocks...
On June 21, the longest day of the year, the Legislature debated whether to change the state rock and named LAST week (already passed) "California Golf Week". Mind you, the Constitutional Deadline to pass a budget was June 15, the end of the Fiscal Year is June 30, and there's a $19.1 billion budget deficit... I talked to Fox 40 News for a story on what's going on in the Capitol.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Asm. Garrick SacBee Viewpoint: Cut spending to balance budget
Viewpoints: Cut spending to balance budget
Special to The Sacramento Bee
Published Thursday, Jun. 17, 2010
Another budget deadline has come and another has been missed. But it's not because there isn't a budget blueprint on the table that deserves the Legislature's attention. Instead of scrapping the governor's May Revise and devising schemes to raise taxes and maintain spending, legislative Democrats should get serious about addressing the overspending at the root of the budget crisis.
The governor released a responsible approach to closing a $19 billion budget hole more than a month ago that will reprioritize and reduce state spending, and finally slow the unsustainable growth of state government. The plan identifies state priorities: making sure K-12 education funding is not reduced, and reducing spending in health and welfare programs not mandated by the federal government, without raising taxes.
Lawmakers also must seize this opportunity to reform and fix many of the underlying causes of the state's perpetual fiscal crisis. This includes reforming a state pension system that has seen a 2,000 percent cost increase to the public over the past 10 years.
This reform alone could save $110 billion over the next 30 years. Pension reform is a critical issue that must be addressed in this year's budget discussions.
It's also time once and for all to place a strict spending cap in the state constitution, and strengthen the rainy-day fund to help keep the budget balanced even when revenues decline. Such a reform would ensure that we save sufficiently during the good times so we can better protect priorities like education and public safety during bad times.
Unfortunately, legislative Democrats have rejected these sensible approaches, and introduced vastly differing budget plans. They want to increase state spending and debt, and to raise taxes by billions of dollars on working Californians. Their primary motivation is to protect government jobs. The 38 million Californians who don't work for the government should matter just as much as the 350,000 state employees who do.
Assembly Democrats reject all but $1.2 billion of the governor's spending reductions needed to close the deficit.
Instead, they want to borrow $9 billion to give cash to welfare recipients and to increase government spending, and pay it back by increasing the cost of gasoline. With interest, this loan will cost taxpayers $21 billion over 20 years to pay for one-time spending this year.
Senate Democrats want to raise $5 billion in taxes on income, cars, kids, beer and wine, and job creators. Their idea of budget reform is to push state-mandated programs onto counties and cities, and then make it easier for special interests to pressure local voters to raise taxes on themselves.
At least 2.3 million people are out of work, and our economy is still reeling from a steep national recession. State tax revenues are down sharply in spite of historic tax hikes last year, and experts predict they'll remain at this reduced level for the foreseeable future.
Tax increases are not the answer. California has the highest sales and gas taxes, and second-highest income tax rates in the nation – and yet the multibillion-dollar deficits persist. Enough is enough.
It's time for Democrats in Sacramento to get serious about balancing the budget. First, all must acknowledge that raising taxes in the midst of a recession is off the table. Second, both parties must work to significantly reduce spending now if we are to balance the current-year budget. Third, Democrats need to work with us in supporting a long-term strategy to address pension and spending reform.
It would be irresponsible to use the budget process as a hammer to shut down the government to force higher taxes, as some legislative Democrats have suggested doing. Real people are affected by the decisions we make on the budget. Passing a budget is an important duty for lawmakers and should not be viewed as a political game.
The governor's no-new-taxes budget and Republican reforms are the best approach to solving California's short- and long-term budget challenges. Taxpayers and the unemployed are counting on Democrats to buck the status quo and the public employee unions, and join with Republicans in passing a budget that doesn't protect government jobs at the expense of hard-working and job-seeking Californians.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
Another budget deadline has come and another has been missed. But it's not because there isn't a budget blueprint on the table that deserves the Legislature's attention. Instead of scrapping the governor's May Revise and devising schemes to raise taxes and maintain spending, legislative Democrats should get serious about addressing the overspending at the root of the budget crisis.
The governor released a responsible approach to closing a $19 billion budget hole more than a month ago that will reprioritize and reduce state spending, and finally slow the unsustainable growth of state government. The plan identifies state priorities: making sure K-12 education funding is not reduced, and reducing spending in health and welfare programs not mandated by the federal government, without raising taxes.
Lawmakers also must seize this opportunity to reform and fix many of the underlying causes of the state's perpetual fiscal crisis. This includes reforming a state pension system that has seen a 2,000 percent cost increase to the public over the past 10 years.
This reform alone could save $110 billion over the next 30 years. Pension reform is a critical issue that must be addressed in this year's budget discussions.
It's also time once and for all to place a strict spending cap in the state constitution, and strengthen the rainy-day fund to help keep the budget balanced even when revenues decline. Such a reform would ensure that we save sufficiently during the good times so we can better protect priorities like education and public safety during bad times.
Unfortunately, legislative Democrats have rejected these sensible approaches, and introduced vastly differing budget plans. They want to increase state spending and debt, and to raise taxes by billions of dollars on working Californians. Their primary motivation is to protect government jobs. The 38 million Californians who don't work for the government should matter just as much as the 350,000 state employees who do.
Assembly Democrats reject all but $1.2 billion of the governor's spending reductions needed to close the deficit.
Instead, they want to borrow $9 billion to give cash to welfare recipients and to increase government spending, and pay it back by increasing the cost of gasoline. With interest, this loan will cost taxpayers $21 billion over 20 years to pay for one-time spending this year.
Senate Democrats want to raise $5 billion in taxes on income, cars, kids, beer and wine, and job creators. Their idea of budget reform is to push state-mandated programs onto counties and cities, and then make it easier for special interests to pressure local voters to raise taxes on themselves.
At least 2.3 million people are out of work, and our economy is still reeling from a steep national recession. State tax revenues are down sharply in spite of historic tax hikes last year, and experts predict they'll remain at this reduced level for the foreseeable future.
Tax increases are not the answer. California has the highest sales and gas taxes, and second-highest income tax rates in the nation – and yet the multibillion-dollar deficits persist. Enough is enough.
It's time for Democrats in Sacramento to get serious about balancing the budget. First, all must acknowledge that raising taxes in the midst of a recession is off the table. Second, both parties must work to significantly reduce spending now if we are to balance the current-year budget. Third, Democrats need to work with us in supporting a long-term strategy to address pension and spending reform.
It would be irresponsible to use the budget process as a hammer to shut down the government to force higher taxes, as some legislative Democrats have suggested doing. Real people are affected by the decisions we make on the budget. Passing a budget is an important duty for lawmakers and should not be viewed as a political game.
The governor's no-new-taxes budget and Republican reforms are the best approach to solving California's short- and long-term budget challenges. Taxpayers and the unemployed are counting on Democrats to buck the status quo and the public employee unions, and join with Republicans in passing a budget that doesn't protect government jobs at the expense of hard-working and job-seeking Californians.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Enviros Want to Jack Car Taxes by $18 to Pay for Parks
The Sierra Club and enviros want to jack car taxes by $18 each, for all taxpayers, to pay for state parks. The car tax was just doubled... Parks should be funded in the budget - like they always have - and by people who visit them. I talked to ABC 7 for a GOP taxpayer perspective in this story.
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