California Democrats Blast Reagan Budget as an Assault on the Poor

Several Democratic members of California’s congressional delegation ripped into President Reagan’s proposed budget Thursday, calling it a “travesty,” a “sham” and an assault on the state’s poor.

Speaking at a news conference, the officials said that a multitude of state programs would be crippled by Reagan’s budget, including medical care for low-income people, open-space acquisitions, school lunch programs and funds for the Los Angeles Metro Rail project.

They also complained that the President’s proposals, which would cut social spending, increase money for defense and rule out tax increases, are no different from previous years and do not show a willingness to compromise with members of Congress.

“As Yogi Berra once said, it feels like deja vu all over again,” Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Monterey) said.

Hearings Started

Congressional hearings on the President’s budget began this week.

California, which receives about 10% of federal spending for Medicaid, the medical care program for the poor, would be “badly hurt” by Reagan’s proposal to cut funding by $1.25 billion in 1988 and $19.5 billion over the next five years, according to Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento).

The state also would receive a $143-million cut in funds for welfare families under the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program and a $5.9-million cut in administrative funding for the food stamp program, he added.

Several state programs affecting public parks and open spaces also would be “devastated” by Reagan’s budget, said Rep. Richard Lehman (D-Sanger). The budget, which increases user fees and makes other cutbacks at national parks, would “hit very hard” in California, he said.

Nationwide Reduction

Lehman added that the budget’s nationwide reduction in funds for open-space acquisition would jeopardize park projects in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Panetta criticized the Administration’s proposed $800-million cut in the federal school lunch program. The impact could be severe in California, which has approximately 10% of the schoolchildren who participate in the program, he said.

“Between 500,000 and 800,000 California children would no longer get hot meals at school if the President’s proposal were adopted,” Panetta added.

Finally, the legislators noted that the President’s budget, as in previous years, proposed the elimination of most grants for building mass-transit systems across the nation, including the Metro Rail project in Los Angeles.

“I think what we need to see here is a compromise, a willingness to compromise on the part of the President,” said Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento).

Fazio, recalling that Reagan faced Democratic opposition from both houses of the California Legislature when he was governor, added that “he knew then that he had to come down off Mt. Olympus.”

“It’s no different now. We want to negotiate with him on these issues as equals,” he said.