Warning Issued on Deukmejian’s Plan to Cut Budget

Budget cuts proposed by Gov. George Deukmejian could curtail public treatment of the mentally ill and gut important programs for juvenile offenders, the medically indigent and the aging, Ventura County officials warned this week.

“It would be devastating for our department and for the families we serve,” said Mental Health Director Randy Feltman, whose department would suffer the most severe cuts with a reduction of as much as 38% in its operating budget.

At a press luncheon, Feltman called the governor’s proposals “not only tragic, but stupid.” He contended that the dollars saved by eliminating mental health programs will be lost many times over when the untreated mentally ill wind up jailed, homeless or institutionalized.

Ventura County stands to lose about $8.3 million if Deukmejian’s proposals are approved. A $14-million county reserve garnered from cost-cutting measures last year will soften the blow, but not for long, said Richard Wittenberg, the county’s chief administrative officer.

“We’ll probably be OK this year,” Wittenberg said. “We have a large fund balance. But we can’t depend on it. We’re talking about a systemic problem that will hurt us more and more as the years go by.”

The problem involves a one-two punch delivered by laws designed to limit state spending. For a decade, state spending has been bridled by the so-called Gann limit. This year, it became further restricted by Proposition 98, which earmarks at least 40% of all state expenditures for public schools and community colleges.

Social Services Targeted

The two have led the governor to propose far-reaching budget reductions, focusing largely on social services. Statewide, mental health funding could be cut by as much as 46%, according to Deukmejian’s critics. “His blue pencil will be as destructive as any assault weapon we’ve been reading about,” Democratic Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy has told crowds of mental health workers and patients rallying against the cuts.

The governor’s budget, which has been criticized by some Republican lawmakers, faces tough sledding in the Legislature. But, confronted with a lame-duck governor who wields the power of the line-item veto and needs no political favors for future campaigns, local officials are bracing for the worst.

“The loss will be pervasive,” said Feltman, who predicted more jail crowding and greater numbers of disturbed homeless people wandering through the county’s downtown areas. He said the county would not likely give his department the entire $5 million it might lose.

“Last year, we were worried about cost-of-living adjustments,” he said. “Now we’re worried about layoffs.”

Operations at other county departments would also be threatened by the governor’s budget.

The Ventura County Medical Center would face a direct loss of about $1.5 million, said Phil Wessels, director of the Ventura County Health Care Agency. “It’s not feasible for the hospital to absorb that kind of loss,” he said. “The county will be on the hook.”

Other Jeopardized Programs

Programs to reduce truancy and deal with juvenile offenders before they become full-fledged criminals are also in jeopardy, as is a program that provides household help to the elderly, officials said. Moreover, cuts in state family planning programs could cost the county an additional $4.9 million in welfare payments for unwanted children, they said.

“We’re playing political games with the elderly, the frail, the feeble and our children,” said County Supervisor Susan K. Lacey, “and they’re pretty awful games.”

The outrage over Deukmejian’s proposals is the latest chapter in what is now a familiar tale, told regularly by officials of almost every California county. As the taxing limits of Proposition 13 and related measures put a tight lid on counties’ ability to raise money, the state and federal governments were mandating that they operate increasingly expensive health, corrections and environmental programs.

The result, they say, has been a plunge in the counties’ abilities to provide basic services. Parks have closed, libraries have cut their hours, jails have become overcrowded, roads have deteriorated, and hospitals and clinics have gone understaffed and even shut down.