Schaefer Upset With Legislators : Sacramento impasse: The supervisor says further delay means the board must begin its budget talks without knowing which state funds will be cut.

Furious about the state’s continued delay in adopting a new budget, Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer urged residents Monday to write letters and place telephone calls to pressure state lawmakers to settle the budget stalemate.

Schaefer predicted that further delays in the approval of the state budget could spark a “domino effect” and lead to “irreversible damage” to poor and disabled people in the county.

Further delays also could mean that the Board of Supervisors will be forced to begin its own budget deliberations next week without knowing what state-funded social programs will be cut from the budget.

“It’s sort of like me telling you that you have to make a budget but I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to pay you,” Schaefer said.

Schaefer said that during today’s board meeting, she will formally “urge citizens of Ventura County to communicate their concerns with state legislators.”

Although the state is now a record 24 days into the fiscal year without a budget, Democratic and Republican lawmakers remain split over how to cut programs and increase taxes to balance a $50-billion budget.

The budget negotiations in Sacramento stalled last month as the Democrat-controlled Legislature began to struggle with $3.6 billion in cuts recommended by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian.

The poor in Ventura County continue to receive most services provided under state programs, such as medical assistance and welfare payments. But had it not been for county approval earlier this month of a $2.4-million emergency loan, 8,000 welfare families would not have received their mid-July payments as scheduled.

However, the county stands to lose thousands of dollars in interest on the $2.4 million it is lending the state--money that Schaefer said could go toward child abuse or prenatal care programs for the poor.

“If you have a woman who is pregnant and is receiving no prenatal care, that mother has damage and that damage is irreversible,” she said.

Without a state budget, Schaefer said the board might be forced to predict what state programs will be cut when the county begins its own budget deliberations next week.

“The problem is that legislators are not dealing with the problems they create,” Schaefer said. “They are dealing with paper problems and we are dealing with the real problems.”

While Supervisor John K. Flynn agrees that the state budget impasse could mean difficulties for the board in adopting a county budget next week, he said citizens should have patience with state lawmakers.

“They face some immense problems and we should give them credit,” Flynn said. “We should let them solve it without feeling pressure from the local level.”

Flynn pointed out that court rulings last week have provided some relief to the poor and disabled.

Last week federal judges freed up $149 million in welfare funds, $489 million for Medi-Cal and $50 million for in-home care workers. The judges ruled that the state has no right to stop paying for those programs, which are jointly funded by the state and federal governments.

“I try to take a view that they have some major issues to resolve and we have to be understanding of that and not be critical of that,” Flynn said.

Supervisor Susan K. Lacey agreed with Schaefer that citizens should voice their concerns about the state budget. But she said that it would not be productive to be overly critical of state legislators.

“If we are going to solve the problem we have to be positive,” she said.

State STALEMATE

Governor seeks to reopen negotiations and end impasse. A1