GOP Budget Plan Decried

Five Los Angeles city officials spoke out Wednesday against a state Assembly Republican budget proposal, saying it includes drastic cuts to programs vital to women and children.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said the GOP plan, which would eliminate state-supported teen pregnancy prevention programs and battered women’s shelters, along with Medi-Cal payments for abortion, is “draconian.”

“In some sectors of the city, the highest percentage of [911] calls for service they get can be characterized as ‘disputes with family,’ ” said Miscikowski, chairwoman of the council’s Public Safety Committee. “We’re going to have our officers trained and able to intervene, but with no place to take the women and children.”

California legislators have been locked in a budget stalemate for months, pushing the state into a new fiscal year without a financial document to address a $38-billion budget shortfall. On Sunday, Assembly Republicans laid out a budget blueprint that included deep cuts in education and health care. Republicans defend the plan as reasonable because it reduces state spending by only 4%. They say Democrats have overspent state revenues for years and now needs to bring its finances under control.

The plan was voted down, but Los Angeles officials said Wednesday they fear that aspects of the proposal will be included in future compromise efforts. Senate Republicans are expected to introduce similar proposals next week.

During a morning news conference on the steps of City Hall, Miscikowski, Controller Laura Chick and three other council members urged legislators to reject the cuts proposed by Republicans, saying they could cause the teenage birthrate to rise and put more families on welfare.

“The Republican budget proposal puts women and children first: first on the chopping block, first to be cut, first to suffer the consequences,” said Councilman Jack Weiss.

Councilwoman Jan Perry said that state-supported shelters are often the first points of contact for women and children seeking refuge from abusive relationships.

Councilman Dennis Zine, one of two Republicans on the City Council, said he has a women’s shelter in his San Fernando Valley district that is struggling to stay afloat.

Zine and fellow Republican Councilman Greig Smith met with GOP leaders when Los Angeles officials traveled to Sacramento last week to lobby against cuts to local government.

“This isn’t about Republican or Democrat,” Zine said. “This is about helping people. This bickering back and forth between the Republicans and Democrats, it’s hurting the people of California.”

Little progress on a budget agreement appeared to take place in Sacramento on Wednesday. Legislative leaders met with Gov. Gray Davis and emerged to report that the issue of whether to raise taxes continues to fuel the impasse.

As if to highlight the role that the effort to recall Davis is playing in holding up the budget process, Bill Simon Jr., Davis’ Republican challenger in the last election and a potential recall candidate, showed up outside the governor’s office during the meeting and gave an impromptu news conference to reporters camped out there.

“There’s only a brighter tomorrow with good strong leadership,” Simon said. “The recall is just an effort to send a message to people behind that door, to send a message to people in this building.”

One group already suffering as a result of the budget impasse got some relief earlier in the week.

Davis signed a law allocating $727 million in payments to nursing homes, hospitals and health clinics that were threatened when Medi-Cal ran out of cash before the fiscal year ended on July 1.