GOVERNOR SIGNS 2002/2003 BUDGET: WORST RESULTS AVERTED.

On September 5, 2002, the Governor signed the $98.9 billion budget, setting a record for the latest budget ­ the farthest after the July 1 effective date _ in California history. The Legislature had finally passed the budget bill (A.B. 425) and more than fifteen budget trailer bills by the wee hours of Sunday, September 1, 2002. The reason for this delay of course was the contentiousness and panic caused by the huge $23 billion revenue shortfall.

Although the news for people with disabilities is not particularly good, considering the size of the shortfall it could have been much worse. The major advocacy push from the disability community in the last several months undoubtedly improved the outcome substantially.

The final budget adopted a cost_of_ living (COLA) adjustment to be passed through effective January 1, 2003, from the federal government to SSI/SSP recipients at the full percentage provided by the federal government. This big ticket item adds to the Budget Act for Fiscal Year 2002_03 approximately $ 54,307,000 for the six months period starting 1/1/03. It will result in about a $9_10 increase per month for a typical recipient.

The budget does not provide any funding for the state portion (i.e. the SSP cost_of_living adjustment) except for the month of June 2003. That's the bad news. The good news about the one_month COLA is that the grant in the following year would be based upon the higher amount given in June 2003.

The COLA for the state portion (SSP) was never considered a priority for either the Assembly or Senate given the staggering deficit. There was a tremendous fight to pass through the SSI COLA as opposed to using this amount to offset the State's General Fund deficit. The Governor wanted to do this but was reversed by the Legislature in its final action contained in AB 425.

Beyond the SSI/SSP outcomes, many other cuts that had been proposed early in the budget process ultimately were averted. The Governor's May revise of the budget had proposed to eliminate a previously scheduled $1 per hour wage increase for IHSS workers, on the grounds that in the previous fiscal year they had received a $1 per hour increase the state was not legally required to give. But the final budget authorized a $1 increase (at least in public authority counties) up to an hourly wage of $10.10.

In addition, cuts that had been proposed in the Medi_Cal program, such as cuts to provider payments and elimination of optional services, did not happen. Cuts to administrative costs, however, were passed, which means delays and other service problems can be expected to increase.

(Note: Thanks to Disability Resources Agency for Independent Living (DRAIL) for information on SSI/SSP used in this article.)