Local agencies pinched for funding
As state legislators drag the budget process past the two month
mark, state employees, county residents, county agencies and local
nonprofits are suffering.
Local agencies pinched for funding
As state legislators drag the budget process past the two month mark, state employees, county residents, county agencies and local nonprofits are suffering.
Gov. Schwarzenegger is suing state Controller John Chiang over his refusal to implement an executive order that would cut the pay of nearly 140,000 state employees down to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour.
If implemented, state workers in San Benito County field offices, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and CalTrans, would face a pay cut.
Nonprofits and other agencies have already been hard hit.
On July 1, state officials stopped reimbursing public and private providers of social services, including nutrition programs authorized by the Older Americans Act, a federal program, and medical insurance through Medi-Cal, a state-run program.
San Benito Health Foundation Community Clinic is a nonprofit that offers medical and dental care, said Rosa Vivian Fernandez, chief executive officer for the Clinic.
“We’re one of the major Medi-Cal providers in our county, so we continue to provide services that we’re not getting paid for,” Fernandez said. “So far, they owe us $100,000, at least.”
Last year they served more than 8,000 clients, Fernandez said. Due to the economy, that number has gone up, and Fernandez wants the Legislature to pass a budget now.
“We elect them to do a job,” Fernandez said. “We’re doing a job at the community level. They need to do their job at the state level.”
Clinic staff are maintaining operations for the time being, Fernandez said.
“We probably can hold off another couple of months,” Fernandez said, “but that’s taking money away from other types of services that we can be providing and other enhancements for our service delivery system.”
In the current economic climate, people need social services more than ever, Fernandez said.
“The economy is such that people are losing their jobs, they’re losing their homes, they’re losing their ability to feed themselves,” Fernandez said. “We in social services are critical to people’s ability to survive. To have this budget situation right now and to impact social services is unbelievable to me. It’s inhumane.”
At some community clinics in the state, officials are considering layoffs, Fernandez said.
“Fortunately, we’ve made decisions that have prevented us from being in a crisis situation, but I don’t know how much longer we can bear this,” Fernandez said. “This crisis has the potential to decimate social service delivery systems.”
Some members of the community are feeling more immediate effects.
“We’re having clients for months who are trying to get onto Medi-Cal but their applications are not being processed,” Fernandez said. “The community should be outraged.”
San Benito County Health and Human Services staff are behind on processing Medi-Cal applications, said Kathy Flores, director of health and human services.
“They have been inundated with quite a number of applications and they are trying to process those as soon as possible,” Flores said. “It’s a mix of different issues. We have a couple staff out on leave. We have a vacancy right now.”
Although people are still receiving assistance, such as food stamps, county officials are not being reimbursed for staff time devoted to state programs, Flores said.
“It’s also the rent, the utilities, the supplies, everything that’s involved with keeping an office open that we are not getting the funding for,” Flores said. “We will eventually get the funding, when the budget is passed.”
Department officials have enough cash to float operations through September, Flores said.
“If it gets past the first fiscal quarter, which ends Sept. 30, I’m going to get very concerned,” Flores said. “The services are mandated, so we’ve got to keep our doors opened.”
Jovenes de Antano, a nonprofit senior services agency in Hollister, has never had to close its doors, said Pauline Valdivia, executive director of Jovenes.
“What’s the expression, holding on by the skin of my teeth,” Valdivia said. “I haven’t had to do this in a long time.”
Jovenes de Antano staff provides meals on wheels, congregate meals, daycare, family caregiver support and transportation services. Its goal is to provide seniors with the services they need to remain living at home for as long as possible.
Last year Jovenes served nearly 1,400 seniors aged 60 and up, Valdivia said.
“We have found people who will not buy food because they need to buy medication first,” Valdivia said. “Or they’ll stop taking medications and then they’ll get sick.”
Jovenes officials are losing $40,000 per month, a little more than half of monthly expenses.
“There’s been movement for the past three years, four years, to get our Assembly and Senate members to pass a bill through so they can at least release the federal funding,” Valdivia said. “That hasn’t happened.”
The loss of funds has left Jovenes officials scrambling to keep up with monthly expenses.
“It’s already starting to take its toll,” Valdivia said. “We have to make sure we have money to at least make payroll. Like for the food program, the vendor wants to get paid. Insurance, you can’t get behind on that.”
They have looked at other sources, but even such agencies as United Way have not been able to provide as much support this year.
Jovenes officials have enough money to make it through September, Valdivia said.
“It’s getting harder and harder, so I’m hoping the governor signs the budget,” Valdivia said. “Hopefully it doesn’t go past September or it’s going to be really hard.”
County residents might be inconvenienced by the late budget in other ways. A sign at San Benito’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office informs customers to expect long lines because they are short staffed due to an order by Gov. Schwarzenegger for no overtime.
Schwarzenegger issued an executive order that obligates state agencies to suspend temporary workers and eliminate overtime, said Mike Marando, a spokesman for the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
“We have experienced some challenges as a result of the late budget,” Marando said. “We’re going to modify our services to both meet the terms of the executive order and to continue meeting the needs of the public.”
