HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11141995 - C80 C.79, C.80
and C. 81
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Adopted this Order on November 14, 1995 , by the following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Rogers, Smith, DeSaulnier, Torlakson and Bishop
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
SUBJECT: Correspondence
C. 79 LETTER dated October 26, 1995, from Charles Imbrecht, Chairman, California Energy
Commission, 1516 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, expressing shared concerns
regarding the proposed federal policy regarding the receipt of spent nuclear fuel.
****REFERRED TO COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR, HEALTH SERVICES DIRECTOR, AND
DIRECTOR, GROWTH MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY.
C.80 LETTER dated October 24, 1995, from Senator Feinstein, United States Senate,
Washington, D.C., 20510, soliciting input as to what the potential impact of the proposed
Federal tax cuts will be on the County.
**"REFERRED TO COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR AND AUDITOR-CONTROLLER.
C.81 LETTER dated October 30, 1995, from Charles Jensen, Engineer, 2015 English Oak Court,
Danville, Ca 94506, urging the Board to enact an ordinance to approved the use of plastic
pipes in the building industry.
****REFERRED TO BUILDING INSPECTOR AND PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR.
IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that the recommendations as noted (****) are
approved.
c.c. County Administrator I hereby certify that this Is a true and correct copy of
Health Services, Director an action taken and entered on the minutes of the
r
Board of Su isors on a date ' i
Director, GMEDA ATTESTED: 1 - �qs
Auditor-Controller PHIL BATCHELOR Clerk of the 8oar�d
Public Works, Director of Supervisors and ty Admintstretot
Deputy
ADIANNEFEINSTEIN COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
CALIFORNIA COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
'United �tatcs , cnate RECEfVE®
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-0504
OCT 3 01995
CLERK 8(3AR0 OF SUPERVISORS
October 24, 1995 CONTRA COSTA CO.
The Honorable Gayle N. Bishop
Chair, Board of Supervisors
Contra Costa County
651 Pine Street, Room 106
Martinez, California 94553
Dear Supervisor Bishop:
As you may already be aware, Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate
are proposing a tax plan that envisions balancing the Federal budget by the year 2002. Their
plan combines deep cuts in spending, a $224 billion tax cut for some, and elimination of tax
credits for others, as well as wholesale shifting of some programs to state and county
governments in order to achieve that goal. .
I support a balanced budget, and I believe that some of the measures contained in
these bills are painful but necessary steps that must be taken to bring federal spending under
control. But some of these proposals cut too much, too fast, and in doing so place an
enormous and potentially catastrophic burden on California in the process.
The budget reconciliation bill will change tax laws, health programs for Medicare and
Medicaid, and other programs, cutting more than $630 billion over the next seven years.
Annual appropriations bills for the next seven years will cut an additional $441 billion --
more than one trillion dollars when added together.
The impact on California counties from these changes will be enormous. I strongly
urge you to become involved in this debate, if you are not already doing so, by contacting
your representatives in Congress and the President, and letting them know the severity of the
impact these cuts will have in your area.
I have enclosed a summary of the proposed cuts from the Democratic Policy
Committee which I urge you share with your colleagues in local government.
California counties will be on the front line in dealing with the impact of these budget
cuts. Our hospitals, schools, services for children and low-income families, and job training
programs are on the line, and ever-shrinking county budgets will be expected to absorb more
cuts in federal funds in addition to projected increases in caseload.
Let me give you some examples of the scope and potential impact of the changes
being proposed.
Medicare:
Medicare and Medicaid alone represent 75% of the cuts in the reconciliation bill, $457
billion in total. Both the Senate and House versions on Medicare reform legislation proposes
cuts of $270 billion to Medicare -- $89 billion more than is needed to make the program
solvent for future generations. Proposed cuts to hospitals will have a devastating impact,
�9a
particularly on public hospitals:
California hospitals stand to lose $7.6 billion over the next seven years as a result of
proposed reductions in Medicare Part A. This does not include additional reductions
in Medicare Part B.
The five big teaching hospitals in the University of California system would face a
loss of $444.5 million over seven years. UC's medical schools, the largest health and
medical science instructional program in the nation, educates two-thirds of the State's
medical students each year.
Medicaid:
From 1988 to 1993 the number of Californians eligible for Medicaid more than
doubled, from 3.1 million to 5.2 million. Thirty-eight percent of those beneficiaries are
children. Medicaid is life support to California's public hospitals, which provide 70 percent
of hospital care to the poor, and a safety net for millions of others, providing emergency
room, trauma, and burn care, and neonatal intensive care services.
The Republican budget cuts federal Medicaid funding to California by $18.7 billion
over seven years and by 27% in 2002 alone. The impact of these cuts would be devastating
in many areas:
Medicaid coverage would be eliminated for more than 950,000 Californians, including
as many as 469,104 children.
Oakland Children's Hospital, which receives 70% of its revenue from Medicaid, could
be forced to close its pediatric trauma center -- the only one in the San Francisco Bay
Area.
Approximately 150,000 Californians are infected with the HIV virus. Medicaid
provides the only health insurance coverage for 50 percent of those who become ill --
including 90% of all HIV-infected children. With the cost of care averaging between
$120,000 - $140,000 per case, those who lose coverage under Medicaid will end up in
County hospitals or on the streets of our communities.
Sixty-three percent of California's nursing home residents rely on Medicaid. This is
113,000 elderly and disabled people -- patients with Alzheimer's, AIDS, crippling
arthritis or osteoporosis.
Proposed cuts would deny as many as 54,030 disabled children SSI cash benefits in
2002. Federal SSI cash benefits for children with disabilities in California will be cut
by $1.3 billion over seven years.
Earned Income Tax Credit
The Republican budget cuts $43.5 billion for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
nationwide. In California, the EITC helps nearly 3 million workers and their families make
ends meet -- more than 21% of all California taxpayers. The EITC rewards work and helps
keep families who are near the poverty line off of the welfare rolls.
EITC cuts will increase taxes for 2,357,650 California taxpayers by an average of
$364 by the year 2002.
Families with two or more children bear the largest burden of the EITC cut. More
than 1 million California families with two or more children will receive an average
tax increase in 2002 of$499.
More than 615,000 workers will be declared ineligible for M EITC. These are very
low-wage working men and women who do not reside with children with adjusted
gross incomes of less than $9,500 per year.
Welfare Reform
The welfare reform bills passed by both the House and the Senate contain some of the
biggest cost-shifts to states and counties.
There is no question that our nation's welfare system needs reform. That is why I
voted in support of the welfare reform measure ultimately passed by the Senate. However,
there are many onerous provisions in both the Senate and the House bills that must be
reconciled in Conference Committee, and I will reserve judgement on the final bill until after
the process is completed.
Almost 3 million people in California receive Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC) -- a caseload larger than the populations of many states. The combined
annual cost to Federal, state and local government for this program is approximately $7
billion.
The proposed block grants for welfare will be inadequate'to address changes in the
economy. States projected to experience high growth in caseload, such as California, will be
particularly hurt.
AFDC block grant funds are frozen at 1994 levels, resulting in $2.8 billion reduction
in federal funds to California over five years.
Legal immigrants who reside in California would be denied welfare benefits, resulting
in a $7 billion cost-shift to California over five years.
Los Angeles County alone has estimated a loss of$500 million annually due to the
legal immigrant provisions.
Cuts in the food stamp program to California will top $1.5 billion over five years. A
working family of four is estimated to lose $324 per year in benefits.
As I noted earlier, the annual appropriations bills will carry out an additional $440
billion in cuts over the next seven years. These cuts, to education, environmental protection,
housing, and other programs will add to the already heavy impact on California.
Education
Proposed budget cuts to education are shortsighted and will impact tens of thousands
of needy students in California's already-beleaguered school system:
17,233 children in California will be denied Head Start education funds.
$1.1 billion will be cut from Title I education funds, denying remedial reading, writing
and math skills to 236,100 disadvantaged students.
430,800 California college students will see the costs of their student loans go up by as
much as $2,111.
61,500 graduate students would see their load costs rise as much as $9,424.
34,500 students in California in 1996 alone will be denied Pell Grants, which for many
students is the only financial assistance available to them for higher education.
Goals 2000 funding is eliminated altogether, denying funding for as many as 2,061
California schools for curriculum improvements.
A proposed new tax on colleges for every student on campus who receives a federal
loan would cost California schools an additional $150 million over seven years.
Funding for the National Service Corporation will be eliminated, denying 5,883 young
Californians educational opportunities in exchange for community service.
The School-to-Work initiative is slashed, denying 93,584 California youths jobs in
1996 alone. 655,088 will be denied job opportunities over seven years.
Environment
California has a lot at stake environmentally in this budget process. Safe drinking
water, toxic waste clean-up, and wastewater treatment programs are all seriously jeopardized
under the proposed cuts:
California will lose $42.3 million to treat wastewater pollution and $1.3 million from
programs to clean-up leaking underground storage tanks.
Superfund hazardous waste clean-up is cut by 36 percent from the President's budget
which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, will delay the clean-up of
12 toxic waste sites in California: Fullerton, Los Angeles, San Jose, Turlock,
Clearlake, Redding, Salinas, Mountain View (4 sites), and Antioch.
Housing:
Congressional proposals to cut $5 billion from affordable housing programs will
increase the burden on counties to care for the homeless and those needing housing assistance.
The Homeless Grant to California is cut by $49.5 million.
The Public Housing Modernization Fund to California is cut by $17 million.
Over 20,000 low-income California families will be required to pay, on average, an
additional $420 in rent.
The examples listed above are just some of the cuts California will suffer under the
proposed budget plans currently pending before Congress. Each state must do its part to
balance the Federal budget, but California stands to bear a disproportionate share of the pain
under current proposals, and these cuts will be felt by generations of Californians to come.
As a County Supervisor, your input is urgently needed with your representatives in
Congress and with the President. I would appreciate hearing from you as to the impact of
these cuts on services in your area. I urge you to contact your representatives immediately to
voice your concern over these proposals.
With warmest regards.
incerely yours,
ianne Feinstein
United States Senator
DF:spk