State Takes Hit in Budget
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday approved and sent to the White House a far-reaching bill that will trim the growth of federal benefit programs by more than $39 billion in the next five years -- Congress' first major budget-cutting exercise in almost a decade.
The measure, which is expected to cost California at least $1.7 billion in federal assistance, squeaked through the Republican-led House by two votes -- 216 to 214 -- and without a single Democrat in favor. The Senate had passed the legislation shortly before Christmas, also with no Democratic support, when Vice President Dick Cheney broke a 50-50 tie.
President Bush issued a statement praising the House vote and added, "I look forward to signing this bill into law." The 2007 budget he will submit to Congress on Monday, Bush said, "will continue to build on the spending restraint we have achieved."
Among its many provisions, the bill will charge higher interest rates on student loans, reduce federal aid to force absent parents to pay child support and impose stricter work requirements on welfare recipients.
As the state with the largest population, California will absorb a large share of the cuts. The state's Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that California will lose $1.7 billion in federal aid and have to spend $1.4 billion of its own money under the bill's provisions. The state Finance Department foresees $2.4 billion in lost federal aid.
"This will blow a multibillion-dollar hole in the state budget, making a bad situation worse," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said Wednesday after the bill was passed. "It's another slap in the face from Washington to California's poor and middle-class families. And worse, it jeopardizes many of the matching funds we were hoping for to fund healthcare and education programs."
Noting that every California GOP House member -- with the exception of the absent Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Diamond Bar) -- had voted for the bill, Nunez added: "It's amazing to me that the Republicans in our congressional delegation continue to put party politics ahead of getting more resources for California."
Asked about his support for the measure despite the concerns of his home state's government, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) said that tougher fiscal times were ahead if Congress failed to rein in spending.
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