SACRAMENTO -- — The state's ability to protect children, renters, workers and the elderly as well as California's wildlife and its land would be impeded under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposals for closing a $14.5-billion deficit, state agency reports show.
The proposed budget reductions, which Schwarzenegger submitted this week to the Legislature, would erode public protection programs across state government, according to hundreds of pages of assessments that agencies submitted along with the budget this week.
Schwarzenegger decided to spread the pain across all areas of government, forcing most agencies to prepare to cut a tenth of their spending. Advocates for many of those areas said relatively small reductions would have a significant effect on the state's ability to enforce its laws and protect its citizens.
This comprehensive approach would reduce state inspections of child-care centers and elderly residential facilities. Inspectors currently try to visit every center once every five years unless there is a history of problems. To save $4.7 million between now and mid-2009, the Community Care Licensing Division plans to reduce that frequency to once every seven years.
"We talk about children's health and safety being our priority, so it's difficult to justify this," said Holly Mitchell, the head of Crystal Stairs, a child care advocacy group in South Los Angeles.
She noted that a national report released last year ranked California 38th among the states for the thoroughness of its child center oversight efforts.
A $2.6-million cut to the Department of Fish and Game would result in the elimination of 38 game warden positions, according to the agency's budget documents.
Jake Bushey, a retired warden and spokesman for the California Fish and Game Wardens Assn., said wardens are already stretched so thin that they have time to investigate only one out of every four tips they receive about poaching.
"You can pass all the environmental protection laws you want, but someone has to be there to enforce them," Bushey said. "Want to pollute? Want to destroy habitats? Want to poach commercially? Have at it. We can't stop you."
The cuts could hamper state government's ability to investigate complaints of housing and employment discrimination. The state Fair Employment and Housing Department -- the largest civil rights agency in the country -- said in its budget documents that the $1.9-million cut it would sustain "will result in a backlog of discrimination cases."
