People will die, and I might be one of them

by Tiny/PoorNewsNetwork

"NO Cuts to the poorest people in the State"....Their faces.. thousands of faces the color of wheat, chocolate, carmel and charcoal, a map of the earth etched into their determined gaze. Their Bodies, thousands of bodies; in wheelchairs, on canes, walkers and stretchers. Their voices; pleading, demanding, chanting and resisting, "No cuts to the in home support services program!!!!

"The governor with his extremely draconian budget cuts would force over 75, 000 senior citizens and disabled folks into nursing homes or even worse,... the streets" , Luis Calderon, from the In home Support SErives Public Authority of San Francisco spoke slowly into a microphone from his wheelchair to a crowd of over two thousand people of all ages, races,cultures and abilities gathered at a protest and rally on thursday at the State building in San Francisco, "these cuts will dramatically eliminate thousands of jobs that we desperately need in the state of California"

The black-grey sky above us shifted and rumbled with each one of Luis' tremulous words, "Even worse the governors' proposed cuts will cost taxpayers much more money , by forcing seniors and disabled folks into homes it will cost taxpayers 7 times more than the program we have now- Quality home care begins at home , but the governors cuts will eliminate decades of work that have enabled seniors and disabled folks to remain in their own homes - we are asking governors to work with the legislators to find another way.... no cuts to ihhs", his voice trailed off into a soft chant that gathered the people. The crowd swelled in sync with the turbulent sky..."NO cuts to IHHS" NO cuts To IHHS"

In 2000 Gray Davis and the state legislator allocated $100 million in matching funds to defray counties' program costs. That enabled several California counties to start paying a living wage to in home support service workers. In San Francisco workers started receiving 10.10 an hour with health and dental care, in other words this became a real job for low-income people. "I have been a San Francisco home care recipient for many years, in all those years i have had many providers, most of them didn't stay with me because they couldn't afford to," Jeannie Wong, an elder disabled woman addressed the crowd, "but since the county started providing a living wage and benefits i have been able to live independently and stay at home. She ended with a plea to Schwarzenegger "Cutting our home care program is not the right way to balance our budget - save the services that save lives"

In his 2004-05 Proposed budget, Schwarzenegger has decided to make a series of very harmful cuts to poor and disabled Californians. As well as eliminating home care services which include helping folks to doctors visits, bathing, cooking, shopping and other very necessary services which enable disabled folk to stay out of institutions, he also is attempting to get rid of the law that allows counties to pay union dues and is saying to counties - if you want to unionize your workers, go ahead, but the State will not help.

"People will die and i might be one of them", A tall distinguished African-American man began speaking to the increasingly hyper crowd, "My name is Charles Stone, I am the current chair of the Santa Cruz County commission on disability and the Santa Cruz public authority commission. Let's be clear, no rich people will die from these budget cuts, only the poorest and most needy. The first horror of these cuts is the elimination of the residual care program, if you or someone in your family is disabled the state will pay you to take care of them, Schwarzenegger wants to completely eliminate that program. Mr Stone went on to relate A University of California study recently revealed that the proposed cuts would actually cost more than they propose to save, i.e. the Medical program would end up paying $43,000 per person per year. He ended by pointing out that the basis of the cuts are to completely eliminate the Counties' "Public Authorities" i.e., the agency that administrates the in-home support service workers.

The faces drew together, filling the sidewalks, pouring into the streets, screaming into the liquid sky,"No Budget Cuts to IHHS.... KEEP our People Out of the institutions.. NO Budget Cuts to the poorest people in California"