State can’t meet obligations until budget crisis is resolved

From CNN Money, the Sacramento Bee, and NBC Los Angeles (with video):

California has started holding up $3.5 billion in payments that it owes to taxpayers, contractors, counties and social service agencies that serve people with disabilities.

State programs that provide services for mental health, alcohol and drug rehab, and people with developmental disabilities stand to lose $395 million in February. The state is facing a $40 billion budget gap, the widest deficit in its history.

One of the casualties of the crisis is a Los Angeles-area home that provides 24-hour care to teenagers with severe developmental disabilities. The facility can only stay open one more month if state funds are pulled.

“We’re down in the trenches fighting a war, and to have our government completely abandon us, that is what I really find most distressing,” said a woman whose son lives at the residence.

See also:

State Stops Payments to Caregivers — ABC News 10

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, budget, caregivers, intellectual/developmental disabilities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.