Opinion - Columns - Bill Morem

Published: Thursday, Sep. 03, 2009

Bill Morem: The human toll of state budget cuts

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Big ol’ honkin’ crocodile tears: Those are what our state legislators have been shedding with regard to passing their smoke-and-mirrors budget. “We’ve had to make the hard decisions,” they bemoan with grimly set mouths.

I don’t buy that for a second; it’s simply not true.

As education, health and human services are slashed this year because of poor stewardship in Sacramento, the Legislature gives a pass on levying a California oil extraction tax, the only oil-producing state in the nation not to have one.

Streamlining government by consolidating — or eliminating — well-paid regulatory boards and commissions? Nope. Sewing shut corporate loopholes that allow offshore tax breaks? Uh-uh. Steps toward meaningful pension reform in the public sector? Not a chance.

In fact, the Fair Political Practices Commission said in early August that state officials had fattened their lobby-stuffed coffers by more than $60 million through fundraisers in the first half of 2009 — and it’s not even an election year.

No, our solons in Sacramento are taking the money and making the tough decisions to balance the budget on the backs of their least powerful constituents, those without lobbies: the young, old and infirm.

I asked Lee Collins, director of the county’s Department of Social Services, to give that decision a human face; what do the cuts to health and human services mean locally?

A staff member in the department’s In-Home Support Services (IHSS) — those good folks who make a pittance to help keep people in their homes, out of institutions and shelters and off the streets — had this story to tell:

“I have a client who is 63 years old and is on dialysis three days per week. He suffers from diabetes, renal disease, high blood pressure, migraines and anxiety.”

His IHSS provider helps with “domestic chores, some meal preparation, laundry and grocery shopping. After dialysis he is very weak and tired and finds it difficult to do much of anything.”

This gentleman will be cut from the program in October. “Without IHSS, he will be forced to do these tasks even though he physically is unable. For example, his provider takes his clothing to the laundromat as he has no washer or dryer. This would be very hard for him to do on his own.”

To make matters even more desperate, he doesn’t have any local family members who are able to help him. This man will be cut off from simple, rudimentary in-home care. How will he survive?

Another in-home provider noted: “I have a client who had her Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment cut. As a result, she’s submitted a proposal to her landlord to have her rent reduced. If the landlord doesn’t accept the proposal, the client will have to move to a shelter — one that can accommodate her need for a respirator because she suffers from impaired breathing, which, in turn, limits her ability to address personal and domestic care.”

In yet another case, “Mr. C is a 39-year-old man who lives with his cats and dog in a converted garage/duplex built by his parents in a rural area of Nipomo. He is a paraplegic as a result of an accident. He is wheelchair dependent with limited use of his upper extremities.

“In 2003 he fractured his right femur. He has no feelings in either leg, needs his provider to rub both feet to promote circulation and assist him with his standing device. As his home is not handicapped accessible, Mr. C needs help with meal prep and laundry. Although he can do light shopping, he is unable to do his own weekly shopping. Mr. C is also being treated for osteoporosis and gives himself daily injections. He is active and has a wonderful attitude.”

As Collins noted: “Well, we can hope he’ll still have a wonderful attitude when all of his services are eliminated.”

Multiply these stories hundreds of times in our county, as well as thousands of times throughout the state, and the bleating of our legislators pleading that they’ve “had to make the tough choices” rings hollow indeed.

Bill Morem can be reached at bmorem@thetri bunenews.com or 7817852.