As labor, social service, and education advocates await the state House and Senate budgets—expected tomorrow—it’s worth noting, as we have a few times now—that the even the Governor’s new budget, which isn’t the “all cuts” budget she lamented in December, leaves about $1 billion in government programs on the cutting room floor.
The bleeding heart budget wonks over at the Washington Budget & Policy Center have an updated list of the cuts.
Here’s the list:
- Investments in higher education would be sharply reduced;
- Voter-approved efforts to reduce class sizes in early grades and improve student achievement would be suspended;
- Temporary financial and medical assistance through GA-U for people who are unable to work due to disability would be sharply curtailed;.
- Thousands of working families would lose access to child care assistance;
- Mental health care funding for low-income residents would be further reduced;
- Many residents with long-term care needs would lose assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, eating, and dressing;
- Low-income adults would lose hearing services, including hearing aids;
- School-based Medicaid services would be suspended;
- Programs that protect our air and water and clean up toxic spills would be cut;
- The waiting list for Basic Health, currently over 93,000, would continue to rise.
