Cuts would impact the care of an estimated 372,000 low-income seniors and people with disabilities
OAKLAND, CA – Late yesterday afternoon United States District Court Judge Claudia A. Wilken issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) effective immediately that stops the state from proceeding with a 20 percent cut to the state’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program until the Court is able to hear the case on December 15, 2011.
The cuts of more than $100 million to the IHSS program are part of the state’s $700 million “trigger cuts” written into the 2011/12 state budget and passed under SB 73. The cuts, which would impact the care of an estimated 372,000 low-income California seniors and people with disabilities, were to be enacted on January 1, 2012, if state revenues didn’t meet projected earnings by mid December.
“Judge Wilken’s Temporary Restraining Order brings a sense of relief to California seniors and people with disabilities,” stated Laphonza Butler, president of SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW). “This ruling means that our parents, grandparents, and children with disabilities who rely on the IHSS program to live safely at home will be able to get through the holidays without fear of losing their in-home care and being forced into institutions. It also means that there is a possibility of preventing these dangerous cuts to home care altogether.”
As stated in Judge Wilken’s findings, SB 73 raises serious questions of violations to Title XIX of the Social Security Act, the Medicaid Act, the American Disabilities Act and part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by placing IHSS recipients at imminent risk of unnecessary and unwanted out-of-home placement. (download TRO at: http://ultcw.org/files/2011/12/TRO.pdf)
Although the TRO does not stop the cuts from taking place, it does prevent the state from moving forward with issuing a Notice of Action to IHSS recipients that would announce the IHSS cuts as taking place on January 1, 2012.
“If implemented, these trigger cuts to the IHSS program would place hundreds of thousands of fragile lives in jeopardy,” said Butler. “Every hour of in-home care taken away from our seniors and people with disabilities places them in danger of experiencing falls, breaking bones, not taking their medications, or even worse. We simply can’t balance our states budget on the backs of our most vulnerable residents. The consequences are too great.”
The request for the TRO was filed on December 1, 2011, along with a lawsuit by senior and disability advocates to stop these devastating cuts to vital care from taking place. The Court is scheduled to hear the case on December 15, 2011, at 2:00 pm in Oakland.
Over 700,000 Californians make up SEIU in California; we work throughout the state, in all 58 counties, and we represent California in all of its diversity. We are social workers, nurses, classroom aides, state workers, security officers, college professors, home care workers, janitors, and more.
Sacramento, CA – SEIU California released the following statement by Tonia McMillian, a child care provider from Bellflower, in response to the veto of AB 101.
“We are profoundly devastated by today’s news. Like the foundation of a house, we are the hidden support for California’s economy as it struggles to recover. And the foundation is crumbling. Child care providers – nearly 80,000 throughout California – desperately needed this legislation so that we could improve our lives and the lives of the families we serve.
“Child care providers get up early every day, often before 5:00 am, to do the work that keeps California working. We work late into the night to give moms and dads peace of mind while they are at their jobs. We help children get prepared to succeed in school. And we help children grow up healthy and strong – that’s the part of our work you can’t put a price on.
“Yet the broken system in which we operate threatens our jobs and the well being of families. 5,700 child care providers shut their doors last year, in large part because California’s broken child care system made it impossible for them to stay in business. Payments come late, or are arbitrarily reduced or denied. Meanwhile, mortgage companies don’t want excuses. Fixing this broken system is the reason we’ve come together to ask for a seat at the table and the right to join together with a common voice.
“We will not give up. We’ve been strengthened by the legislative and community support we’ve received. California’s working families are counting on Governor Brown to be the champion we all need. He has learned just how broken the child care system is. We invite him to continue hearing from the child care providers who are living on the edge because California hasn’t listened to their voices. We are asking for a seat at the table and a chance to strengthen the profession we love.”
SACRAMENTO, CA — The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California released the following statement by State Council President Bill A. Lloyd following the Assembly’s passage of the California Dream Act:
“Today’s passage of the Dream Act marks a victory for young people who led the fight to bring their peers out of the shadows, only to see justice denied by the veto pen of the previous Governor. Today is possible because these outstanding and brave young people led the way, even though it meant risking their own future. They are true leaders.
“Now, California has the chance to open the doors of opportunity to every deserving student regardless of economic background or the path that led them to the Golden State.
“Nurturing the talent and hard work of some of the state’s most outstanding young people will strengthen our economy and our future. With their success as scholars who earned college acceptance against all odds, there is no limit to what they can achieve – and give back to our state. All California has to do is open the door.”
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SEIU California is a coalition of over 700,000 janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees represented by SEIU local unions throughout California. We come together to build a better California by fighting to pass policies and elect candidates that benefit working families and advance the issues we care about: affordable healthcare, good wages, retirement security for all, a healthy environment, good schools and universities, and stronger communities. We believe that by working together we can build a California where working families can thrive again.
Roger Niello Playing Political Games with Retirement Security
Scores of public employees protested outside the luxury car dealership partly owned by former Assemblymember Roger Niello, who recently filed an initiative for circulation that would unravel the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of California public servants. Workers called for a boycott of Niello Autos. The filing was followed shortly by news that Niello is planning to run for higher office, revealing the opportunistic, political nature of the attack on public workers. Read the press release from Californians for Health Care and Retirement Security (CHCRS), a coalition SEIU California belongs to.
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