May 2007
I have to admit, I’ve never been all that great at budgeting. There were plenty of times in the past that buying a new outfit was my idea of a valid emergency expenditure. At one point I was thinking about keeping my credit cards in the freezer next to the Haagen Daaz. I have since changed my ways although, it has taken a long time to teach myself to budget for emergencies and there are never any emergencies that involve the purchase of jewelry.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who is mystified by basic budgeting, in his May Revise of the State Budget; the Governor has proposed to suspend the State Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program. The program provides combined federal (SSI) and State (SSP) cash payments to low-income persons, who are seniors and/or have disabilities, to help them meet their basic needs and living expenses.
SSI/SSP recipients were due to receive a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in January 2008. The Governor has decided that he would like to "suspend" the State's portion of the COLA and use the revenue for the General Fund instead. This change would result in a savings of 184.7 million in 2007-2008 and approximately $ 370 million in future years. The Federal portion of the COLA will be "passed through" to recipients, which means that grants for individuals will increase from $856 to $863 and for couples from $1,502 to $1,514.
The position of the disability community is that the Governor should restore the State portion of the SSI/SSP COLA. Seniors and people with disabilities need every cost of living increase they are eligible for.
It is encouraging that the federal portion of the COLA will be given to recipients, however; it would seem that the Governor chose to make this proposal in his May Revise because he knew if he made it in January with the rest of his budget, advocates would have mobilized recipients to oppose him. We had done just that in prior budget sessions. We demonstrated over and over again the importance of this funding and that each COLA makes a difference. Evidently, rather than take that message to heart, he has simply changed his strategy.
Let’s face it; our Governor is never going to have to live on $ 856 a month, so maybe he just won’t get it. Fortunately, there is still time to oppose this proposal in the Legislature, albeit very little. Call or email your legislators today to let them know what you think.
Assemblymember Anna Caballero: (831) 759-8676
Assemblymember John Laird: (831) 649-2832
Senator Jeff Denham: (831) 769-8040
Senator Abel Maldonado: (831) 657-6315