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Counties will bear the greatest burden of this Reform is the word of the day for the health shift, shouldering 76 percent (about $914 million) and human services budget. The Administration of the total $1.3 billion ERAF property tax shift, is proposing to reform R number of health and County programs and services affecting public human services progra~,~s, including safety, health, and quality of life programs will be CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, In. Home Supportive placed at dsk, affecting city and county residents Services, Foster Care, programs for immigrants, alike, and Eady Pedodic Screening Diagnosis and ' Treatment (EPSDT) program. The Administra- The California State Association of Counties tion is planning to convene workgroups and to (CSAC) has identified at least $1.3 billion in direct present more detailed proposals in the spring. reductions and cost shifts to counties in this Counties will be involved in these efforts to make budget proposal, including their portion of the sure that program reductions do not shift addi- ERAF shift. These impacts are on top of the tional costs to counties and are manageable. Of ongoing mandate reimbursement deferral, which concern, the budget proposes to maintain the 25 will cost local governments more than $1 billion by percent county share of the federal child support the end of FY 2004-05. penalty ($55 million) and to take counties' share of child support collections ($39 million). For example, the Governor's budget proposes reducing and, by October 2004, eliminating federal We believe these proposals unfairly target TANF funds that go to support juvenile probation local government. When coupled with the services, including prevention, intervention, super- additional reductions proposed in the Governor's vision, treatment, and incameration programs for budget, the proposed budget places a dispropor- at-risk youth and juvenile offenders, The federal tionate share of the state's deficit squarely on the TANF contribution of just over $200 million per shoulders of critical local programs and services. year represents a very significant revenue source to probation departments statewide. If approved, City officials should remind their legislators this reduction will have a swift and devastating and the Governor that local governments in this service impacts on probation departments, un- state were not responsible for California's budget doubtedly resulting in major service reductions, crisis nor were we the beneficiaries of state aid facility closures, and loss of personnel, during the technology boom of the late 1990's. We should not be expected to repeatedly bail out A second justice-related budget proposal of the state during crises not of our own making. note is a fee-for-service concept for Board of Corrections' (BOC) services. The Governor's For talking points and to write a letter online, budget assumes a general fund savings of $1.7 please visit the League Advocacy Center at million and a $1.9 million contribution to the BOC www.cacities.or,q.advocacycenter. Administration Fund, which would be generated by charging local entities fees for the services pro- vided by the BOC. This cost shift concept con- templates charging counties for the following BOC functions: (1) ensuring the establishment and ongoing reevaluation of minimum standards for local juvenile and adult detention facilities; (2) For mom information on this and conducting inspections of all local detention facilities in alternating years; and (3) establishing other League issues, visit recruitment, selection, and training standards for www, cacities,org. local correctional personnel. PAGE 6/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--www.cacities.org