Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the proposed 2024-2025 California budget details on June 29, detailing the state's planned belt-tightening over the next two fiscal years.
The new budget "avoids deep program cuts" and maintains $22.2 billion in reserves at the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year thanks to delays and deferrals that will ultimately impact low-income households and Californians of color, according to the governor's website.
Included are cuts to CalWORKs, delays to homelessness programs, reductions in affordable housing programs, and no further investments in food assistance programs. The budget plan also cuts legal services for undocumented Californians but will still maintain immigrant Medi-Cal healthcare.
“This is a responsible budget that prepares for the future while investing in foundational programs that benefit millions of Californians every day," the governor said in a statement. "Thanks to careful stewardship of the budget over the past few years, we’re able to meet this moment while protecting our progress on housing, homelessness, education, health care and other priorities that matter deeply to Californians."
Overall, the governor's administration predicts slower job growth over the next two years, resulting in a slightly higher unemployment rate. Delays in funding for the next two years for things like affordable housing programs and the California Food Assistance Program puts a freeze on the progress of the initiatives and their benefits for California residents.
Affordable housing
High Desert residents need a median price of approximately $42,000 for a down payment to purchase a house, according to San Bernardino County officials.
A quick Zillow search will reveal that San Bernardino County residents will need much more to purchase a single-family home in 2024, closer to about $62,000 minimum.
Additionally, data shows that 15.1% of families with children in the area are in poverty and that 13.4% of households are food insecure.
Despite the skyrocketed housing market, the Newsom administration has reduced affordable housing funds compared to previous years and no further investments for lowering the California housing crisis have been announced.
The administration reduced funds allocated to housing-related programs by $1.2 billion and $500 million has been cut from the budget for Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which have been in the budget consistently since 2019. Another $50 million has also been reduced for Veteran housing and homelessness prevention.
Homelessness
The new proposed California budget maintains current funding levels to combat homelessness. Previous budget allocations to address the issue will be sustained throughout the 2023-2024 period, but no further funding has been issued for 2024-2025.
About $1.1 billion of the General Fund will be sustained for 2023-34 for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Grant Program (HHAP), but an additional, previously approved $260 million will be delayed to the 2025-2026 fiscal year for grant recipients to meet performance conditions.
The budget reallocates $100.6 million aside in the General Fund for the HHAP elsewhere and $50 million for the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program has been delayed to 2025-26.
As of right now, it is uncertain how the Victorville Wellness Center will be impacted by the budget cuts.
Despite all the cuts and delays, Newsom still notes that California's homelessness challenge remains a top funding priority for the state and the issue will be revisited in the spring.
CalWORKs
Roughly 7.1% of the 1.23 million California households that receive cash public assistance or CalFresh reside in San Bernardino County, according to county data. CalWORKs, or the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program, allows lower-income families of color access to supplemental financial help.
Data shows that 35% of CalWORKs participants identified as Latino and more than 79% of CalWORKs participants are under 18 years old. The program reached a high during the pandemic but has since seen a 19% decline, prompting the significant cuts that were recently made to CalWORKs support services.
The Family Stabilization and Expanded Subsidized Employment CalWORKs services were both cut under the new budget.
Roughly $55 million were cut from the Family Stabilization aspect of CalWORKs for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and an additional $71 million cut was made for the following year. About $134.1 million for the Expanded Subsidized Employment program was eliminated for this year and an additional $134.1 million will be cut for next year as well.
Food assistance
Food subsidies serve as a safety net for those living in poverty.
State date shows 36% of CalFresh participants, formerly food stamps, identified as Latino according to San Bernardino County, and 43% of CalFresh participants are under 18 years old.
Most food assistance commitments are retained as per the new budget plan, but no new investments have been made. Previous commitments that will continue to be funded include:
- The California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) can include undocumented adults aged 55 and older beginning in October 2025.
- Increasing the minimum CalFresh benefits from $23 to $50 for some recipients
- Providing funding for a new Summer EBT program that will provide Electronic Benefit Transfer Cards to eligible students for free or reduced-price school meals in 2024.
There are no new proposals on the drawing board for at least the next two years to address food insecurity.
Undocumented Californians
San Bernardino County is among the top 20 counties in the United States for undocumented immigrants, according to Pew Research Center data.
The state budget maintains the Newsom administration's commitment to extend Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants ages 26-49 starting Jan. 1, 2024. This commitment will dent California's budget by $1.4 billion in 2023-2024, $3.4 billion in 2024-2025, and $3.7 billion ongoing.
Access to immigrant legal services, however, was cut from the recently revised budget. The budget cuts $20 million over the next two years in funding for the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Services program. It also cuts funding for the California State University Legal Services program.
McKenna Mobley is a Daily Press reporter and can be reached at mmobley@gannett.com.
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