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Schwarzenegger unveils California austerity budget
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday unveiled plans to plug California's budget deficit by slashing billions of dollars worth of funding for services designed to help the state's poor.
Schwarzenegger's budget proposals would see spending cuts of 12.4 billion dollars and include the elimination of California's welfare-to-work program and virtually all child care for low income families.
"California no longer has low-hanging fruits," Schwarzenegger said in Sacramento. "We have to take the ladder away from the tree and shake the whole tree. We must make very difficult decisions."
Schwarzenegger said his spending cuts would eliminate 60 percent of funding for community mental health. Low income families would also lose access to state-subsidized day care for children, the governor added.
"The list goes on and on. We're left with nothing but tough choices," Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger said the cuts were necessary to close a projected 19.1 billion dollar deficit for the fiscal year starting July 1.