[RESOLUTION OPPOSING BUDGET CUTS TO THE IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY]
Resolution urging the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to oppose Governor
Schwarzenegger’s proposals to eliminate state guarantees which ensure that low-
income immigrants have access to health and social services.
WHEREAS, more than a quarter of California’s population were born abroad and more than half of California's low-wage working families are immigrant families; and
WHEREAS, almost 40 percent of San Francisco’s population immigrated from abroad; and
WHEREAS, California’s and San Francisco’s economies depend heavily on hard working immigrants, who contribute enormously to the wealth and culture of our communities, and who are integral to our future; and
WHEREAS, the National Academy of Sciences has concluded that the average immigrant contributes $1,800 more each year in taxes than he or she costs the government; and
WHEREAS, the State of California established, with bipartisan support, programs to ensure that low-income immigrants will have access to basic health and social services; and
WHEREAS, the health and social services programs created by the State of California include the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), Healthy Families for immigrants, and CalWORKs services for immigrants; and
WHEREAS, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in his proposed 2004-05 state budget would eliminate these programs and replace them with a single block grant to counties; and
WHEREAS, the block grant will create hardships for local governments by creating new administrative responsibilities and shifting the costs of providing such health and social services to the counties without guaranteeing sufficient funding to meet the needs of immigrant families; and
WHEREAS, Governor Schwarzenegger has further proposed freezing enrollment into CFAP, CAPI, Healthy Families, CalWORKs for immigrants, and Medi-Cal non-emergency services for immigrants who are ineligible for federal Medicaid, so that tens of thousands of immigrants will be denied these critical services in the next two years; and
WHEREAS, Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposals to freeze enrollment into these critical programs will deny thousands of San Francisco residents the means to secure adequate housing, food, and health care; and
WHEREAS, the proposed budget cuts will deny preventive care, prenatal care, breast and cervical cancer treatment and long-term care services for thousands of children, pregnant women, families, seniors and persons with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the proposed budget cuts will increase hunger, homelessness, and public health risks, including elder abuse and domestic violence in San Francisco and across the state; and
WHEREAS, studies confirm that every dollar invested in prenatal care saves three dollars in care soon after birth and at least four dollars in longer-term medical costs, and that access to preventive care for children with common health conditions avoids more costly hospitalizations; and
WHEREAS, the proposed cuts will cost local governments millions of dollars due to increased use of emergency care services and other county health and social services;
WHEREAS, many of the programs targeted by Governor Schwarzenegger have allowed immigrants to become more economically self-sufficient and to contribute to their local communities; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission strongly opposes Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposals to cut funding to or to eliminate state programs that provide basic health and social services to low-income immigrants; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission urges the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to strongly oppose the proposals that single out for budget cuts programs providing immigrants with basic health and social services and to communicate this opposition to Governor Schwarzenegger and legislators; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission urges the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to direct the City and County’s lobbyist and San Francisco to actively oppose these anti-immigrant budget cuts and to work with community advocates to ensure that these cuts do not take effect.
