Search:

California E-Digest

August 2009

For more information, contact SEARAC’s California office:

Nenick Vu
California Field Organizer
Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Email: nenick@searac.org
Phone: (916) 428-7769

In this Issue

NEWS

Cuts to the California Budget 2009-2010

On July 24, 2009, California state legislators approved a state budget that was months overdue. With California being over $26 billion in debt, legislators approved a budget that cut billions of dollars from local governments, education and health and human services. Though drastic cuts were made, no programs were eliminated, as initially proposed in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's May 2009 budget proposal. The final budget was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on July 28, 2009. It included line item vetoes of the budget legislators had approved that amounted to an additional $489 million in cuts.

The direct affect of the budget on low-income Southeast Asian American families is severe. With a low of 17% of Vietnamese Americans to a high of 55% of Hmong American families in California living in poverty¹ (both higher than the national average of 12%), the funding cuts to services like education, Healthy Families, In-Home Support Services and Medi-Cal are dire. As a result of the cuts made in the budget, 585,000 children², including Southeast Asian American children, will be disenrolled from Healthy Families and will no longer have health care. In addition, many Southeast Asian elders and persons with disabilities will also see a reduction in their Cash Assistance Program for Immigrant (CAPI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)/Supplementary State Payment (SSP) benefits.

^{-back to list-}

POLICY UPDATE

2009-2010 California Budget Cuts

Budget cuts to K-14 Education: $6.5 Billion

Reduces $5.3 billion from K-12 education and $800 million from community colleges through Proposition 98 appropriations³ Budget cuts to Health: $2.3 Billion
Healthy Families Program will lose $179 million in funding, creating the first waitlist for the Health Families Program and leaving thousands of children without access to health care⁵
Reduces Proposition 36 substance abuse programs by $90 million
Only In-Home Support Services (IHSS) recipients with a state defined highest need will continue to receive service; over 42,000 Asian Pacific Americans are IHSS recipients with 74% of those being age 65+⁵

Budget cuts to Higher Education: $2.0 Billion

University of California and California State University systems will see a decrease of $2 billion in funding through General Fund Appropriations
CalGrant program though not eliminated, will see a cut of $6.3 million

Budget cuts to Social Services

Recipients of Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) will see a reduction in monthly cash aid to $810 for individuals and $1,387 for couples
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) & State Supplementary Payment (SSP) recipients will see a combined reduction in monthly cash aid of $830 for individuals and $1,407 for couples
On January 1, 2011 both CAPI and SSI/SSP will no longer receive Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) from the state government; SSI/SSP recipients will continue to receive COLA from the federal government

This information can also be found at http://searac.org/cagovbudget2009-10.html. Please contact SEARAC's California Policy Advocate, Azizah Ahmad, at (916) 428-7444 or azizah@searac.org for more information. To look at a comprehensive summary of the California 2009-2010 Budget please go to the Legislative Analyst Office website at www.lao.ca.gov and the California Immigrant Policy Center website at www.caimmigrant.org.

^{-back to list-}

UPCOMING EVENTS

Senior Wellness Program Line Dance Class

The Asian Americans for Community Involvement's Senior Wellness Program is holding a Line Dance Class for seniors ages 50 and older from August 6, 2009 to November 5, 2009 at 2400 Moorpark Ave, Suite 111, San Jose, CA 95128. The class will cost $25 for 12 sessions and be taught in English and Mandarin. For more information or to register, call Miranda at (408) 975-2339 or email Miranda.Chan@aaci.org.

SEARAC's 30th Anniversary Gala: "Beyond the Mekong: Celebrating 30 Years of Service within the Southeast Asian Community"

SEARAC will be hosting its 30th Anniversary Gala in the Green Room of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center on September 26, 2009. The evening's festivities will include a VIP reception, a full dinner, exciting speakers, an awards ceremony, and cultural entertainment. The awards ceremony will pay tribute to outstanding individuals and organizations that have empowered and created positive change for the Southeast Asian American community. Information and tickets are available at www.searac.org/searac-30anniversary.html.

^{-back to list-}

GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

The California Psychological Association Foundation Scholarship

Prospective applicants must be considered a member of one or more established ethnic minority groups. Applicants must also be graduates from a regionally accredited undergraduate institution, and have been accepted into a doctoral program in psychology at a regionally accredited or approved institution in California. Applicants must be enrolled full time graduate students for the next academic year. The award amount is $2,000 and the deadline is November 1, 2009. For more information, please go to http://foundationcenter.org/grantmaker/cpaf/scholarship.html.

Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships

Applicants must be a person of color who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, be enrolled in or planning to enroll in an eligible research-based program leading to a Ph.D. or Sc.D. degree at a U.S. educational institution and demonstrate superior academic achievement. Applicants who have earned a doctoral degree at any time in any field may not apply. Predoctoral Awards at $20,000 per year, Dissertation Awards at $21,000, and Postdoctoral Awards at $40,000. The deadline is November 14, 2009. More information can be found at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/fordfellowships/.

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Partners Community Law Fellowship

Applicants must be enrolled as a law degree candidate in an accredited law school in the U.S. at least half time as determined by the school. The law school must be accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) or the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The work of the fellow will focus on due process and selective enforcement of the law within the immigration system, defending against anti-immigrant legislations and initiatives and increasing Asian American participation on key immigration issues. The award amount is $45,000 with full medical, dental and related benefits. For more information, please go to http://www.advancingequality.org/NAPABAfellowship/.

^{-back to list-}

1 2000 US Census

2 http://www.100percentcampaign.org/fs/global:file/article/x2lje42tue848i_files/file/id/y5q1zzawaclqxr?_c=y6ekzjuqm1tp6v

3 http://www.lao.ca.gov/2009/bud/july_09_budget_package/July_2009_Budget_Package_072909.pdf

4 http://www.caimmigrant.org/source/Budget_Wrap072809final.pdf

5 http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/research/res/pdf/IHSSrecipient.pdf

Additional information
August 1, 2009 [PDF] Monthly CA office e-newsletter.

Please Note

SEARAC has posted a webpage to support community based organizations in ensuring that all our communities are counted in Census 2010. At http://searac.org/2010census.html, you can find sample questionnaires, job opportunities, and more information about how your organization and community can get involved in Census 2010.