What Does Armageddon Look Like?

Agenda:

Moderated by Joe Mathews, Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
Late last year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called California’s looming budget crisis a fiscal armageddon waiting to strike. Now, as the state faces a $24 billion budget shortfall and major cuts are inevitable, doomsday seems to have come to California, and particularly to its poorest. The one-million-plus Californians on CalWorks, the state’s main welfare program, could lose monthly income beginning in July. Support for those who care for disabled Californians is set to be slashed. MediCal programs, children’s welfare payments, and student financial aid have all been proposed targets for cuts, severely impacting Californians who were struggling even before the recession hit. Zócalo invites a panel of experts -- including journalist Marta Russell, Mike Herald of the Western Center on Law & Poverty, Michelle Wolf, a parent of disabled child, and State Senator Gilbert Cedillo -- to discuss the long-term effects of the Armageddon budget cuts on the neediest Californians, and on the state’s overall health.
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