BUDGET PAINS GROWING PROPOSED CUTS MAY COST STATE $4 BILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Looming cuts in California's spending on a wide range of programs from Medicaid to highways could cost the state up to $4 billion a year in federal matching funds Noun 1. matching funds - funds that will be supplied in an amount matching the funds available from other sources cash in hand, finances, funds, monetary resource, pecuniary resource - assets in the form of money , finance experts said Wednesday. The loss of those funds at a time California is starting a new fiscal year $38 billion in the red and without a budget plan in sight will magnify mag·ni·fy v. To increase the apparent size of, especially with a lens. the impact of the crisis across the state. ``You might call it adding insult to injury,'' said Tim Ransdell, director of the California Institute for Federal Policy Research, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. ``California can ill afford losing $4,000, much less $4 billion this year.'' Whatever pain will be felt by the loss of federal matching grant matching grant Academia Non-peer-reviewed funding in which a commercial enterprise, foundation, or philanthropy, federal government, contributes a sum of money that 'matches' a financial contribution made by an institution, university or hospital. funding will, of course, only compound the current budget woes. Gov. Gray Davis has proposed spending cuts Noun 1. spending cut - the act of reducing spending cut - the act of reducing the amount or number; "the mayor proposed extensive cuts in the city budget" as well as a higher income tax rate for the state's top earners and a half-cent sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. . Republicans want spending cuts with no tax increase. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a state auditor State auditors are executive officers of U.S. states. The office usually is created by the state constitution.
Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales caseloads and changes to the way federal funding formulas are calculated, spell a 7.3 percent - or $4 billion - drop in federal funds Federal Funds Funds deposited to regional Federal Reserve Banks by commercial banks, including funds in excess of reserve requirements. Notes: These non-interest bearing deposits are lent out at the Fed funds rate to other banks unable to meet overnight reserve . About $707 million of that decrease comes from cuts to Medi-Cal, California's version of state-sponsored health care to which Davis has proposed a 15 percent cut. The program is financed by a mix of federal and state funds. ``Every dollar the state doesn't spend for Medicaid means 50 cents the state doesn't get from the (federal) government,'' Ransdell said. Other programs expected to take a hit include highway planning and construction funds - of which California received $2.5 billion in 2002 - and foster care maintenance payments, for which the state received about $1 billion in 2002. During that funding cycle, the state received more than $38 billion in cash from Capitol Hill to administer federal programs. Of the 52 programs administered by the state, 33 of them have cost-sharing requirements, according to the state auditor. ``Any reductions in available state funding for these programs thus will double the impact of state reductions because federal funding will drop proportionally,'' Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in her report. Sheila Shima, budget manager for the health team of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Chief Administrator's Office, said most of the impact to the county from state cuts will be from the loss of general revenues like the vehicle license fees. ``Clearly, we're concerned about any loss of federal funds that means lower or fewer services to the people who need them,'' Shima said. But, she said, an expected decrease in federal aid represents more of an indirect burden to the county. Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean said education, public safety and health insurance for children are the governor's top priorities. She noted that despite the budget crunch, California Healthy Families - a program that receives federal matching funds - is slated to receive an increase in funding. ``If we have to choose, those are the top priorities,'' McLean said. And, she acknowledged, in other areas California will indeed suffer a federal assistance loss. ``You can't spend money you don't have on an investment, no matter how good it is,'' she said. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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