Protesting state budget cuts

And the father of modern civil disobedience looked on.
More than 100 protesters gathered in front of the 9-foot bronze statue of Indian Independence leader Mahatma Ghandi in downtown Riverside.

Disabled men and women, many representatives for local disability advocacy groups, toted signs and shouted slogans in protest of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, which includes cuts to Medi-Cal and in-home support services as part of the effort to close a $17 billion state budget shortfall.

"The governor's budget is simply a big threat to my ability to live independently," said protester Christie Rudder, 46, who lost use of her legs in a 2002 car wreck and now works at a disabled advocacy center. "The only thing between living free and working at my job and living in a nursing home is my in-home care, which the governor wants to cut."

Protest organizers claimed the governor's budget would increase long-term costs by imperiling the health of the state's disabled population, whose care is generally covered by Medi-Cal, the state's federally-subsidized Medicaid program.

Julie Williams, a coordinator for San Bernardino-based disabled advocacy group Rolling Start, said the governor's proposed cuts would reduce in-house aid services for 84,000 people, making it more likely they would require full-time, costly care in a facility.
"The governor is looking to balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable," Williams said.

Schwarzenegger Press Secretary Aaron McLear said the in-house care programs have grown by more than 100 percent in the last decade and that the governor's plan would merely reduce average in-house care provider hours to 52 from 74 for the "highest functioning recipients."

"The governor doesnt want to have to make these cuts," McLear said. "But we can only spend the money we have and we have a $17 billion shortfall in our budget. The governor does not believe raising taxes is the prudent thing to do in a tough economy."
Williams said the budget proposal would reduce wages for in-house care providers, driving people from that labor force.

Other medical, dental and mental treatments would also be put out of reach by tightening eligibility requirements for Medi-Cal, she said.

Cars honked and people shouted as they drove by, generally in approval of the protesters' message.

Riverside resident Eugene Harris, 75, watched the protest from a nearby coffee shop. A former community organizer in his native Chicago, Harris compared the protesters' to the Civil Rights movement.

"I think they got some help coming to them," Harris said. "It's about rights. Obviously they need our help, and they have a right to basic health."