Funding the Common Good

A Budget is a Moral Document
Governor's Proposed 2005-06 Budget
Understand the CA Budget
Federal Budget Approved
National Health Care Threatened
Tax Equity

As people of faith who have covenanted to promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations, we will educate and organize for a California budget that includes responsible revenue streams and that cares for poor and vulnerable people in our communities.

"If the early Universalists had envisioned the world to come as one where no one was abandoned, where no one was forever cut off from God’s love, where all shared a common destiny, the Universalism promoted by Clarence Skinner envisioned the world here and now as one where no one was abandoned, where no one was forever cut off from participation in the social and economic life of society, where all shared a common social and economic destiny."

"Unitarian Universalists could make a worthwhile contribution applying this inclusive vision to the economic arrangements within our world today. The term I would use for this vision is "economic anti-Calvinism," for it calls for a world undivided between the haves and the have-nots, a world where no one is economically cast away and abandoned, a world where no one is forever damned to economic hell."

From "We are the Boat, We are the Sea; Interdependence and Economic Anti-Calvinism" - Rev. David Herndon (winner 2003 UUA Commission on Social Witness Study Action Issue Sermon Contest)

A Budget is a Moral Document; it Reflects our Values

While earthquakes and tsunami’s dramatically demonstrate human vulnerability, and awaken an outpouring of human compassion, poverty is like a “silent tsunami” destroying families with no public outcry. The state and federal budgets are an expression of how we care for the most vulnerable among us, providing for basic needs and opportunities for human development. The UU Legislative Ministry is joining with allies from across California to endorse the following statement. We hope you will encourage organizations in your communities to add their voices.

Fighting for California’s Future

We believe California’s budget should invest in California’s future:

• We believe in a California that provides high-quality public services for all Californians, protects consumers, the environment, and our quality of life, builds the infrastructure we need to prosper, and that fosters opportunity, economic growth, and strong and vibrant communities.

• We believe that a responsible California budget would keep its commitment to meet the basic needs of our children, our seniors, our families, and our future. We believe there are budget choices beyond cuts.

• We believe in a balanced budget that invests in the future, rather than one that mortgages our future with more borrowing to fill a structural budget gap.

Click here for a pdf of the entire text of “Fighting for California’s Future”

Please help us to find other organizations who are interested in endorsing this statement.

Governor’s Proposed 2005-06 State Budget

Released January 10, 2005 the Governor’s budget sets a direction that assumes the $9 billion deficit is the result of an ‘out-of-control’ spending problem rather than a structural one. The California Budget Project (CBP) challenges this assumption in it’s Annual Budget Chart Book and details the impact of the Governor’s proposal on the economic, health & social well being of low and middle income Californians.

Impact of Governor’s Budget Proposal on Health Care Reform

According to the CBP analysis the Governor’s budget proposes to create $12.3 million in savings through changes that include restructuring the Medi-cal program to expand the use of managed care; establishing an alternative hospital financing structure; capping adult dental services and requiring certain Medi-cal recipients to pay monthly premiums.

May 25th is Better Choices for Children Day

Click here for the flyer (pdf 186K) about this May 25th event, to urge California's elected leaders to make better choices for the Children.

Resources to help understand the California budget

California State Department of Finance,
Frequently Asked Questions on the State Budget

California Budget Project

Public Policy Institute of California (www.ppic.org)
Special Survey of the California State Budget, January 2005

California HealthCare Foundation

Children Now in the California Policy section
For info on the impact of the CA budget on children.

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Congress Approves Final Federal Budget

Congress approves final budget (4/29/05). Deep Cuts to Medicaid and Services for Low-Income; Tax Breaks for the Wealthy; Increased Deficits; But....Not as Bad as It Could Have Been!
Report from the Coalition on Human Needs 

Health Care “Safety Net for the Poor”
Seriously Threatened by President Bush’s Proposed 2005-06 Budget

Congress Approves A Final Budget Resolution (4/29/05) : Deep Cuts to Medicaid and Services for Low-Income; Tax Breaks for the Wealthy; Increased Deficits; But....Not as Bad as It Could Have Been!
Report from the Coalition on Human Needs 

The Coalition on Human Needs, an alliance of national organizations promoting public policies which address the needs of low-income and vulnerable populations provides a thoughtful commentary on “How the Budget Effects State Human Needs Program” and summarizes the health policy impacts in it’s statement of “CHN Public Policy Priorities for 2005”

California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems highlights in its “Statement on the 2005 Federal Budget Proposal” how the $60 billion in Federal Medicaid cuts would threaten the ability of the 24 public hospitals in California to continue serving the states most vulnerable residents

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Tax Equity

Who pays taxes in CA? Measured as a share of family income, California’s poorest families pay the most in taxes…. See the April 15, 2004 report from the California Budget Project on Who Pays Taxes in California (39K PDF).

California Tax Reform Association
For a thoughtful analysis on how to restructure our tax system to raise more revenue and create a more level playing field for business.

United for a Fair Economy
For information on how concentrated wealth undermines the economy, corrupts democracy, and deepens the racial divide, plus resources for building a social movement for greater equality.

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