Budget Cuts

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jan 17 2009

Local officials stunned by severity of Schwarzenegger’s proposal

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal of cutting 10 percent from the budgets of most departments within the state that receive general fund money has prompted Senator Mark-Ridley Thomas to conclude that if the reductions were enacted, they would further compound California’s deteriorating economy.

Jan 15 2009

Operating budget to be reduced

Sacramento, CA – Recognizing there must be shared sacrifice in these tough economic times, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Rules Committee Chair Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) yesterday announced a 10% cut to the Assembly’s operating budget.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jan 10 2009

10 percent rumored to be on the table to tackle $14 billion deficit

California is facing a $14 billion budget shortfall for the 2008-09 fiscal year, and among the ways Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to address the problem is to call for across-the-board-budget cuts.

In his State of the State address Tuesday, the governor placed the blame for the shortfall on overspending by the state.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.