SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN) [Last updated 01/06/2012 05:00 PM] - Governor Jerry Brown released his proposed 2012-2013 State Budget plan late Thursday afternoon (January 5th) that calls for a staggering $4 billion in additional massive spending cuts and nearly $7 billion in new revenues from temporary tax increases on the state's wealthiest taxpayers and a one-half percent increase in the state's sales tax, to close what the Governor said is a projected $9.2 billion budget deficit.

Over $2 billion of the total $4 billion in new cuts will come from health and human services, with reductions there largely centered on four major programs - CalWORKS and child care, Medi-Cal, In-Home Supportive Services and developmental services. Major and dramatic changes proposed by the Governor will also impact other areas, including proposals to replace the Department of Mental Health with a new Department of State Hospital which was previously brought up last May; the proposed elimination of the 11 Caregiver Resource Centers, and a proposal calling for the elimination of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board.

The new proposed reductions appear to be addition to the $1 billion in spending cuts announced in mid-December by the Governor when he also announced that the 2011-2012 State Budget "trigger cuts" would be pulled because projected revenues fell below what was budgeted. However the Governor's budget summary totals do not appear to reflect those reductions, though the narrative and specific details from department estimates do.

The Governor wants theLegislature to fast-track some of his proposals - including his proposals impacting CalWORKS and child care - seeking passage of those proposals by March. State Senate President Darrell Steinberg (Democrat - Sacramento, 6th State Senate District) said yesterday that he was not inclined to fast-track proposed cuts given the chance that the economy could continue to improve bringing in higher than expected state revenues by May - and indicated he wanted to wait until then to make decisions on program cuts