Gov. Brown's budget plan at a glance

Gov. Jerry Brown today proposed $12.5 billion in cuts to a wide range of state programs and $12 billion in revenue, partly from an extension of tax increases, to close California's budget deficit. Here are some of his proposals.

OVERVIEW:

• Total spending, including special funds and bond payments, is $127.4 billion for the 2011-12 fiscal year, slightly ahead of the current total spending of $125.2 billion.
• General fund spending is $84.6 billion, slightly less than the $86.5 billion adopted for the current fiscal year.
• The deficit is $8.2 billion in the current fiscal year and $17.2 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

TAX EXTENSIONS

• Ask voters during a special election in June to maintain a 0.25 increase in the state income tax rate, an increase from 0.65 percent to 1.15 percent in the vehicle license fee and a 1 percent increase in the state sales tax for another five years. If approved, some of the revenue from the sales tax and vehicle license fees would go to local governments.

EDUCATION

• Cuts of $500 million each for the University of California and California State University systems.
• Cuts $400 million from the California Community College system and increases fees to $36 per unit from $26 per unit, which is forecast to bring in $110 million.

MEDI-CAL

• Caps doctor visits to 10 per year and sets maximum annual benefit limits for items such as hearing aids, medical equipment and urological supplies for a savings of $217 million.
• Requires co-payments from Medi-Cal recipients of $5 for doctor's office visits and most prescriptions, and a $50 emergency room co-payment; limits the number of prescription drugs to six per month, for a savings of $557 million.
• Eliminates the adult day health care program and other benefits for a savings of $193 million.
• Reduces payments by 10 percent to physicians, pharmacies, clinics, transportation, home health and some nursing facilities, for a savings of $709 million.
• Extends a hospital fee that expired at the end of 2010 until June 30, for a savings of $160 million.

OTHER CUTS

• Caps benefits in the CalWORKS welfare-to-work program at four years instead of five and cuts program funding, for a savings of $533 million.
• Reduces the number of hours of help available and cuts benefits entirely to some recipients in the state's in-home supportive services program for the disabled, saving $486 million.

GOVERNMENT REALIGNMENT

Brown wants to shift a host of responsibilities from the state to counties, including:

• Keeping low-level offenders in county jails rather than state prisons and making local authorities responsible for monitoring parolees, reducing the corrections budget by $458 million. This is forecast to eventually lead to the elimination of 4,000 state corrections jobs.
• Transferring responsibility for child welfare services such as foster care, adoptions and child abuse prevention and adult protective services for seniors.
• Eliminating local redevelopment agencies.
• Realigning emergency responsibilities so the CalFire would no longer respond to some 60,000 medical emergencies each year.
• Cutting state operations for health and human services programs with federal requirements by 25 percent, which would lead to "hundreds of state positions being eliminated."

Source: California Department of Finance