New California Budget Cuts $27 Million From CAL Fire
Fire Department Network News, Aug. 6, 2009 [here]
Sacramento, CA. When California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger finally signed the state’s hotly-contested budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year last month his fire-fighting agency suffered a severe blow.
Millions of dollars were suddenly removed from the new operating budget for Cal Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. And the final year of a three-year contract for use of a valuable aerial firefighting tool was canceled.
Janet Upton, Cal Fire’s Deputy Director for Communications, tells FDNNTV $17 million was cut from the department’s Vehicle Replacement Fund which means “no new fire engines or command vehicles.”
$3 million for the agency’s Resource Management Program was deleted as well. That money was to have been used for the protection of natural resources on private property. Upton says, “It was a big hit to that program.”
While the cuts from Cal Fire’s budget total $27 million dollars Upton says, “There will be no fire fighting personnel cutbacks and all Cal Fire stations will remain open.”
According to Upton, “The Governor has been very protective of our fire protection budget.”
Upton says through an Executive Order. signed in early May, Gov. Schwarzenegger has required Cal Fire Director Del Walters to staff all Cal Fire engines with a four person crew.
For some, the biggest budget-cutting surprise was the cancellation of the final year of a three-year “exclusive use” deal for a DC-10 fire retardant bomber even though the state is in the midst of its fire season. … [more]
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DC-10 No Longer At California’s Beck-And-Call
KCRA News, July 30, 2009 [here]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The DC-10 can dump up to 12,000 gallons of water or fire retardant each time it opens its tank — or 10 times as much as California’s other firefighting planes.
But the stroke of a budget-signing pen has canceled a $7 million contract that kept the DC-10 on standby for the state.
“Well obviously, these are difficult fiscal times for the entire state. So we need to take a look and balance providing the appropriate level of public safety with prudent fiscal policy,” Cal Fire deputy director Kim Pimlott said.
Instead, the state will pay more than $66,000 every day it uses the plane, with a five-day minimum. Anything beyond 21 separate deployments for the season will end up costing more. … [more]
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Schwarzenegger signs budget with more welfare cuts
by Judy Lin, AP, July 28, 2009 [here]
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a revised $85 billion budget Tuesday that he said contained “the good, the bad and the ugly,” including additional cuts to child welfare programs, health care for the poor and AIDS prevention efforts.
Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto authority to save an additional $656 million that will let the state restore a reserve fund he said is needed for tough times. … [more]