State plan gives some services to cities, counties

[Auggie]

January 5th, 2010 / San Francisco Chronicle

As California faces a budget deficit that could top $28 billion over the next 18 months, Gov. Jerry Brown and other state leaders are poised to shift the responsibility for providing some services from the state to counties and cities.

In one of his first meetings as governor, Brown spoke with county leaders Tuesday about significantly restructuring government. He also attempted to allay the fears of some local officials that the state could pass off duties without providing sufficient means to pay for them.

"We're going to shift funding to the local level, we're going to make sure there's enough responsibility and discretion to use the money in the wisest possible ways," Brown told reporters after the meeting, adding that he does not believe it will be an easy change. "There will be controversies."

Brown did not publicly lay out a specific plan, but said he is considering changing the way foster care, welfare, food stamps, redevelopment, and parole and probation services are provided to the public.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/04/MN331H1G82.DTL#ixzz1ABexGPJp

Reduces the overlapping of services, so why not?

[Cleita]

1. It's a way of getting around Prop. 13.

The only problem is that affluent areas will have better services than the poor ones, which will cause a migration of the needy to those areas overburdening the local system. It has happened before. However, it could be a start in defanging Prop. 13 and replacing it with something that will work for all Californians down the road.