Schwarzenegger Turns Terminator

Programmes for poor, disabled and elderly people will be the first victims of budget cuts made by Arnold Schwarzenegger as he seeks to balance the California state budget.

Proposals due to be introduced yesterday by the new governor would scale back home care for pensioners and therapy programmes for mentally and physically disabled people, and reduce the number of people entitled to food stamps. Substantial job losses were also expected.

Mr Schwarzenegger's repeal of the state car tax, which had trebled licence fees, was introduced as soon as he took office last week and was warmly welcomed by drivers and the car industry alike. But it meant that a further $4bn (£2.35bn) had to be cut from the state's budget, which already had a $10bn deficit.

The reductions now proposed are the first sign of how the governor aims to close the gap. One cut of $385m would end home cleaning, care and transport for around 75,000 elderly and disabled people, according to the draft proposal published yesterday in the LA Times. A further $282m would be saved by cutting art, music and camping trip programmes for around 626,000 Californians with mental or physical disabilities.

Another $200m would be removed from recruitment programmes run by the University of California and California State University, requiring the institutions to make other unspecified cuts.

A potential $77m would be saved by freezing admission to a project called Healthy Families aimed at the working poor.

Money would also be saved by reducing the number of people eligible for food stamps, which are aimed at the state's poorest families.

Cuts would be made in the public transportation budget and another $19m would be found by ending the tax benefit given to people who agree to preserve their land from development.

Some mayors have already expressed concern that the repeal of the car tax would mean that money they had sought to pay for improved police services would not be forthcoming.

"It's almost like a necessary pain that we have to go through," Kevin McCarthy, the new Republican assembly leader, told the LA Times. "We have had a cancer growing on our budget and to cure this we are going to have to go through the chemo."

Democrat assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg attacked the proposals, calling them a "radical right" view of the world. The governor had promised a centrist, bipartisan approach, and has appointed a number of Democrats and independents to his team.

Mr Schwarzenegger, with the support of the state senate, has also moved to repeal a controversial law signed by the outgoing governor, Gray Davis, which allowed illegal immigrants to obtain driving licences. He had promised to overturn the measure, which had been attacked by conservatives but welcomed by many Latino groups, and threatened to take the issue to the electorate next March if the legislature did not back him.

On the penal front, Mr Schwarzenegger has so far proved himself to be to the left of his predecessor. He has granted parole to a murderer, something Mr Davis rarely did, and agreed to a more liberal interpretation of the parole rules.

This means fewer jail terms for non-violent offenders in technical breach of parole requirements.

The new governor has enjoyed a honeymoon with the electorate in the wake of his election - with his car tax promise seen as one of the keys to his success at the polls. Now he has the more difficult task of balancing the budget with what appears to be a substantial loss of jobs and services.