Enraged Seniors Demand Restoration of Programs

With that money she would buy herself such necessities as a pair of shoes or a dress, items that her $926-a-month Supplemental Security Income (SSI) check rarely allowed her. This year, she said, I planned on using the tax rebate to buy me some shelves to store cans of food in my room, at the Raymond Hotel on Howard Street in San Francisco, a senior housing facility.

Now, shell have to put that off because Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has cut $191 million from the Senior Citizens Renters and Property Owners Tax Assistance programs as a belt-tightening measure in the budget passed earlier this month. That put an end to the renters rebate checks.

In fact, the governor has slashed more than $500 million in programs affecting seniors and the disabled, including $12 million from the California Discount Prescription Drug Program, $13 million from the Department of Aging and $13 million from HIV/AIDS education.

About 70 seniors gathered in front of the California State Building here on Oct. 22 to protest the cuts and hoping to influence the Governor to reinstate many of those program at the special budget session set for some time next month.