The budget deal that has just been agreed to in the state legislature and which Gov. Schwarzenegger will sign will cut the monthly payments of Supplemental Security Income checks from $907 to $870 for single individuals.Many homeless people are recipients of SSI payments.
Scuttlebutt in the Sacramento homeless community had been that many homeless people from Nevada had been coming to Sacramento to receive higher payment awards in this state than what is offered in Nevada, which does not supplement the federal minimum payment to its poor senior, blind or disabled citizens as California does.
Quoting the Los Angeles Times from an article last month,
One of the provisions both parties have supported in the state Capitol would reduce the maximum monthly grant for low-income blind and disabled Californians. Individual grants would drop from $907 to $870, while couples would see their monthly checks drop from $1,579 to $1,524, according to the state Department of Finance. Those grants were supposed to increase this year and again next year to account for inflation.It is known that Schwarzenegger had proposed a lower award -- $830/mo for individuals -- and to suspend the annual inflation bump-ups next July 1 and in the year thereafter. SacHo does not know if the final budget legislation suspends those inflation boosts or not.
UPDATE 2/20/09: It appears that the SSI cut may be reduced IF California receives stimulus money from the Federal government, in an amount in excess of $10 billon before April 1. Should California receive the stimulus money, the SSI award will be reduced from $907 to $890, instead of $870/month.
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