Salary cap would cut In-home workers’ pay by $1.2B
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cap the state’s share of wages and benefits for In-Home Supportive Services workers at $8.60 per hour in fiscal 2101-2011 could reduce total compensation for IHSS workers in the Sacramento region by more than $113 million, a study by the California Budget Project concludes.
The cap could cut total compensation for IHSS workers statewide by nearly $1.2 billion.
Forty-five counties currently offer wages and health benefits that cost more than $8.60 an hour, including all four in the Sacramento region. Sacramento and Yolo currently pay wages and benefits worth $11.10 per hour; Placer pays $10.60 and El Dorado, $9.60. There are a total of 24,140 IHSS workers in the region, according to the nonpartisan, Sacramento-based budget consultancy.
Nearly 370,000 IHSS workers serve almost 450,000 low-income seniors statewide.
The program helps low-income seniors and people with disabilities live safely in their own homes, preventing more-costly placement in assisted-living or other care facilities.
Workers provide a range of services, including help with dressing, bathing and medications, in addition to domestic tasks such as cleaning, shopping and meal preparation.
Currently, the federal government pays 61.6 percent of the tab; the state pays 25 percent and counties, 13.4 percent.
In February 2009, state lawmakers capped the amount of the state share at $10.10, although counties are free to use their own dollars to make up for lost funding.
A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction in June 2009, prohibiting the state from implementing the cut because it failed to conduct a study showing this action would not disrupt the supply of IHSS workers. The injunction remains in effect while the case is on appeal.
Filed under: legal by Fred