Our State doesn't have a balanced budget because some in our government want to take care of other people's babies, namely a certain group fueled by illegal aliens. This certain group has three times the teen pregnancy as any other group, and these liberals want us to pay for them.

GOP seeks $19m cut in funds for pregnant teens
By Judy Lin / The Sacramento Bee07/29/07 04:54:34
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SACRAMENTO -- Last year, legislative Republicans succeeded in getting Democrats and Gov. Schwarzenegger to drop $23 million from the budget for new insurance coverage for undocumented children.

This year, Senate Republicans are pressing for citizenship verification for pregnant teens without insurance.

GOP lawmakers are demanding a $19 million reduction in pregnancy-care funding for uninsured teens as part of their overall strategy to balance the state budget. The cut appeared on a three-page list of programs worth $840 million that Republican senators consider expendable in order to bring spending in line with weaker revenues.

Republican senators say there is no reason to spend state taxpayers' money when the federal government will pick up the tab on prenatal care for minors who cannot afford their own health coverage. But under federal rules, the state has to verify an applicant's citizenship or legal immigrant status to get the federal money -- and the state so far has not complied with the requirement.

Democrats have refused to support Republican cuts in health insurance for the poor, viewing such spending as an investment for healthier children.

It was the Schwarzenegger administration that first proposed boosting state funds for the Medi-Cal Minor Consent Program after learning the federal government would halt reimbursement of prenatal care for minors unless the state verified each applicant's citizenship or residency status.

The Republican governor indicated in his May budget revision that the state would not enforce such verification requirements for minors because teens should be granted confidential access to pregnancy services. He proposed the state accept the financial burden. The Assembly went along with the request, approving in the budget $18.9 million to backfill anticipated lost federal funds to maintain the program.

Lancaster Republican Sen. George Runner argued it is wrong to ask state taxpayers to cover a program the federal government would cover simply because the state refuses to check for citizenship.

Planned Parenthood argues that other states that went along with federal rules found it difficult to verify minors' citizenship status, causing a decline in enrollment, said Yali Bair, vice president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.