If my family budget was in such deep crisis that I didn't have enough money to feed my kids, I would turn over every cushion looking for spare change, get a weekend job, or sell things in a yard sale. I'd do anything I could to find new ways to bring new money in the door before eliminating the essentials my kids need.

Apparently, California's lawmakers need a lesson from moms and dads about how to protect families during a financial crisis. Our legislators are moving to make drastic cuts to the basic services our kids need -- like healthcare coverage and education -- without taking steps to bring more money into the state. Several revenue-raising options -- such as taxing tobacco or closing corporate tax loopholes -- are very popular with Californians and would spare us from balancing our budget on our children's backs.1

Get your legislators' attention and tell them to treat our state budget like any parent would. Send a letter today to your local newspaper today urging them to reject a "cuts-only" budget. http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/letter/?letter_KEY=1098

You can do it! Sending a letter to your local paper takes just a few minutes and can make a big difference. We'll help you every step of the way. Legislators and their staff read Letters to the Editor of their local papers every day and track them to measure support for an issue in their community. As they are making these tough choices, legislators are constantly looking to see what their constituents are saying about their decisions. Here's your chance to tell them what you and others think about this cuts-only budget!

Never written a Letter to the Editor before? Our Letter-to-the-Editor tool makes it easy to write a letter to a paper of your choice in just a few minutes. Just put in your zip code, choose a paper from the local list provided, and customize our sample letter as you wish. Three clicks and you are done!

California legislators are reviewing budget cuts right now - so we've got to act fast! By sending in a letter, you will be doing your part to demonstrate that Californians do not support these drastic cuts. According a recent poll, Californians overwhelmingly reject these drastic cuts to programs that serve children and families.2 As you've probably read, these proposed cuts are severe and would greatly weaken the very programs that make our state strong. Some proposed cuts include:

- Nearly $6 billion in cuts from from the state's schools, following $11 billion in cuts in the past year. These cuts will mean fewer teachers, larger classes and no programs like summer school to support them if they are struggling.3

- Eliminating the CalWORKS program, which would end cash assistance to more than 1.1 million of the state's most vulnerable children and eliminating CalWORKS childcare for more than 180,000 children whose parents are employed or in school.4

- A total of $90 million in cuts to children's healthcare coverage through the state's Healthy Families Program that would result in approximately 350,000 kids losing health coverage.5

Legislative leaders need to hear from us: Californian moms and families don't want cuts to the very programs that make our state strong.

Please take a moment to send a letter to your local paper using our easy tool today:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/letter/?letter_KEY=1098

It's not too late for us to protect our kids & families!

CITATIONS

[1] According to a public opinion poll of 1,008 Californian voters conducted by David Binder Research in May 2009, 75% supported increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages, 74% support increasing taxes on tobacco, and 73% support imposing an oil extraction tax on oil companies similar to those imposed by other oil-producing states. For more details, see: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6220193/Reasons-Prop-1A-Failed-memo

[2] According to the poll cited above, 75% of Californians polled oppose cutting public school spending and 68% oppose cutting the state's funding for healthcare services. For more details, see: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6220193/Reasons-Prop-1A-Failed-memo

[3] California PTA, http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs089/1102168765122/archive/1102597854160.html

[4] California Budget Project, http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2009/090609_Proposed_Cuts_Would_Affect_Children.pdf

[5] Estimates from children's health advocates based on the previous impact on coverage from budget shortfalls.