The State Senate unanimously approved a bill today to take $16.3
million from a fuel and vehicle fund to help save the state’s 94
domestic violence shelters, including four in Santa Clara
County.
The State Senate unanimously approved a bill today to take $16.3 million from a fuel and vehicle fund to help save the state’s 94 domestic violence shelters, including four in Santa Clara County.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut all $20.4 million earmarked for the shelters over the summer to balance the state budget. Shelters rely on public and private funds, both of which often include spending restrictions. If the governor approves the bill, shelters will still have an about $4 million funding gap, but senators were unsure what issues this would cause.
The $16.3 million will come from the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund and will be repaid by the general fund within three years, according to a press release from Senator Leland Yee’s office (D-San Francisco). Yee introduced the bill – co-authored by Gilroy’s representative, Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) – and Thursday he will join recording artist Moby at a concert at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre to urge Schwarzenegger to sign the legislation.
If the Governor does not approve the bill, “(it) will only result in increased health care, law enforcement and other costs to the state. But more critically, it puts victims of domestic violence and their children in grave danger,” Yee said in the press release.
The closest nonprofit emergency shelter to Gilroy that receives state funding and provides a legal counseling service and 24/7 crisis hotline is Morgan Hill-based Community Solutions, which employs more than 85 employees in Gilroy, Hollister and Morgan Hill. The nonprofit operates a $10.5 million budget and is facing a $200,000 cut, which threatens the organization’s confidential shelter. That shelter housed about 150 women and children in 2008, according to President and CEO Erin O’Brien.
Click here to read the previous story with statistics.
For a list of shelters and programs at risk of closure, visit: http://www.safenetwork.net/GrantAdmin/GranteesList.aspx.
To contact Community Solutions, visit www.CommunitySolutions.org or call 842-7138. Victims can call the 24-hour hot line at 1-(877)-END-SADV, or 1-(877)-363-7238.
