In Budget Move, California Could Halt Scheduled Raises For Disability Care Workers

In response to California’s budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed delaying pay increases for disability care workers by one year to fiscal 2025-26. The scheduled pay raises, first funded in 2021-2022, were part of a five-year rate reform intended to address shortages in disability care workers, who typically make $16 to $20 an hour. The 2022-23 budget accelerated the timeline to four years. The Legislative Analyst’s Office suggests that the governor’s proposal to push the raises back a year would save $612.5 million and aid in tackling the state budget deficit, which some estimates say could hit $73 billion. Disability care workers, also called direct care workers, provide daily assistance to seniors and disabled people, according to the California Health Care Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving access for low-income people and communities that “have traditionally faced the greatest barriers to care.”...