CA assemblymember proposes $50M in...

then decide whether to include the funding, and then send his revised budget back to the state Legislature for approval. The governor must sign off on the final state budget by June 30.

Newsom cuts funding

In his initial budget released Jan 10, Newsom did not include funds for domestic violence prevention. Funding for prevention services has been an annual ask: in 2019, the state allocated $5 million; in 2020, $10 million, and in 2021, $15 million, which supported 100 DV prevention organizations and programs with a one-time grant of $150,000.

Last year, however, the governor allocated no money for DV prevention programs and services, despite a $97 billion budget surplus. DV prevention organizations say the tenuous, year-by-year annual funding does not allow them to build sustainable programs.

Jones-Sawyer’s budget request lays out how the proposed $50 million would be used. $20 million would be allocated in one-time grants of $150,000 to 135 organizations working on domestic violence prevention. The funds would be allocated through the California Office of Emergency Services. $22 million would be allocated to support innovative interventions and culturally rooted approaches to ending domestic and sexual violence. This portion of the funding would focus on pilot programs engaging men, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA communities and culturallyrooted programs. The funding, which would be administered by the California Department of Social Services, would support pilot programs and expand capacity of existing programs.

DV shelters, rape crisis centers

The request also asks for removal of the criminal fees associated with domestic violence convictions and replaces lost revenue with a $3 million per year grant to domestic violence shelters, $2 million per year to rape crisis centers, and $1 million per year for the California Department of Public Health’s Domestic Violence Training and Education Fund. The remaining $2 million would be used to establish a senior advisor on violence prevention, who could inform multiple state agencies.

The budget request is supported by several domestic violence prevention organizations including the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, the Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network, the Alliance for Men and Boys of Color, and Valor US.

Budget deficit

Abigail Alvarez, a policy consultant with the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, told Ethnic Media Services that Newsom has not publicly remarked on whether he will support the budget request.

As an issue area, members of the state Legislature have been really responsive, she said.

But California is facing an estimated $22.5 billion budget deficit; several analysts have said the shortfall is much higher. “It’s going to be a tough year to get anything through,” predicted Alvarez. “Other emergencies— floods, wildfires — get a lot of attention. We believe domestic violence is also an emergency.”

DV prevention organizations are mobilizing to garner support from members of the state Legislature. Alvarez said many are providing testimony to “humanize the issue.”

Orange Day of Action

At a Feb. 7 “Orange Day of Action,” held on the steps of