Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Virus funds took too long
Why did it take so long to fund the fight against West Nile virus, which was compromised by budget battles in Sacramento?
The Bakersfield Californian
Tuesday July 27th, 2004
Political gridlock and a rigid adherence to bureaucratic turf in Sacramento took too long to set aside and give way at the last minute to the urgent need to fight the accelerating spread of West Nile virus.
At almost the same time recently that the first human case migrated north ofthe Los Angeles basin into Kern County -- former TV news anchor Don Clark --cases popped up in Fresno, San Jose and the Bay Area.
West Nile is not contagious between people, but is spread by mosquitoes from birds and some other animals. There is no vaccine against West Nile, so prevention is the key. And it still is despite the budget settlement.
The key to effective prevention is mosquito abatement districts throughout the state -- which along with other local governments had faced budget cuts up to 25 percent, imperiling their ability to cope with this emerging public health emergency.
The now fortunately reversed cut for the districts -- but not other local agencies --was part of budget decisions in the Legislature reducing payments owed to local governments in order to trim the state's budget deficit. In return for the cuts that still affect most agencies, the state will reduce raids on local funds in future years.
For the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District, the cuts could have amounted to $500,000. That is in addition to $1.1 million the district had already lost in recent years. The district now has the funds it thinks it needs to fight spread of the virus. To call West Nile a public health emergency is not overreacting. In many people, symptoms deceptively feel like moderate to severe flu, weakness,exhaustion, muscle pain, skin rash and swollen lymph glands for two weeks.
But it can become debilitating and potentially fatal brain and spinal infections, with symptoms including disorientation, coma, tremors,convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis. On average, fatality rates range from 3 percent to 15 percent. People over age 50, infants andimmune-compromised people are more likely to fall seriously ill.
Legislators -- including Kern's Sen. Dean Florez and Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy and Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, among others -- suggested several approaches to the funding issue to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger's office was not as aggressive as it should have been in working with them to embrace an approach that restored full funding todistricts as quickly as possible.
Florez has proposed an increase in an existing tax on pesticides to fund West Nile prevention efforts.
Our legislators also successfully appealed to the governor to reduce or eliminate the 25 percent reduction in funding for abatement districts. Another approach to which the governor eventually agreed is to simply exempt abatement districts from the local funding cutback that affects nearly all local governments.
Almost any local agency can make a good case for resisting more state raids on local revenues. But Florez made a good case for taking special care with mosquito abatement districts. Before the districts' fund restoration, he said: "I don't like the fact that we're just on the verge of a West Nile breakout and we won't put dollars for our mosquito abatement districts in the budget," Florez said. "It's alarming to me that our priorities are set on issues that are not as immediate."
The Bakersfield Californian
Tuesday July 27th, 2004
Political gridlock and a rigid adherence to bureaucratic turf in Sacramento took too long to set aside and give way at the last minute to the urgent need to fight the accelerating spread of West Nile virus.
At almost the same time recently that the first human case migrated north ofthe Los Angeles basin into Kern County -- former TV news anchor Don Clark --cases popped up in Fresno, San Jose and the Bay Area.
West Nile is not contagious between people, but is spread by mosquitoes from birds and some other animals. There is no vaccine against West Nile, so prevention is the key. And it still is despite the budget settlement.
The key to effective prevention is mosquito abatement districts throughout the state -- which along with other local governments had faced budget cuts up to 25 percent, imperiling their ability to cope with this emerging public health emergency.
The now fortunately reversed cut for the districts -- but not other local agencies --was part of budget decisions in the Legislature reducing payments owed to local governments in order to trim the state's budget deficit. In return for the cuts that still affect most agencies, the state will reduce raids on local funds in future years.
For the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District, the cuts could have amounted to $500,000. That is in addition to $1.1 million the district had already lost in recent years. The district now has the funds it thinks it needs to fight spread of the virus. To call West Nile a public health emergency is not overreacting. In many people, symptoms deceptively feel like moderate to severe flu, weakness,exhaustion, muscle pain, skin rash and swollen lymph glands for two weeks.
But it can become debilitating and potentially fatal brain and spinal infections, with symptoms including disorientation, coma, tremors,convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis. On average, fatality rates range from 3 percent to 15 percent. People over age 50, infants andimmune-compromised people are more likely to fall seriously ill.
Legislators -- including Kern's Sen. Dean Florez and Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy and Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, among others -- suggested several approaches to the funding issue to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger's office was not as aggressive as it should have been in working with them to embrace an approach that restored full funding todistricts as quickly as possible.
Florez has proposed an increase in an existing tax on pesticides to fund West Nile prevention efforts.
Our legislators also successfully appealed to the governor to reduce or eliminate the 25 percent reduction in funding for abatement districts. Another approach to which the governor eventually agreed is to simply exempt abatement districts from the local funding cutback that affects nearly all local governments.
Almost any local agency can make a good case for resisting more state raids on local revenues. But Florez made a good case for taking special care with mosquito abatement districts. Before the districts' fund restoration, he said: "I don't like the fact that we're just on the verge of a West Nile breakout and we won't put dollars for our mosquito abatement districts in the budget," Florez said. "It's alarming to me that our priorities are set on issues that are not as immediate."
# posted by Senator Dean Florez @ 11:28 AM 
