When a ship is sinking in a storm, calls are made for women and children to be saved first. The captain stays onboard. Sadly, when our economy is sinking, the calls are silenced. Women and children are left to tread the violent waters. The captain is wrapped warmly in a blanket on the lifeboat.

As California’s economy sinks, the Governor cut programs that keep women and children safe, in his effort to balance the budget and stay afloat. California’s cuts to fund domestic violence shelters and organizations that provide lifesaving services have forced hundreds of women to remain on the sinking ship. Those already on lifeboats have been tossed back onto that ship.

In July, Governor Schwarzenegger eliminated the entire $20.4 million budget of the California Department of Public Health’s Domestic Violence Program with a line-item veto. With a swipe of his pen, he turned his back on women’s safety. Already six shelters have closed; many others around the state have been forced to reduce the already limited number of beds and services available to women. Without state funding, all shelters are at risk of closing, keeping thousands of women in danger. Domestic, also known as intimate partner, violence includes rape, physical assault, stalking and homicide. Shelters provide refuge for thousands of women and children, and without them, victims are left without the resources to escape abuse.

During economic hardship, incidences of violence escalate and women and children are the most vulnerable to abuse. So what happened to the call for these women and their children to be saved first? Governor Schwarzenegger’s line item veto implies that they are unworthy of saving. He is sitting on a lifeboat all by himself when instead he should be staying on the sinking ship.

If we must talk about women’s lives in economic terms, the costs of domestic violence far exceed the $20.4 million “saved” in the state budget. According to the Centers for Disease Control’s 2003 report on Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States, the health-related costs of intimate partner violence nationwide exceed $5.8 billion annually. Of that total, nearly $4.1 billion are for direct medical and mental health care services, and nearly $1.8 billion are for productivity losses. As the country’s highest populated state, California’s share undoubtedly surpasses $20.4 million. California’s deficit will grow rather than shrink.

State Senators understand the devastating effects these cuts have on women’s lives and on the economy. Last week the Senate unanimously voted to restore $16.3 million for the program in a bill introduced by Senator Leland Yee [D-SF]. The funds would be taken from the Alternative and Renewable Vehicle Fuel Technology Fund, and would support domestic violence shelters for another year. These funds are urgently needed to keep open the remaining 94 shelters throughout California.

Women and children across the state need you and me to call on the Governor to do the right thing. Ask him to sign this life-saving bill right away. These funds cannot be transferred to the domestic violence shelters without his signature. Remind him that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Now is the time to put women and children’s safety first.

PLEASE CALL HIS OFFICE AT 916-445-2841.