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Feds give California a little budget help

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Some rare good news for California’s budget woes came from Washington today – in the form of a promise of federal dollars from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius announced that states, including California, will have to pay the federal government less for prescription drug coverage for residents eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. The result is a shrinking of $675 million from California’s estimated $20-billion budget shortfall through June 2011.

“This is a big win for California,” said Rachel Arrezola, a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger and top Democrats in the Legislature praised Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for their lobbying for the funds.

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-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

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