Under the automatic cuts included in the state budget package, the "$100 million, first tier trigger cut slated for the Department of Developmental Services will compound the impact of multiple, ongoing cuts to social services for Californians with developmental disabilities," Christopher Rice -- executive director of the California Disability Services Association -- writes in a Capitol Weekly opinion piece. According to Rice, a "decade of rate freezes, program closures and devastating budget cuts have destroyed many community-based service programs, leaving the more than 240,000 Californians with developmental disabilities at serious risk," adding, "The trigger cuts will make this problem even worse." Rice concludes, "Meaningful reforms to California's developmental services system are necessary to manage costs," such as "a careful examination of where California's service delivery system can be optimized and modernized."