Californians in need

More Californians received income-based government support in 2011 than residents of any other state in the country, according to The Sacramento Bee’s CapitolAlert blog, citing a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. But as the nation’s most populous state, that is not surprising. About 5.3 million Californians received income-based and/or Medi-Cal benefits. Nationally, 46 million Americans receive assistance; 30.4 percent of those recipients are disabled. Though California had the greatest number of people on income-based assistance, it translates to just 19 percent of all adults in the state, a little below the average national rate. Compared to other states, the rate of recipients in the Golden State who said they were disabled was among the lowest in the country at 27.9 percent.