Sierra HOPE, a nonprofit group that helps people living with HIV/AIDS, has had more than a third of its budget slashed for the current fiscal year, The Union Democrat reports.  

This year’s cutback includes $62,000 in state cuts and $42,000 in federal cuts. Last year the group’s budget was just under $300,000. A large portion of the state cuts came from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s line-item veto power he exercised earlier this year in a move to deal with the then-projected $26 billion budget deficit.

“I understand we have to make sacrifices, but it’s tragic that so much of the burden is being placed on the poor, disabled,” said Jerry Cadotte, director of Sierra HOPE.