California  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill to restore $ 16.3 million to domestic violence shelters today.

CODEPINK, an anti-war female advocacy group, cancelled “A Walk in her Shoes”—a rally they planned to hold at Los Angeles’ Town Hall on Friday—in protest of the Governor’s decision to gut funding for shelters last July.

After Gov. Schwarzenegger line-item vetoed all public funding for domestic abuse programs this summer, six shelters in the state closed. Others scaled back the hours they provided services or cut staff.

Money from a vehicle technology fund–that California will have to find a way to repay in 3 years—will refund the shelters.

Introduced by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), the bill received the support of 2,600 people who joined a SAVE Domestic Violence Shelters Facebook page.
The musician Moby, who’s mother is a survivor of domestic abuse, voiced his support of the bill at three California concerts this week. He donated the proceeds  to shelters in the state.

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