State legislators close $12B budget hole by cutting health care for immigrants, those with low incomes

The state Capitol is seen in Sacramento on Jan File photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr CalMatters California lawmakers on Friday approved a budget that pares back a number of progressive priorities to close a billion deficit They include a landmark wellness care expansion for low-income adult immigrants without legal status It s the third year in a row the nation s the majority populous state has been forced to slash funding or stop certain of the programs championed by Democratic leaders The billion spending plan was negotiated by Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders Newsom is expected to sign the budget But it will be void if lawmakers don t send him decree to make it easier to build housing by Monday The budget avoids particular of the majority of devastating cuts to essential safety net programs state leaders declared They mostly relied on using state savings borrowing from special funds and delaying payments to plug the budget hole California also faces prospective federal cuts to wellness care programs and broad economic uncertainty that could force even deeper cuts Newsom in May estimated that federal policies including on tariffs and immigration enforcement could reduce state tax revenue by billion We ve had to make chosen tough decisions Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire explained Friday I know we re not going to please everyone but we re doing this without any new taxes on everyday Californians Republican lawmakers commented they were left out of budget negotiations They also criticized Democrats for not doing enough to address future deficits which could range between billion to billion annually We re increasing borrowing we re taking away from the rainy day fund and we re not reducing our spending reported Republican state Sen Tony Strickland prior to the vote And this budget also does nothing about affordability in California Here s a look at spending in key areas Wellbeing care Under the budget deal California will stop enrolling new adult patients without legal status in its state-funded fitness care activity for low-income people starting in The state will also implement a monthly premium in July for immigrants remaining on the plan including specific with legal status The premiums would apply to adults under years old The changes to the scheme known as Medi-Cal are a scaled-back version of Newsom s proposal in May Still it s a major blow to an ambitious campaign started last year to help the state inch closer to a goal of universal robustness care Democratic state Sen Maria Elena Durazo broke with her party and voted no on the medical care changes calling them a betrayal of immigrant communities The deal also removes million in funding for mental soundness phone lines including a project that served people annually It will eliminate funding that helps pay for dental services for low-income people in and delay implementation of ordinance requiring soundness insurance to cover fertility services by six months to But lawmakers also successfully pushed back on several proposed cuts from Newsom that they called draconian The deal secures funding for a activity providing in-home domestic and personal care services for certain low-income residents and Californians with disabilities It also avoids cuts to Planned Parenthood Surroundings Lawmakers agreed to let the state tap billion from its cap-and-trade plan to fund state firefighting efforts The cap-and-trade venture is a market-based system aimed at reducing carbon emissions Companies have to buy credits to pollute and that money goes into a fund lawmakers are supposed to tap for climate-related spending Newsom sought to reauthorize the venture through with a guarantee that billion would annually go to the state s long-delayed high-speed rail project The budget doesn t make that commitment as lawmakers desired to hash out the details outside of the budget process The rail project now receives of cap-and-trade proceeds which is roughly billion annually depending on the year Legislative leaders also approved funding to help transition part-time firefighters into full-time positions Multiple state firefighters only work nine months each year which lawmakers reported harms the state s ability to prevent and fight wildfires The deal includes million to increase the daily wage for incarcerated firefighters from to a day General safety The budget agreement will provide million to help implement a tough-on-crime initiative voters overwhelmingly approved last year The measure makes shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders increases penalties for selected drug charges and gives judges the authority to order people with multiple drug charges into healing Largest part of the fund million will help counties build more behavioral vitality beds Probation officers will get million for pre-trial services and courts will receive million to advocacy increased caseloads Advocates of the measure including sheriffs district attorneys and probation officers announced that s not enough money Specific have estimated it would take around million for the first year of the undertaking Other priorities Newsom and lawmakers agreed to raise the state s film tax credit from million to million annually to boost Hollywood The project a priority for Newsom will start this year and expire in The budget provides million to help backing immigration legal services including deportation defense But cities and counties won t see new funding to help them address homelessness next year which local leaders declared could lead to the loss of thousands of shelter beds The budget also doesn t act on Newsom s proposal to streamline a project to create a massive underground tunnel that reroute sa big part of the state s water supply