Democratic legislators reject the steep abbreviations of social services

From Yue Stella Yu., Jean Quang and Mikhail ZinshteynCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

California legislative leaders have announced today that they have achieved a budget proposal to deal with the expectant state deficit of $ 12 billion, relying heavily on borrowing from other state funds to continue to provide social services rather than offer the in -depths of Gavin Newo.

While Newsom wants to reduce low-income healthcare services, reduce publication to public universities and not provide funding to deal with homelessness, democratic MPs offer softer changes, sometimes rejecting the governor’s ideas.

Newsom’s May budget has come Against the background of a gloomy fiscal perspective for CaliforniaThe one that legislators say they share. They accused the fiscal shocks of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, the rapidly growing country Medi-Cal Enrollment And the expensive forests in Los Angeles.

But, according to legislative leaders, the balance of the state budget should not come at the expense of the “most vulnerable in California”.

“Although we have made very difficult but necessary decisions to achieve a balanced budget, we will never walk in our commitment to all Californians,” said Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire And the chairman of the Assembly Robert Rivas, both Democrats, in a joint statement.

The legislature is facing a deadline on June 15 to adopt a budget bill, although in recent years they have approved the “Replacement” legislation and continue negotiations with Newsom in the coming weeks, as expected to do this year.

The legislative offer relies on $ 7.8 billion for loans, $ 3.5 billion cuts and $ 1 billion to move money and delay or delay payments to close the $ 12 billion hole. Legislators also want to repair the Rainy Day Fund in California to allow the state to deposit more money in reserves over the years when the state is blown up with money – an idea that will require voter approval.

One of the most extensive proposals from Newsom’s abbreviations was to the Medi-Cal system, which provides health insurance for low-income residents. The coverage was expanded last year to include poor people living in the country illegally, increasing costs at a higher speed than expected and forcing the state to Distribute more money for the program in MarchS

NEWSOM has offered a freezing of a new recording for immigrants who did not have legal status and charge current premiums for participants to reduce costs. He also suggested that home care be reduced for undocumented immigrants and restore an asset test for some Medi-Cal students, cause outrage and protests among the care and care and Protects for elderly low -income people And those with disabilities.

Legislators have rejected many of Newsom’s proposed abbreviations in their proposal, refusing to reduce overtime hours for home-proposal educators, which even Republicans have opposed.

NEWSOM has suggested that the Medi-Cal coverage has ceased to the elderly who have over $ 2,000 assets that would reduce about 112,000 adults from the program to mid-2027, said the Director of the Ministry of Health Michelle Baas. However, legislators offer a higher threshold of assets of $ 130,000.

The prospect of steep redundancies for social services was a difficult pill to swallow for democratic supermistics at the same time that the Republican -led Congress pursues its own redundancies to Medicaid brands and food. The influential legislative Latin American Caucous categorically opposes the reduction of the health coverage of immigrants who have entered the country illegally. But while the legislators of privately sailed other options for resuming healthcare costs, including restriction of services rather than blocking enrollment, they are never united around the alternative.

Legislators now seem to support Newsom’s suggestions to stop recording and billing of monthly premiums for unknown adults, which are covered by Medi-Cal-with some changes. These include a decrease in the premiums from what Newsom wanted, slow down to reduce tooth benefits for these immigrants and allow immigrants that are already covered to enroll within six months if they lose the coverage to avoid paying a premium.

Amanda McAlister-Waller, CEO of Health Access California, said the legislature budget is mainly delayed by the offered by the reduction of Newsom and does not include enough new solutions to maintain access to health care for immigrants and other low-income Californians.

“We really see the legislature double from the same decisions that were in the governor’s budget and continue to balance that budget by making deep healthcare and deep redundancies of services,” she said.

However, legislators want to turn another controversial proposed Newsom: Financing reproductive health suppliers. In May, the governor suggested Moving $ 500 million in tobacco -funded dollars – Money that had to go for services, including women’s health – in the General Fund of the State, a move condemned by planned parenting as “cruel”. The legislative transaction rejected the governor’s plan.

Housing, environment

Legislators also proposed new funding for public safety and homelessness. The legislative transaction includes a one -time fund of $ 110 million for counties to Apply a proposal 36Voters of a proposal for a strict crime approved last fall, which includes more stringent sentences and appointed programs for the treatment of some drug and theft crimes. Republicans, some Democrats and local prosecutors had requested funding. Almost half of the money offered by legislators will go to behavioral health services.

Legislators offer funding of $ 500 million to deal with homelessness after Newsom offered funding to local authorities last month as it raised them that they were unable to cope with the state -owned balloon population. The amount is Half of what the state approved last yearS

The legislative transaction includes another $ 500 million in state loans for low-income housing taxes to finance affordable housing projects, $ 300 million to assist housing buyers for the first time and $ 120 million to build more affordable rental housing.

Legislators also want to spend less money from the state’s climate funds to pay for fire costs than Newsom.

Last month, Newsom suggested expansion and Touching the remarkable restriction and commercial program of the state -Financed by large pollutants-to finance the high-speed railway project in California and cover the cost of fire in California, attracting a cruel opposition to both Democrats and Republicans. The governor seeks to use at least $ 1.5 billion a year to pay for a fire, growing to $ 1.9 billion in the fiscal year 2028-29.

Legislators have agreed to allocate $ 1 billion from the climate fund over the next two years for this purpose and to guarantee funding after next year.

NEWSOM had also offered to attract $ 316 million from the Financing of Proposal 4 – A A $ 10 billion bond bond measure Voters approved last year – to fill the state’s budget. Legislators suggested that they reduce this amount instead of $ 142 million.

Legislators reject UC and CSU cuts

The legislature rejected Newsom’s proposal to reduce funding based on the University of California and the California State University, who together have more than 750,000 students. This is a rotation since last year, when MPs agreed to reduce state support for universities by 8% for the upcoming budget year 25-26. As a result of a large -scale campaign against cuts, Newsom instead proposed reductions of 3% in May, just under $ 300 million.

Democratic MPs are looking for no cuts. And with the governor’s plans to reimburse other funding that was reduced by universities last year, systems will see a combined blow of $ 200 million in state education spending.

In another victory for students, legislators want to stop the planned reduction to the middle class scholarship, which gives hundreds of thousands of students several thousand dollars to pay for school. Last year’s budget has dropped funding to $ 527 million, but legislators are now striving to recover it to their previous financing of about $ 900 million.

SalMatters Health reporter Kristen Hanging has also contributed to this story.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.