Sacramento, California (AP) – California is faced with a deficit of $ 12 billion that Governor Gavin Newsom wants to close by joining the registration for a health care program for immigrants living in California without legal status.
Newsom announced the deficit and his plans to cover him on Wednesday when he described his state expenditure plan for almost $ 322 billion for the next fiscal year.
Beyond the expenses of Medicaid superior to what Medicaid, Newsom blamed a large economic uncertainty, including federal tariff policies and a volatile stock market. California depends strongly on the income of a capital gains tax.
Newsom, a Democrat, said California’s contributions to the American and global economy and said that President Donald Trump’s economic policies could reduce state revenues by $ 16 billion in the years to come.
APIDO AP: The Governor of California describes $ 12 billion in deficit and freeze on access to the Immigrant Health Program
The AP correspondent, Donna Warder, reports on the budget deficit of $ 12 billion in California.
“California is in fact in fact,” he said. “We have a president who was reckless in terms of assault on these growth engines.”
He now opens budgetary negotiations with legislators. An end budget must be signed at the end of June.
Assembly republican chief James Gallagher criticized Newsom for blamed a large part of the state’s budgetary problems on Trump.
“Newsom pointing on the budget deficit is the biggest shit that I have ever seen a politician, and he shovels a lot,” said Gallagher. “We are in this mess because of its reckless expenses, its false promises and its failed leaders.”
Immigrant health care freezing
The decision highlights Newsom’s struggle to protect its liberal policy priorities against budgetary challenges during its last years of work and, as it weighs its next political move, which could include a presidential race.
Immigration has become a politically powerful question on a national level. According to a AP-Noc survey Led in April. Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress have threatened to reduce Medicaid money For states that illegally register immigrants living in the country.
Gel does not mean that California withdraws from its support for immigrants, said Newsom.
“No state has made only the state of California, no state will continue to do more than the state of California in the long term. And this is a point of pride,” he said.
California was among one of the first states To extend free health benefits in health care For all poor adults, whatever their immigration status last year, an ambitious plan presented by Newsom to help the most populous state in the country closer to the objective of universal health care. But the cost cost $ 2.7 billion more than the administration had not planned it. The State has more than 1.6 million people without legal status registered in its health care program this exercise, according to the budget.
In March, Newsom suggested that he did not plan to retreat the health benefits for immigrants when the state was struggling with A shortfall of $ 6.2 billion Medicaid. He has also repeatedly defended the expansion, saying that it saves money in the long -term state. The program is funded by the State and does not use federal dollars.
As part of the Newsom plan, low-income adults without legal status will no longer be eligible to apply for Medi-Cal, the state Medicaid program, from 2026. Those who are already registered will not be launched from their plans, and the changes will not have an impact on children. Newsom did not say how long the frost lasts.
From 2027, adults with “unsatisfactory immigration status” on Medi-Cal will also have to pay a monthly bonus of $ 100. The Governor’s office said that this was in accordance with the average cost paid by those who are on health plans subsidized on the California market. There is no premium for most people currently on Medi-Cal.
“We think people should have a skin in the game when it comes to contributions,” said Newsom.
The Newsom office estimated that changes will save $ 5.4 billion by the year 2028-2029.
Medi-cali expansion, combined with other factors such as the increase in pharmacy costs and larger registrations by the elderly, forced California to borrow and Allow new financing To connect the hole several billion earlier this year. California provides free health care to more than a third of its 39 million people.
The Senator of the Democratic State, Dave Cortese, said that he had opposed Newsom plan to reduce the coverage of certain immigrants without legal status.
“Congress can move away from its obligation towards the poor, the elderly and the disabled, but California will not,” said Cortese in a statement.
Newsom’s proposals go against the commitment that the State has made to the community of immigrants, said Masih Fouladi, Executive Director of California Immigrant Policy Center.
“Questions about the practical aspect of the program are not even something we want to entertain,” he said. “The proposal simply does not correspond to our values as a state.”
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Associated Press journalist Sophie Austin contributed.