Sacramento, California – California faces a deficit of $ 12 billion that Governor Gavin Newsom wants to help closing freezing the registration in a state -funded medical care program for immigrants living in California without legal status.
Newsom announced the deficit and its plans to cover it on Wednesday, since it described its state spending plan of almost $ 32 billion for the next fiscal year.
Beyond the highest medical expense expected, Newsom said the deficit is due to broad economic uncertainty, including federal tariff policies in constant change and a volatile stock market. California depends largely on the income of a capital gains tax.
Newsom, a Democrat, initiated his budgetary presenting by highlighting California’s contributions to the US and world economy and blaming the economic policies of President Donald Trump, who according to him could reduce state income by $ 16 billion in the coming years.
“California is under assault,” he said. “We have a president who has been reckless in terms of assaulting those growth engines.”
Now open budget negotiations with legislators and it is not clear how the Democrats who control the Legislature will react to their plan to freeze a new registration of Medi-Cal for some immigrants. A final budget proposal must be signed in June. California’s budget is, with much, the largest among the states.
His decision highlights Newsom’s struggle to protect his priorities of liberal policy against budgetary challenges in his last years at work and, while weighing his next political movement, which could include a presidential career.
Immigration has become a politically powerful issue nationwide. Almost half of the Americans approve the hardest immigration approach of President Donald Trump, according to a AP-NORC Poll made in April. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have Threatened to reduce Medicaid money for states that enroll immigrants living in the country illegally.
Freezing does not mean that California is moving away from his support for immigrants, said Newsom.
“No state has done more than the state of California, no state will continue to do more than the long -term California state. And that is a point of pride,” he said.
California was one of the first states To extend free medical care benefits For all poor adults, regardless of their immigration status last year, an ambitious plan promoted by Newsom to help the most populous in the state of the nation closer to an objective of universal medical care. But the cost ran $ 2.7 billion more than the administration had planned.
Newsom in March suggested that he was not considering returning the health benefits for immigrants, since the State was dealing with A MEDICAID deficit of $ 6.2 billion. He also repeatedly defended the expansion, saying that he saves money to the State in the long term. The program is funded by the State and does not use federal dollars.
According to the Newsom Plan, low-income adults without legal status will no longer be eligible to request Medi-Cal, the State Medicaid program, from 2026. Those who are already registered will not be expelled from their plans, and the changes will not affect children. Newsom didn’t say how long the freezing would last.
From 2027, adults with “unsatisfactory immigration state” in Medi-Cal will also have to pay a monthly premium of $ 100. The governor’s office said it is in line with the average cost paid by those who are in health plans subsidized through the California market itself. There is no cousin for most people in Medi-Cal.
“We believe people should have some skin in the game in relation to contributions,” said Newsom.
The Newsom office estimated that the changes will save the State $ 5.4 billion for 2028-2029.
The expansion of Medi-Cal, combined with other factors, such as the increase in pharmacy costs and the greatest registration by the elderly, has forced California to borrow and Authorize new funds To plug the billionaire hole earlier this year. California provides free medical attention to more than a third of its 39 million people.
Newsom’s proposals are against the commitment that the State has made with the Immigrant Community, said Masih Fouladi, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center.
“The questions about the practicality of the program are not even something we want to entertain,” he said. “The proposal simply does not coincide with our values as a state.”
Newsom also proposed to eliminate state medical care coverage for certain drugs to lose weight as of January 2026, which would save approximately $ 85 million for the next fiscal year and $ 680 million in fiscal year 2028-29.
Newsom wants to re -authors the state capitalization and trade program through 2045. The program aims to reduce industrial sources over time through market -based mechanisms, and its complex will expire in 2030.
The money generated through credit auctions necessary to contaminate is destined for a fund that legislators take advantage of the expense related to the climate and the high -speed rail project.
Newsom proposed to play $ 1.5 billion of that Fund for the State Fire Department. He said the change would help ensure that carbon emitters help finance the state’s response to fire intensified by climate change.
Its proposal would also guarantee $ 1 billion annually for the high speed high speed of the state’s high speed. The project now receives 25% of the money from the greenhouse gase reduction fund, which ends up being a little more or a little less than one billion annually, depending on the year.
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Associated Press Sophie Austin’s journalist contributed.
