California: California Governor Gavin Newsom vows he will not fix the state of the state budget deficit taking away health insurance Low-income adults living in the country without legal permission, and calling state policy “something I believe in.”

But Newsom would eliminate an important health benefit A promise he made to some low-income, disabled immigrants has angered his allies, who are now accusing the second-term governor of breaking his promise.

California was one of the first states to give free health insurance to all low-income adults, regardless of their income. immigration statusThe billion-dollar project, completed in January, made more than 1 million people eligible in California. Medicaid ProgramsThese include many people who never had health insurance before.

Now, just five months later and with California facing a projected $45 billion deficit, Newsom wants the state to stop paying caregivers who come into the homes of some disabled people — who are living in the country without legal permission — to help them with cooking, cleaning and other tasks so they can stay out of nursing homes. Everyone else would get the benefit.

The Newsom administration says it would save about $94 million and affect fewer than 3,000 people out of the more than 15 million enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. But ending the benefit would prevent thousands more from becoming eligible in the future.

David Kane, an attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, said Newom’s proposal is “a betrayal.” Ronald Coleman Baeza, managing policy director of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, called it “unacceptable” and compared the proposal to a notorious ballot proposition from the 1990s that tried to prevent immigrants from accessing government assistance programs.

“I think it could take us backwards in the sense of treating undocumented people as different,” said state Senator Maria Elena Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles who has pushed for Medicaid expansion for years.

Newsom’s proposal for immigrants would affect a benefit known as in-home supportive services, which is becoming more expensive for the state to provide. The average hourly wage for caregivers has increased by 6 percent since 2014. And this year, with some emergency federal funding provided during the pandemic expiring, costs have increased by about $200 million.

Once people qualify for this program, they get the right to appoint a caregiver for themselves. This is often a relative, which means the program often acts as a form of financial support for families.

Marvin Estela Pineda, 42, is originally from El Salvador who now lives in California’s Central Valley. She lost her vision to glaucoma at age 30. Earlier this year, she began receiving supportive services at home.

Her daughter, Mayde Pineda, said the government is paying her $16.50 an hour for a total of 84 hours each month to care for her mother, which includes cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. The money has helped keep the family financially stable until Mayde Pineda, 22, finishes college, she said.

“(Without this program) I wouldn’t be able to take care of him without a lot of difficulty,” Mayde Pineda said.

California Department of Social ServicesThe organization that runs the program said it would work to “minimize any negative impact on individuals currently receiving assistance,” including helping them find other government-funded programs that can provide similar services. One option could be Medi-Cal’s Community-Based Adult Services program, which pays for things like personal care, meals and professional nursing services.

Asked for comment on his proposal, the governor’s office pointed to comments Newsom made earlier this month, when he announced his budget plan, which included a number of painful cuts.

“We take no pleasure in this — but we have to do it, we have to be responsible. We have to be accountable. We have to balance the budget,” Newsom said.

For most of his tenure, Newsom has enjoyed the praise of progressives as he has used historic surpluses to expand government services. But persistent multibillion-dollar deficits have forced Newsom to make some tough decisions, putting him on a collision course with some of his most vocal supporters.

Dealing with these controversies will be crucial for Newsom, who is working to build his national image ahead of a potential presidential campaign. So far, Newsom has moved quickly to resolve these disputes. When the state’s largest teachers union ran ads criticizing him for his proposed cuts to education, Newsom reached an agreement with them that resolved most of their concerns. That agreement still has to be ratified by the state legislature.

Other negotiations will be more difficult. Newsom’s health care proposal for immigrants is one of several proposed cuts to a wide range of state social service programs.

The state legislature, controlled by Democrats, plans to pass its own budget by June 15, which would restore nearly all of the cuts, including cuts to healthcare for some immigrants. Their plan does this by imposing temporary tax increases on businesses, while also cutting about $1 billion from the state prison budget.

“We’ve made sure that balancing the budget doesn’t come at the cost of our most vulnerable populations,” said Assemblyman Corey Jackson, a Democrat from Moreno Valley.

Newsom and legislative leaders will negotiate a final spending plan over the next few weeks, with the goal of passing a budget around the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. While the Legislature votes on the budget, Newsom has a lot of influence. He decides whether the budget is signed into law. California lawmakers rarely overturn a governor’s veto.