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CA State Rep. Carl DeMaio took to the Assembly floor this week to expose what he calls one of the most dangerous welfare bills California has seen. SB 119 guts welfare-to-work rules, rewards fraud, and hands out taxpayer cash to people who aren't even eligible, including illegal immigrants.
“By passing SB 119, CA Democrat politicians are forcing taxpayers to pay billions for wasteful and fraudulent welfare payouts - which only continues a sick cycle of incentivizing dependency in our state,” DeMaio warned.
DeMaio was one of only a handful of lawmakers to vote NO on the bill, calling it a slap in the face to every working taxpayer. Removing welfare-to-work requirements sends a clear message; you don’t need to work, you don’t need to be eligible, just sign up and collect.
SB 119 rolls back key accountability in CalWORKs, California’s largest welfare program, including loosening or outright eliminating work-search obligations for able-bodied adults receiving benefits. DeMaio warned these changes encourage long-term dependency and open the door to abuse.
“Californians are fair people, whether they are Democrat or Republican, all Californians believe in giving people a second chance, and helping those who are willing to help themselves,” but this bill moves in the “opposite direction.”
He warned that SB 119 authorizes billions in taxpayer-funded benefits to individuals who are ineligible, including illegal immigrants, a move he says undermines both fairness and financial responsibility.
“Every dollar that we waste for people who are not citizens or not eligible is a dollar less that we have to spend on people who truly need help,” he declared during floor debate.
DeMaio compared SB 119 to the $30 billion EDD fraud debacle that rocked California during the pandemic, where the Newsom administration let criminals loot the unemployment system. Then later covered the fraudulent unemployment insurance payments with payroll tax hikes on small businesses and working families.
He criticized the bill for completely ignoring California’s 13.6% error rate in CalFresh, one of the highest fraud rates in the country. Despite federal warnings, the states with fraud rates above 5% will soon be penalized.
DeMaio says SB 119 is just the latest proof that Sacramento Democrats have abandoned working families:
DeMaio vows to continue fighting.
“Sacramento is punishing the people who work and rewarding those who don’t,” he said. “We need to flip seats in 2026 and end this reckless spending spree. Join Reform California to help put an end to the reckless one-party rule in Sacramento,” he concluded.
DeMaio urges Californians who are fed up with paying more so others can game the system to join Reform California by volunteering or contributing to their campaign to flip seats to end the Democrats’ Super-Majority control in Sacramento.
