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CA State Rep. Carl DeMaio cast the only NO vote against the entire CA State Budget this past week – citing a range of problems he has with the bill.
But DeMaio says one of the biggest problems he has with the bill is that it prioritizes funding for welfare handouts to illegal immigrants over important services for California citizens.
“By passing this shameful budget, California Democrat politicians are once again prioritizing the needs of illegal immigrants over the needs of struggling citizens,” DeMaio declared after floor debate, accusing the governor of slipping an $11.2 billion Medi-Cal claw-back for citizens into the bill to fund $12.1 billion for illegal care.
DeMaio provided fresh cost projections showing the immigrant expansion of Medi-Cal ballooning 46 percent in a single year, from already a hefty $6.5 billion estimate to $9.5 billion today, with the next fiscal year pegged at $12.1 billion.
“California taxpayers should be outraged that they face massive tax hikes while illegal immigrants are being given nearly $10 billion in free tax-payer-funded health-care coverage,” he said, unveiling his caucus’s analysis that the federal government could also penalize the state roughly $11.2 billion for violating Medicaid rules.
The mounting tab, DeMaio warns, is punishing Medi-Cal toward insolvency. After the administration quietly floated a $3.44 billion emergency loan to keep the program solvent, he argued, “Gavin Newsom has now put Medi-Cal on the brink of financial collapse because he decided to gift free health care to illegal immigrants… It’s time for us to protect citizens rather than prioritizing illegal immigrants at their expense.”
Newsom’s camp counters that soaring health costs face every state and notes the governor is already proposing to freeze new adult enrollment for undocumented immigrants beginning in 2026 and to impose $100 monthly premiums, measures his advisers say would trim more than $5 billion. Democratic leaders, however, have balked, calling the freeze “reckless and unconscionable,” while the governor’s spokesman insists the budget contains “tough decisions” needed to tackle a projected $12 billion deficit.
DeMaio and fellow Republicans offered amendments to scrap the undocumented-care line item entirely, redirect the money to traditional Medi-Cal services for seniors, the disabled, and low-income families will be first on the chopping block when federal penalties hit. Democrats killed that amendment.
Now DeMaio is urging the federal government to audit and investigate the entire Medi-Cal program for possible illegal use of federal funds for the coverage of undocumented individuals.
Beyond the immigrant-health line item, DeMaio highlighted other failures in the budget concocted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and rubber stamped by CA Democrats:
1. A structural deficit he brands a full-blown fiscal crisis masked by led by “Enron-style” accounting;
2. Newsom’s attempt to pin the mess on Donald Trump instead of Sacramento’s spending binge;
3. Revenue forecasts he says are “fantasy math” given outward migration and job killing regulations;
4. Carve-outs for special interests, from Hollywood tax credits to payroll and gas tax hikes that “make working families bleed”; and
5. Upside-down priorities that slash wildfire prevention and Proposition 36 implementation while funding new welfare for undocumented residents.
DeMaio vows to fight on.
“The only way to save California from this fiscal irresponsibility is to educate voters and flip seats in the 2026 midterm election, but to do that we need everyone’s help through our Reform California political movement” DeMaio concludes.
DeMaio is urging frustrated Californians to join his Reform California by volunteering or chipping in a contribution.
