Sacramento – California really has a council, even if you don’t hear much about it. In fact, it is now making a ton of important decisions.

They affect millions of Californians – there are many new laws and large spending.

But lawmakers’ moves are sliding under the news radar as they focus on more unconvincing non-Sacramento events. Gavin Newsom’s denial and Democrat Sen Alex Padilla questioned in protest of avid federal immigrant raids in Los Angeles and President Trump’s power trip to call up President Trump’s National Guard.

Plus, Congress is fighting alongside Trump’s “big beautiful” ughs, debt-shaking bills and the eruption of the Middle East War.

Meanwhile, it is one of the busiest and most important times at the Capitol. This is budgetary time when the legislature and the governor decide how to use our taxes.

Congress passed a so-called $32.5 billion budget on June 13th, breaking the constitutional deadline for two days. Otherwise, lawmakers would have confiscated their pay. But the measure was legally counted as a budget, but lacked many details still negotiated between legislative leaders and newspapers.

The final contract falls into supplementary measures that amend the major budget bill. It then follows a long line of “trailer invoices” with more policy details. All of these are currently hindered, mainly in the back room.

The target date for this Byzantine process conclusion is Friday. The annual budget will take effect on July 1st.

Some budget-related issues are particularly interesting to me, and I have written about them before. So the rest of this column is what we call “follow” in Newstrade. Here’s a report on where these issues are.

Proposal 36

First of all, we have Proposal 36 funding.

The Californian voted for Proposition 36 more than anything else last year in the poll. The measure passed in 68% of votes carrying all 58 counties.

Inspired by the escalation of retail theft, the initiative has strengthened penalties for certain property and hard owner crimes, such as fatal fentanyl peddlers. But it provided carrots to serial criminals of drug addiction. Many can provide treatment rather than prison time.

Proposal 36 requires state funding for treatment and more probation officers to oversee the addict’s progress and additional law enforcement costs. Supporters of the measure estimate a tab of $250 million a year.

However, Newsom was an outspoken opponent of the proposition. He didn’t fund it with the original budget proposal and stiffened it again when he revised his spending plan last month.

However, legislative leaders argued for several funds and agreed to a one-off budget of $110 million.

It is insufficient and advocates of the measure argue. They’re pushing more. But some horror newspapers may even reject $110 million, which seems suspicious.

California District Attorney Assn sponsored the initiative. Greg Totten, chief executive of the company, says he needs more money to hire additional probation officers. He argues that treatment without probation does not work.

Sen. Katherine Blakespeare (D-Encinitas) is about to change the $110 million allocation mix. She says none is assigned to the county sheriff, who currently handles more arrests.

“We want to ensure that we are maintaining voters’ hopes and that we are leading people to drug treatment,” Blakespear said. “This was passed at such a high rate. It should be a priority for elected officials.”

Sen. Tom Amberg (D. Santa Ana) predicts that Congress will be messing around with the budget until it is postponed to September, “We will continue to defend 36 appropriate funds.” He argues that the budget under negotiation cannot bear due to the upheaval under Trump, which constantly threatens to withhold California’s federal funds.

Healthcare for immigrants

Another sticky issue is the health care provided by the state for immigrants who live illegally here.

Newsom and the Democratic-controlled Congress decided several years ago to generously provide immigration access to all low-income people to Medi-Cal, the federal Medicaid version of California’s poor.

But unlike legal resident Medi-Cal, the federal government is not kicking money for undocumented people. The state steps through the entire bill. And it wasn’t set aside enough. As expected, the state’s expenses have made billions more than its budget.

The Newsom administration claims that more adults are enrolling in the program than expected. But come on! If free health care is provided to the poor, then the race to register should be expected.

To balance the book, Newsom offered a monthly premium of $100. Congress reduced it to $30. They both agreed to freeze adult registrations starting January 1st.

The Congress also wants to freeze Medi-Cal registrations for more people who are non-citizens. What does that mean? Hopefully it’s negotiated.

Delta Tunnel

And there is the issue of the Joaquin River Delta in Sacramento, which the governor proposed. Newsom had nothing to do with the budget, but tried to narrow the controversial issues down to the budget process. But it can avoid substantial public hearings in Congress as a budget trailer.

The governor wants to build a “quickly track” of a $200 billion 45-mile tunnel that will send Northern California water to Southern California. The interests of Delta farmers, locals and coastal salmon are opposed. Fast-Track means getting permission and seizing assets easier.

Legislative leaders told the governor absolutely “no.” Later I went back and carried out his proposal through the usual committee process. Don’t try to quickly track Congress.

What else should I read?

Must see: “Good Day”: Detained US citizens say agents bragged after arresting dozens of people at Home Depot
visit: Vice President JD Vance tears Newsom, Bass and Mock Padillas during his visit to Los Angeles
Rimes Special: Welcome to the Dodgers, the deportation resistance. What’s next?

Until next week,
George Skeleton

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