Skelton: Big state budget questions linger about crime, Medi-Cal, Delta tunnel
California really does still have a Legislature even if you haven t been reading or hearing much about it In fact it s at this time making a ton of weighty decisions They ll affect multiple millions of Californians with a gamut of new laws and hefty spending But the lawmakers moves have been slipping under the news radar because of our focus on more compelling non-Sacramento events including protests against overzealous federal immigration raids in Los Angeles President Donald Trump s power trip of calling up the California National Guard over Gov Gavin Newsom s objections and Democratic Sen Alex Padilla s being shoved to the floor and handcuffed for purely trying to ask Homeland Protection Secretary Kristi Noem a question Plus congressional wrangling over Trump s Big Beautiful ugly debt-hiking bill and the eruption of a Middle East war Meanwhile it s one of the busiest and greater part vital periods of the year in the state Capitol This is budget time when the Legislature and governor decide how to spend our tax dollars The Legislature passed a billion so-called budget June beating its constitutional deadline by two days If it hadn t the lawmakers would have forfeited their pay But although that measure counted legally as a budget it lacked lots of details that still are being negotiated between legislative leaders and Newsom The final agreements will be tucked into a supplementary measure amending the main budget bill That will be followed by a long line of trailer bills containing even more agenda specifics all as of now being hammered out mostly in back rooms The target date for conclusion of this Byzantine process is Friday The annual budget will take effect July Particular budget-related issues are of special interest to me and I ve written about them previously So the rest of this column is what we call in the news contract a follow a assessment on where those matters stand Proposition For starters there s Proposition funding Californians cast more votes for Proposition last year than anything else on the ballot The measure passed with of the vote carrying all counties Inspired by escalating retail theft the initiative toughened penalties for certain property and hard-drug crimes such as peddling deadly fentanyl But it offered a carrot to drug-addicted serial criminals Several could be offered recovery rather than jail time Proposition requirements state money for the medication more probation officers to supervise the addicts progress and additional law enforcement costs The measure s backers estimate a -million annual tab Newsom however was an outspoken opponent of the proposition He didn t provide any funding for it in his original budget proposal and stiffed it again last month when revising the spending plan But legislative leaders insisted on specific funding and agreed on a one-time appropriation of million Woefully inadequate the measure s backers contend They re pushing for more But particular fear Newsom might even veto the million although this seems doubtful given the general anger that could generate Greg Totten chief executive of the California District Attorneys Association which sponsored the initiative says more money is especially needed to hire additional probation officers Healing without probation won t work he insists Related Articles Solar strategy plan jeopardizes housing and power affordability Plan to fund beleaguered Bay Area transit agencies in faces political headwinds Opinion State bill letting cities profit from stolen carts could cost customers California to examine its Amazon oil ties following pleas from Indigenous leaders from Ecuador Walters California schools need leaders attention more than money Sen Catherine Blakespear D-Encinitas is trying to change the -million allocation mix There s nothing earmarked for county sheriffs who now are handling lots more arrests she says I want to make sure we uphold the voters wishes and are getting people into drug recovery Blakespear says This passed by such a high percentage it should be a priority for elected bureaucrats Sen Tom Umberg D-Santa Ana predicts the Legislature will still be fiddling with the budget until it adjourns in September and vows I ll continue to advocate for adequate funding for He asserts the budget now being negotiated won t hold up because of chaos under Trump who s constantly threatening to withhold federal money due California Immigrant soundness care Another sticky issue is state-provided wellbeing care for immigrants living here illegally Newsom and the Democratic-controlled Legislature decided a sparse years ago to generously offer all low-income undocumented immigrants access to Medi-Cal California s version of federal Medicaid for the poor But unlike Medi-Cal for legal residents the federal establishment doesn t kick in money for undocumented people The state foots the entire bill And it didn t set aside enough Predictably state costs ran several billion dollars over budget The Newsom administration maintains that more adults enrolled in the venture than expected But come on When free soundness care is offered to poor people you should expect a race to enroll To help balance the books Newsom proposed monthly premiums The Legislature reduced that to They both agreed to freeze enrollments for adults starting Jan The Legislature also wants to freeze Medi-Cal enrollment for even more people who are non-citizens those with what it considers unsatisfactory immigration status What does that mean Hopefully it s being negotiated Delta tunnel And there s the matter of the governor s proposed water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Newsom tried to squeeze the controversial issue into the budget process although it had nothing to do with the budget But as a budget trailer bill it could avoid substantive citizens hearings in the Legislature The governor wants to fast-track construction of the -billion -mile tunnel that would transmit more Northern California water to Southern California Delta farmers local residents and coastal salmon interests are adamantly opposed Fast-track means making it simpler to obtain permits and seize property Legislative leaders described the governor absolutely No come back later and run his proposal through the ordinary committee process Don t try to fast-track the Legislature George Skelton is a Los Angeles Times columnist Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency
