Has California reached its limit in providing benefits for immigrants living here illegally? That’s the indication after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed three bills passed by the liberal Legislature.
The state at least has definitely hit an election-year pause.
Newsom says publicly he blocked the closely watched measures for good policy reasons. And those reasons were sound.
But it was also good politics for him in the long run, and more immediately for California Democratic ally Kamala Harris.
The vice president is already carrying a heavy load of leftist California baggage as she runs for the top job. The “San Francisco liberal” doesn’t need an added burden heaped on by her home state.
“Kamala Rolls Out Red Carpet for Illegals,” was the banner on one Donald Trump campaign piece last week.
Harris has been trying to thread the needle, running as a moderate focused on attracting middle America while keeping her progressive base intact.
While Trump claims she’s responsible for out-of-control illegal immigration — as if a vice president is responsible for much of anything — Harris has been promising to toughen border security and restrict entry.
Newsom’s chief communications adviser, Bob Salladay, denies that the governor weighed political ramifications when vetoing the bills.
“The only political calculation is coming from the right wing in this country, which continues to demonize and cruelly attack undocumented people in California,” Salladay says.
But let’s be real. There’s no governor with national ambitions who doesn’t constantly gauge the political effect of his actions.
Three strikes
The supermajority Democratic Legislature passed all three bills by comfortable margins.
The most contentious, Assembly Bill 1840 by Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, would have allowed undocumented immigrants to apply — alongside other qualified people — for interest-free home loans of up to $150,000 if they’re first-time homebuyers.
“Those who pay (taxes) into the system should be able to receive benefits like everyone else,” Arambula contended during the Assembly floor debate.
Republican Assemblywoman Kate A. Sanchez of Trabuco Canyon countered that the bill would encourage “more illegal — not legal — immigration into this state. This isn’t rocket science. If you’re giving out free stuff, more people are going to come.”
In his veto message, Newsom injected a dose of realism cloaked in bureaucratic lingo: “Given the finite funding available … expanding program eligibility must be considered within the broader context of the annual state budget.”
Translation: This home loan program is broke and no additional money has been appropriated by the Legislature because the state is bleeding red ink.
So substantially, the measure was a lot to do about nothing.
Another proposal, Senate Bill 227 by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, would have paved the way for undocumented workers to receive unemployment benefits.
In rejecting the measure, the governor again asserted — as he has for years on bills costing money — that fiscal issues should be hammered out when he and the Legislature negotiate a state budget in June.
But the Legislature habitually tries to squeeze through more spending long after the annual budget has been enacted. Even when the state is running a deficit.
The third vetoed bill, AB 2586 by …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
