Every legislative session, some Democratic lawmaker introduces legislation that seems designed to become a punching bag on Fox News as an example of how out-of-touch our state has become with ordinary Americans outside of California. In years past, high-profile mischief-making would die in committee, but these days such bills often make it to the governor’s desk.
Usually, these efforts involve relatively minor expenditures, but in 2017 the Senate passed a bill mandating a single-payer healthcare system before the few remaining adults in the Assembly killed it. This year’s prize goes to Assembly Bill 1840 by Assembly member Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, which was portrayed as a bill to give illegal immigrants $150,000 in down-payment assistance to buy a home.
It was slightly more nuanced, but the portrayals were mostly accurate. AB 1840 forbade the existing California Dream for All program from excluding applicants based solely on immigration status. Fortunately, Gov. Gavin Newsom – who has an eye on national office – last week vetoed this clunker.
Newsom made a fiscal argument: “Expanding program eligibility must be carefully considered within the broader context of the annual state budget to ensure we manage our resources effectively.” The bill didn’t expand funding, so the financial downside wouldn’t have changed. He basically sidestepped the real controversy: Critics were upset that people here illegally could access cash earmarked for legal residents.
The program doesn’t make sense, fiscal or otherwise. The Associated Press reports that Newsom’s budget this year didn’t include any funding, but that $500 million was set aside in 2022. Sure, a few first-time buyers (around 2,100 last year) received “free” money via a lottery process, but such programs won’t fix the housing crisis (and they are inflationary).
Newsom deserves credit for his veto, but he previously signed a law providing illegal immigrants with healthcare benefits. We can only guess at his motives, but he doesn’t need more mocking news stories. If the state wants to address soaring home prices, which now average $900,000 statewide, it needs to reduce regulations that impede housing construction. That, however, requires serious legislating.
