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North County Times
By Edward Sifuentes
January 8, 2007
NORTH COUNTY, CA--Health-care advocates and local politicians
said they are eager to hear the details of Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's budget and health-care proposals due
out this week.
Fresh from Friday's inaugural ceremony, Schwarzenegger
is scheduled to announce a plan today that would guarantee
medical insurance to all California children--including
those who are illegal immigrants--who currently have
no coverage. He is expected to follow the announcement
with his State of the State address Tuesday and with
his spending plan Wednesday.
Administration officials offered few specifics about
the governor's spending plan, but said it would not raise
taxes and would narrow the state's estimated $5.3 billion
spending gap.
"We've made a great deal of progress in reducing the
state's operating budget deficit," said H.D. Palmer,
a spokesman for California's Department of Finance. The
governor's budget will "continue to make progress," he
said.
Schwarzenegger, who was re-elected in November by a
wide margin, struck a bipartisan tone during his inaugural
address. Democrats control both houses of the Legislature,
but most proposals involving state spending require a
two-thirds vote, giving Republicans significant leverage.
"It is time we combined the best of both ideologies
into a new creative center," he said. "This is a dynamic
center that is not held captive by either the left or
the right or the past."
Republicans said they would hold the governor to his
word.
"All that we ask is that we have a significant seat
at the table," said Peter DeMarco, chief of staff for
state Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Carlsbad.
Assemblyman George Plescia, R-San Diego, said he hopes
the governor's plan will continue to reduce the budget
gap while making transportation funding a top priority.
Plescia, whose district includes parts of inland North
County, last year was among the "Big Five," a small group
that includes the governor and party leaders and helps
shape the budget.
"The January budget never gets voted on," Plescia said
pointing out that the governor's plan is only the beginning
of a long negotiating process. "The real negotiations" start
in May after a revised budget is proposed, he said.
The deadline for the budget, as defined by the state
constitution, is June 15. The state's new fiscal year
starts July 1.
Facing re-election, the governor signed a $131.4 billion
budget last year--the first on-time spending plan in
six years. It gave schools a $5.1 billion increase over
the previous year, for a total of $55.1 billion. It set
aside nearly $4.9 billion to pay debts and build up $2
billion in reserves, but left a deficit of over $5 billion.
Last year, a debate over expanding access to state-funded
health care, which would have included illegal immigrant
children, pushed the budget negotiations past the state-mandated
deadline. It was approved hours before the beginning
of the new fiscal year after proponents dropped the plan.
Schwarzenegger said he opposed the expansion at the
time, but indicated his objections were fiscal, not philosophical.
"There is no right or wrong here," he told reporters
last year during the budget debate. But "we still have
a huge debt," he said.
Last week, the Los Angeles Times cited unidentified
officials saying the governor would unveil a plan today
to insure an estimated 763,000 children, including illegal
immigrant children. The proposal would guarantee medical
coverage to the children of families earning up to 300
percent of the poverty level, or about $60,000 a year
for a family of four, according to the report.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, introduced
a similar plan last month, but his plan excludes illegal
immigrants.
Health-care advocates said they were enthusiastic about
the governor's idea, but also said the proposal would
be face tough opposition among many in his own party.
"We think it's terrific. It's great that the governor
is exerting leadership in health care reform," said Bob
Ross, president of the California Endowment, a Los Angeles-based
private foundation that advocates for increased access
to health care.
He said it would be harder to convince Republicans
to support including illegal immigrant children in the
plan than it would be to find the money to pay for it.
Estimates on the number of uninsured people in the
state can vary, especially concerning illegal immigrants,
but Ross said his organization estimates there are about
800,000 children who have no medical insurance in California.
About 15 percent of them are illegal immigrant children,
he said. He also estimates that the governor's proposal
would cost $300 million to $400 million a year.
Although there are no details on how the governor plans
to fund the program, Plescia and other local Republican
lawmakers said they would oppose using state money to
cover illegal immigrants.
"We need to be very careful with what the governor is
going to have coming out," Plescia said. But "as far
as the illegal immigration issue, our caucus is very
unified on that."
Newly elected Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Vista,
said he would reserve comment on the specifics of the
plan until he sees it, but said: "We don't want to
reward individuals that break the law."
Advocates, including Ross, said taxpayers already spend
money on illegal immigrants when they visit the emergency
room. He said offering medical coverage would improve
public health and save money.
"I sleep better at night knowing that all children have
been afforded the opportunity for immunization," Ross
said. "From a public health perspective, the state of
California already pays for emergency room care and hospitalization
for the children of illegal immigrants. Why not spend
the money more wisely and cheaply up front?"
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