Newsom Signs Bill to Cover Free Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants (He Should Thank Trump)

California Democrats continue spending money like drunken sailors on shore leave. Yesterday, Gov. Newsom signed a bill to cover a massive shortfall caused by the expansion of the state’s Medicaid service (known as Medi-Cal) to illegal immigrants.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday that plugs an unexpected budget gap to fund Medi-Cal through late June…

He…asked lawmakers to allocate an additional $2.8 billion dollars from the General Fund just to keep the program afloat through the end of June.

Lawmakers did that on Thursday by passing AB 100 – something called a ‘budget bill junior,’ which amends the current budget.

Last year, the state estimated that expanding Medi-Cal to cover all illegal immigrants who fall below the income threshold would cost $6 billion for a year, but that figured has soared largely because about twice as many people signed up for the free medical care as the state expected. The state estimated that 700,000 migrants would sign up but the actual number is closer to 1.6 million. Shockingly, free stuff is popular.

That created a big shortfall for this fiscal year which runs from July 2024 to June 2025. Last month, Gov. Newsome took out a massive loan to cover the costs.

Newsom’s administration told lawmakers in March that it took out a $3.44 billion loan, the maximum allowed under state law, from the general fund to make payments for March. The additional $2.8 billion in state funding will also unlock matching federal money to cover costs already committed through June.

State officials this month said the situation is “unsustainable” and told lawmakers the state is finding ways to cut costs next year.

So the combination of the $3.4 billion loan and the $2.8 billion addition to the budget Newsom signed yesterday will get the state through June. California will then start next year’s budgeting process already $3.4 billion in the hole.

As for Medi-Cal’s funding this next fiscal year – plus paying back that $3.4 billion general fund loan – Micheli said lawmakers will ramp up budget discussions in mid-May and are required to pass this coming fiscal year’s budget by June 15.

“That’s when they’ll determine how much more money is required for funding the Medi-Cal program through next June 30,” he said.

Newsom and other Democrats have already promised that health care for migrants will not be cut despite these massive cost overrums, but it’s hard to see how the state can continue to afford this. There are more than 1.6 million illegal immigrants in California. The exact number is unknown but could be 1 million higher that the number currently enrolled in Medi-Cal. What happens if they all sign up over the next year? Well, what happens is the budget goes up by several billion more dollars even as the state is trying to maintain a balanced budget next year after two years of shortfalls.

The irony here is that Newsom can only afford to stick to his progressive promise of Medi-Cal for everyone because President Trump has completely shut down illegal immigration at the border. The US hit a record low last month.

BORDER CROSSINGS HIT ALL TIME RECORD LOW IN MARCH!!!

From Donald Trump Truth Social 04/15/25 07:55 AM pic.twitter.com/yoip2Lunq6

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 15, 2025

March illegal border crossings:

🔴 2025: 11,017
🔵 2024: 189,359
🔵 2023: 193,249
🔵 2022: 222,574
🔵 2021: 173,277

All we needed was a new president

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 15, 2025

Normally if you offer something of value for free, you can expect that to become a magnet for a lot of people to show up and claim it. Free health care is certainly valuable and Newsom is offering it to everyone who crosses the border whether legally or not. But he doesn’t have to worry about new migrants showing up and blowing an even bigger hold in the state’s budget because President Trump has shut down the border. I doubt you’ll hear Gov. Newsom thank President Trump for rescuing him from the serious problems created by his own Medi-Cal policy, but he really should.

Of course that still leaves the state trying to pay for healthcare for all the illegal immigrants who are already here, maybe 2 million or more of them. We’ll have to wait a couple more months to find out what that is going to cost taxpayers over the next fiscal year.