{"id":1455190,"date":"2024-02-03T17:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T22:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1455190"},"modified":"2024-02-03T17:50:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T22:50:00","slug":"california-bill-would-give-unemployment-benefits-to-illegal-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/california-bill-would-give-unemployment-benefits-to-illegal-immigrants\/1455190\/","title":{"rendered":"California Bill Would Give Unemployment Benefits To Illegal Immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

California Bill Would Give Unemployment Benefits To Illegal Immigrants<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by John Seiler via The Epoch Times,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

On Jan. 1, illegal immigrants in California received free medical care. <\/strong><\/p>\n

That was thanks to Assembly Bill 133, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed<\/a> into law in July 2021.<\/p>\n

Cost: $4 billion more a year, <\/strong>as an estimated<\/a> 764,000 illegal immigrants are added to the already stuffed rolls of the 14.6 million Californians on Medi-Cal, the state\u2019s version of the Medicare program.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

At the signing almost three years ago, Mr. Newsom exclaimed, \u201cWe\u2019re investing California\u2019s historic surplus to accomplish transformative changes we\u2019ve long dreamed of<\/strong>\u2014including this historic Medi-Cal expansion to ensure thousands of older undocumented Californians, many of whom have been serving on the front lines of the pandemic, can access critical health care services.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Oops! That was when the state enjoyed a nearly $100 billion budget surplus. Now it\u2019s suffering a deficit of $38 billion,<\/strong> according to Mr. Newsom\u2019s Jan. 10 budget proposal<\/a>. Or $58 billion, according to the Legislative Analyst\u2019s Jan. 13 analysis<\/a> of that proposal.<\/p>\n

Next upSenate Bill 277<\/a>, by state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles). It would give unemployment benefits to illegal aliens. According to the analysis<\/a> by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, \u201cThis bill establishes, until January 1, 2027, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Excluded Workers Program (EWP) administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD) to provide income assistance to workers ineligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

And here are the new costs:<\/strong><\/p>\n

$270.7 million to set up the program. The taxpayer dollars would go \u201cprimarily to develop a new information technology (IT) system. EDD\u2019s UI program is a federal-state partnership, with the current IT system largely funded through federal grants. However, federal rules would preclude EDD from using existing systems to administer the EWP, thus requiring EDD to establish a new, separate IT system exclusively for the EWP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annual costs to run the IT system \u201cranging from $39.3 million to $53.8 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOngoing costs of benefit amounts, ranging from $330 million to $2 billion, paid to EWP claimants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the problem, though. Health care involves an actual, physical patient needing to be patched up or given medications, or preventive medicine. So there\u2019s a limit. But giving unemployment benefits to illegal aliens would make the EDD system even more ripe for fraud than it already is.<\/strong> Many illegal immigrants pay into the system now. But how do we know they\u2019re actually doing the work claimed? What if they\u2019re laid off officially, collect EDD benefits, but then are hired back unofficially for the same jobs? By definition, \u201cillegal\u201d involves at least some measure of illegality.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Employment Development Department paperwork in Irvine, Calif., on April 2, 2021. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/p>\n

EDD Fraud<\/h2>\n

Then there\u2019s the EDD\u2019s long-existing fraud problems. <\/strong>According<\/a> to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of Jan. 24, the EDD still owes the federal government $20 billion borrowed to pay for the massive fraud committed on its system during the unemployment crisis in 2020 from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

And last October, CalMatters reported on the cost for each California employee: \u201cThe current debt has triggered a $21 increase per employee that employers must pay in payroll taxes starting this year. Employers\u2019 rates will keep rising an additional $21 per employee each year until the state pays off the debt to the federal government, for a total of $945 per employee through 2031, according to projections by the Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office based on the average state unemployment insurance tax rate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cemployer\u201d payment, by the way, over the long term actually is paid, through reduced wages, by those employees at the company.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In explaining<\/a> the bill last June, Ms. Durazo\u2019s website shamelessly pulled the \u201crace card\u201d: \u201cSB 227 would address a longstanding racist exclusion that has had a devastating economic impact on immigrant communities, California\u2019s industries, and the wellbeing of our state particularly during times of disaster, such as wildfires and historic winter storms. Millions of undocumented immigrant workers work in jobs that help California prosper; they are unable to access unemployment benefits when they experience job loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, if SB 227 impacts the state budget for $2 billion\u2014or maybe a lot more if the EDD\u2019s fraud risk crops up again\u2014everyone, of all races, creeds, and colors, will be hurt by either cuts to other state programs, or tax increases<\/strong>. Moreover, also included should be benefits that illegal immigrants get already, beginning with the aforementioned Medi-Cal care, plus free education for their children in public schools.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Illegal immigrants who passed through a gap in the U.S. border wall await processing by Border Patrol agents in Jacumba, Calif., on Dec. 7, 2023. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/p>\n

Tough to Make SB 227 Law<\/h2>\n

Last year, numerous rallies were held across the state for SB 227. CBS News Bay Area reported<\/a> on April 13, \u201cA group of workers from the Bay Area and across California gathered at the State Capitol on Thursday, urging lawmakers to pass a bill to make unemployment benefits available to undocumented immigrants. …<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter almost an hour and a half, the bus reached Sacramento. More than 100 undocumented workers from all over the state were already gathered.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The bill was not passed last year, but continued to 2024. \u201cProbably the earliest action that could take place on that would be June,\u201d Jennifer Richard, Ms. Durazo\u2019s chief of staff, told me. \u201cBut the most important part would be seeing if there was some kind of funding in the budget. And right now that\u2019s not looking so good because of the budget shortfall that we\u2019re facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the rub: The $38 billion or $58 billion budget deficit. Even if SB 227 passes the Legislature, it likely would face a veto by Gov. Newsom. Indeed, in 2022 he vetoed a similar bill, Assembly Bill 2847<\/a>, due to budget concerns.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I wrote<\/a> in The Epoch Times on Jan. 19, \u201cCalifornia Gov. Newsom\u2019s 2024 Presidential Hopes Fade,\u201d he\u2019s looking to 2028. He\u2019s term-limited as governor, so he doesn\u2019t have to care about getting reelected here.<\/p>\n

But he has to get that budget deficit under control, or it will be a heavy albatross hanging around his neck once he leaves office in January 2027 and takes aim at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSat, 02\/03\/2024 – 12:50<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bRead More<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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