Sacramento, CA – The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network today released the following statement from the Executive Director Kiran Savage-Sangwan in response to the Assembly’s Budget for 2026-2027:
“The hypocrisy of the Assembly’s budget plan is outmatched only by its cruelty to the most vulnerable immigrant communities and families in our state. While Assembly leaders claim to value the contributions of immigrant workers to our economy and vow to protect refugees and asylum seekers from Trump’s agenda, this budget instead doubles down on MAGA values. The Assembly budget rips health care away from survivors of torture, trafficking, and genocide, as well as those who risk their lives to defend the U.S. abroad. Meanwhile, it asks very little from the corporations benefitting from a $1 trillion Trump tax cut paid for with our health care dollars.
“In the face of this devastating budget plan proposal, we must unite to fight for the immigrant communities whose lives are on the line. While Assembly leaders have thrown immigrant communities under the bus, we’re inviting all Californians to join our Protect Immigrant Health Care: Stop the Cuts bus tour, fighting for a budget that protects Health4All by raising new revenues and committing one-time dollars into the safety-net reserve to keep our safety-net whole for the millions of Californians still at risk as federal cuts loom.”
The Assembly’s budget plan:
- Maintains the Governor’s harmful proposal to strip Medi-Cal from humanitarian immigrants, with a nine-month delay, effective July 1, 2027, reversing a decades-long commitment to care for these populations, including survivors of domestic violence and trafficking, refugees and asylees, forcing families to remain in abusive situations and/or individuals fleeing violence to forgo critical medical care in order to meet basic survival needs. A nine-month delay will not prevent harm; it merely shifts the timeline while creating immediate uncertainty that will disrupt patient care.
- Maintains the Governor’s proposal to raise premiums for immigrants with so-called Unsatisfactory Immigration Status (UIS), aged 19-59 from $30 to $50 a month. Raising premiums for California’s lowest income families, will force individuals to choose between paying for food and housing or staying covered.
- Maintains the Governor’s proposal to reinstate the Medi-Cal Asset Test Limit for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities from $130,000 to $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple, with a six-month delay. This proposal means people have to stay in poverty to get health care, preventing them from saving even a small amount of money for a car repair or deposit on rent for a modest apartment.
- Maintains the Governor’s proposal to eliminate the Commission for Behavioral Health’s legally mandated Community Advocacy Program at a time of significant behavioral health systems transformation and growing threats to immigrant communities including access to Medi-Cal and culturally responsive care.