Democrats in California are trying to get another bill that will help illegal immigrants passed, but Republicans are trying to stop it.
Senate Majority Leader Brian Jones expressed his disapproval of the idea of increasing unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants, calling it demeaning, in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. With a deficit of $20 billion, the unemployment insurance fund is already bankrupt under the Newsom government. Benefit expansion to individuals here illegally is not within our budget.
Jones informed Governor Gavin Newsom in a letter that the EDD is still catching up after failing to handle the massive influx of requests for benefits during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Unemployed workers who are ineligible for unemployment insurance due to their immigration status would be provided with cash assistance similar to unemployment benefits under SB 227, which was introduced by Democratic Senator María Elena Durazo. The EDD would be required to create a comprehensive plan to create the Excluded Workers Program, which would be in place permanently.
Not only is the EDD still dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19, but it is also dealing with the fallout from its inability to prevent false unemployment claims totaling tens of billions of dollars, as Jones pointed out.
“Until the EDD demonstrates it has effective systems and procedures to ensure timely benefits and prevent fraud, it should not be tasked with new responsibilities and costs,” said Jones.
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Jones continued by saying that the EDD would be overwhelmed with new demands and costs if this measure were to pass, that funds would be taken away from other important reforms that need to be made, and that the state would go further into breaking federal immigration rules.
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Come to California and collect welfare while you do nothing; that’s the message our crazy plan delivers. The nation’s fortunes rise and fall in tandem with California’s. “Jones,” Jones declared. “Americans should be very concerned about a Harris-Waltz Administration taking this policy nationwide.”
James Gallagher, an assemblyman from California, agreed with Jones that small businesses are losing out because of wasteful spending.
“Newsom is already jacking up taxes on small businesses to pay off the debt he rang up with his mismanagement of our unemployment system during COVID,” according to Gallagher. “Democrats plan to open up the benefits to illegal immigrants is only going to invite more fraud and waste more money.”
An individual receiving a vaccination
A male doctor injects a dosage of the COVID-19 vaccine into the shoulder of a female patient who is wearing a mask. Coronavirus treatment, flu vaccine clinical trials concept, close-up view. According to iStock,
“Wouldn’t it be great if Democrats focused as much on bringing down our highest-in-the-nation unemployment rate as they do on pushing new giveaways to illegal immigrants?”
Legislation on Governor Newsom’s desk is due to be signed or vetoed by September 30, according to the governor’s office, which informed Fox News Digital that the proposal will be assessed based on its merits.
The Senate has already sponsored a plan that would offer benefits to illegal immigrants; this is their second such bill.
A loan program called “California Dream for All” was proposed by the California legislature last month. If approved, it would have allowed first-time homebuyers to receive up to $150,000 in loans, which is equivalent to 20% of the home’s value or $150,000 in down payment assistance, regardless of whether the buyer is an illegal immigrant.
A homebuyer aid program run by the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) cannot reject an application on the basis of their immigration status alone, according to this bill. Expanding program eligibility should be carefully evaluated within the broader framework of the annual state budget to ensure effective resource management, given the constrained money available for CalHFA programs,” Newsom stated in the veto letter.
“For this reason, I am unable to sign this bill.”
