Thread: Illegal aliens are a factor in CA.'s budget math

Illegal aliens are a factor in California's budget math

George Skelton, Capitol Journal

February 2, 2009 From Sacramento -- Based on my e-mail, a lot of folks think the solution to California's state budget deficit is to round up all the illegal immigrants and truck them down to Mexico.

Wrong. Even if it were logistically possible and the deportees didn't just climb off the truck and hitch another ride back up north, their absence from the state wouldn't come close to saving enough tax dollars to balance a budget that has a $42-billion hole projected over the next 17 months.

Painful cuts in education, healthcare and social service programs still would be needed. Sharp tax increases would be required.

That said, let's be honest: Illegal immigration does cost California taxpayers a substantial wad, undeniably into the billions.

But it hasn't been PC for officeholders to talk about this for years, ever since Gov. Pete Wilson broke his pick waging an aggressive campaign for Proposition 187. That 1994 ballot initiative sought to bar illegal immigrants from most public services, including education. Voters approved the measure overwhelmingly, but it was tossed out by the courts.

Wilson was demonized by Democrats within the Latino community. And many think the Republican Party never has recovered among this rapidly growing slice of the electorate.

So it's not a topic that comes easily to the tongues of politicians, even Republicans.

Besides, most of the policy issues are out of California's hands. The federal government has jurisdiction over the border. Federal law decrees that every child is entitled to attend public school, regardless of immigration status. And every person -- here illegally or not -- must be cared for in hospital emergency rooms.

But the state does add a few benefits that aren't required.

And as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders dig into the books trying to find billions in savings, at least a brief look at what's being spent on illegal immigrants seems in order.

First, nobody seems to know exactly. Numbers vary widely, depending which side they come from in the ongoing angry debate over whether people who entered the country illegally to work should be allowed to stay or loaded on the southbound truck.

But here are some no-agenda numbers:

* There were 2.8 million illegal immigrants living in California in 2006, the last year for which there are relatively good figures, according to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. That represented about 8% of the state's population and roughly a quarter of the nation's illegal immigrants. About 90% of California's illegal immigrants were from Latin America; 65% from Mexico.

* There are roughly 19,000 illegal immigrants in state prisons, representing 11% of all inmates. That's costing $970 million during the current fiscal year. The feds kick in a measly $111 million, leaving the state with an $859 million tab.

* Schools are the toughest to calculate. Administrators don't ask kids about citizenship status. Anyway, many children of illegal immigrants were born in this country and automatically became U.S. citizens.

If you figure that the children of illegal immigrants attending K-12 schools approximates the proportion of illegal immigrants in the population, the bill currently comes to roughly $4 billion. Most is state money; some local property taxes.

* Illegal immigrants aren't entitled to welfare, called CalWORKs. But their citizen children are. Roughly 190,000 kids are receiving welfare checks that pass through their parents. The cost: about $500 million, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

Schwarzenegger has proposed removing these children from the welfare rolls after five years. It's part of a broader proposal to also boot off, after five years, the children of U.S. citizens who aren't meeting federal work requirements. There'd be a combined savings of $522 million.

* The state is spending $775 million on Medi-Cal healthcare for illegal immigrants, according to the legislative analyst. Of that, $642 million goes into direct benefits. Practically all the rest is paid to counties to administer the program. The feds generally match the state dollar-for-dollar on mandatory programs.

So-called emergency services are the biggest state cost: $536 million. Prenatal care is $59 million. Not counted in the overall total is the cost of baby delivery -- $108 million -- because the newborns aren't illegal immigrants.

The state also pays $47 million for programs that Washington does not require: Non-emergency care (breast and cervical cancer treatment), $25 million; long-term nursing home care, $19 million; abortions, $3 million.

Schwarzenegger has proposed requiring illegal immigrants to requalify every month for Medi-Cal benefits, except pregnancy-related emergencies.

There also are other taxpayer costs -- especially through local governments -- but those are the biggies for the state. Add them all up and the state spends well over $5 billion a year on illegal immigrants and their families.

Of course, illegal immigrants do pay state taxes. But no way do they pay enough to replenish what they're drawing in services. Their main revenue contribution would be the sales tax, but they can't afford to be big consumers, and food and prescription drugs are exempt.

My view is this: These people are here illegally and shouldn't be, regardless of whether they're just looking for a better life. Do it the legal way. And enforce the law against hiring the undocumented.

On the other hand, they are here. We can't have uneducated kids and unhealthy people living with us. We have moral obligations and practical imperatives.

The Obama administration and Congress need to finally pass an immigration reform act that allows for an agriculture work program and a route to citizenship.

Meanwhile, California should be honest about the costs. Illegal immigrants are not the sole cause of the state's deficit. But they are a drain.

george.skelton@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/ ... 500.column

Other huge factors to take into consideration when speaking about education is that billions are spent and for what? They have a 35% graduation rate in some districts. They have one of the higest teenage pregnancy rates. While the taxpayer gets soaked and continues to spend spend spend, the fools don't even graduate. It would be a small consolation at least if we saw that are money was being spent with good results. This is just a waste.

That state spends 11 billion dollars annually as stated by auditors and members of the state Assembly and the figure rises as more illegally enter this country at the rate of 5,000 to 10,000 every week. Also you need to factor in the costs to victims and their families from murder, drunk driving, manslaughter, identity theft, rape and molestation of women and children and numerous other crimes committed by those who violated our laws, borders and sovereignty while having no legal right to be here.

My question as always when I see this "route to citizenship" part is how many should we add to this route, we now have over 300 million people a large portion of that foreign born much from the third world, America's melting pot is failing we are fragmenting now because there is no pressure on those incoming to adapt to our way of life and as the numbers grow the problem will increase until the breakdown occurs.

We outsource our manufacturing,import cheap junk from China, pour billions into poor countries to "purchase goodwill", nation build with out military and with a failing public school system we import more under educated workers, insane, crazy,not sure but it's a receipt for disaster.

CALIFORNIA IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN FOR BALANCED BUDGET

SACRAMENTO, CA (KGO) -- State Republican lawmakers unveiled a package of 20 bills, aimed at saving money and balancing the state budget by targeting illegal ailens.

Assembly Republicans want to chip away at the state deficit by checking the immigration status of those getting state-funded social benefits and jobs. They especially want to crackdown on those who have committed crimes.

"California is on a financial life raft that is sinking, but at the same time, we continue to pull on more and more people on board," said Assemblyman Jim Silva (R) of Huntington Beach.

Many of the proposals concentrate on criminal activity because in 2006 - 2007, it cost the state roughly $850,000,000 million dollars to incarcerate more than 17,000 illegal immigrants.

Among the proposals:
- Adding ten years to prison sentences for felonies if the illegal had been previously deported.
- Checking the immigration status of DUI offenders
- Requiring local law enforcement to cooperate with INS
- Denying bail for gang-related or violent crimes
- And reporting dangerous juveniles to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.

"To the extent we have criminal activity in our state, we should address it very, very vigorously" said state Senior Gil Cedillo (D) of Los Angeles, Vice-Chairman of the Latino Caucus.

"I think the law enforcement agencies in my city should be focused on crime and violence, which is starting to creep up," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Assemblyman John Benoit(R) of Bermuda Dunes is a law enforcement veteran-turned politician, who says it's time cops are part of the solution.
"I have been involved in stopping, finding, and in some cases, deporting people here illegally. I think the rule of law is the reason the United States stands out among nations," said Assemblyman Benoit.

The federal government is supposed to help pay for jailing illegal immigrants who commit crimes, but California got reimbursed only $100,000,000 dollars last year, less than 13 percent of the actual costs.

http://abclocal.go.com:80/kgo/story?sec ... id=6042094

What these goof balls are not telling ya is that they are basing the 42 Billion deficit on the fact that California is PROJECTING 100 Billion in revenue from 2009 - 2010

The AMOUNT OF MONEY THEY NEED IS 142 BILLION Dollars for the state to stay in the black

I cant see nor can many economist's see how California came up with a 42 Billion Dollar deficit.... It may end up being twice the 42 Billion Dollar they are projecting... nobody knows, only time will tell

I'll tell ya what I know .... I wouldnt trust the rocket scientist's that helped put them in this mess in the first place... all those freaks need to be recalled and or FIRED

Don't blame California for all of these problems, look at YOUR federal government too.

"Besides, most of the policy issues are out of California's hands. The federal government has jurisdiction over the border. Federal law decrees that every child is entitled to attend public school, regardless of immigration status. And every person -- here illegally or not -- must be cared for in hospital emergency rooms."

I go back to the Judge who threw out Proposition 187 that overwhelmngly passed in California back in 93 or 94? That prop would have denied all of these services to illegals. It passed and a Jimmy Carter appointed liberal judge threw it out, saying it was unconstitutional. Wonder where he is today and if he is proud of his ruling. Californians were outraged and funny no other states seemed to care, because they hadn't experienced the invasion yet. I hope other states see this and act before it is too late. Once the illegals grow in force and elect their own reps, its over.

Oh I'm not..... those Political fools at the Federal level need to be on trial for Treason and Sedition in my opinion

Originally Posted by wilma1

I go back to the Judge who threw out Proposition 187 that overwhelmngly passed in California back in 93 or 94? That prop would have denied all of these services to illegals. It passed and a Jimmy Carter appointed liberal judge threw it out, saying it was unconstitutional. Wonder where he is today and if he is proud of his ruling. Californians were outraged and funny no other states seemed to care, because they hadn't experienced the invasion yet. I hope other states see this and act before it is too late. Once the illegals grow in force and elect their own reps, its over.

You are correct. No other state offered any help to California nor did the people of any other state help California when they needed it the most. Many people want to blame the people of California for the illegal aliens in the state but when they actually did something about them it was overturned by the court and no one seemed to care or offer any help.

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR WEIGHS DEFENSE OF PROPOSITION 187
In 1994, Proposition 187 was passed by 59% of California voters. Among the provisions of the law was a ban on illegal immigrants receiving non-emergency ...
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