Schwarzenegger health reform would cover illegal immigrant children

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- Health-care advocates and local politicians said they are eager to hear the details of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget and health-care proposals due out this week.

Fresh from Friday's inaugural ceremony, Schwarzenegger is scheduled to announce a plan today that would guarantee medical insurance to all California children ---- including those who are illegal immigrants ---- who currently have no coverage. He is expected to follow the announcement with his State of the State address Tuesday and with his spending plan Wednesday.

Administration officials offered few specifics about the governor's spending plan, but said it would not raise taxes and would narrow the state's estimated $5.3 billion spending gap.


"We've made a great deal of progress in reducing the state's operating budget deficit," said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for California's Department of Finance. The governor's budget will "continue to make progress," he said.

Schwarzenegger, who was re-elected in November by a wide margin, struck a bipartisan tone during his inaugural address. Democrats control both houses of the Legislature, but most proposals involving state spending require a two-thirds vote, giving Republicans significant leverage.

"It is time we combined the best of both ideologies into a new creative center," he said. "This is a dynamic center that is not held captive by either the left or the right or the past."

Republicans said they would hold the governor to his word.

"All that we ask is that we have a significant seat at the table," said Peter DeMarco, chief of staff for state Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Carlsbad.

Assemblyman George Plescia, R-San Diego, said he hopes the governor's plan will continue to reduce the budget gap while making transportation funding a top priority.

Plescia, whose district includes parts of inland North County, last year was among the "Big Five," a small group that includes the governor and party leaders and helps shape the budget.Ý

"The January budget never gets voted on," Plescia said pointing out that the governor's plan is only the beginning of a long negotiating process. "The real negotiations" start in May after a revised budget is proposed, he said.

The deadline for the budget, as defined by the state constitution, is June 15. The state's new fiscal year starts July 1.

Facing re-election, the governor signed a $131.4 billion budget last year ---- the first on-time spending plan in six years. It gave schools a $5.1 billion increase over the previous year, for a total of $55.1 billion. It set aside nearly $4.9 billion to pay debts and build up $2 billion in reserves, but left a deficit of over $5 billion.

Last year, a debate over expanding access to state-funded health care, which would have included illegal immigrant children, pushed the budget negotiations past the state-mandated deadline. It was approved hours before the beginning of the new fiscal year after proponents dropped the plan.

Schwarzenegger said he opposed the expansion at the time, but indicated his objections were fiscal, not philosophical.

"There is no right or wrong here," he told reporters last year during the budget debate. But "we still have a huge debt," he said.

Last week, the Los Angeles Times cited unidentified officials saying the governor would unveil a plan today to insure an estimated 763,000 children, including illegal immigrant children. The proposal would guarantee medical coverage to the children of families earning up to 300 percent of the poverty level, or about $60,000 a year for a family of four, according to the report.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, introduced a similar plan last month, but his plan excludes illegal immigrants.

Health-care advocates said they were enthusiastic about the governor's idea, but also said the proposal would be face tough opposition among many in his own party.

"We think it's terrific. It's great that the governor is exerting leadership in health care reform," said Bob Ross, president of the California Endowment, a Los Angeles-based private foundation that advocates for increased access to health care.

He said it would be harder to convince Republicans to support including illegal immigrant children in the plan than it would be to find the money to pay for it.

Estimates on the number of uninsured people in the state can vary, especially concerning illegal immigrants, but Ross said his organization estimates there are about 800,000 children who have no medical insurance in California. About 15 percent of them are illegal immigrant children, he said. He also estimates that the governor's proposal would cost $300 million to $400 million a year.

Although there are no details on how the governor plans to fund the program, Plescia and other local Republican lawmakers said they would oppose using state money to cover illegal immigrants.

"We need to be very careful with what the governor is going to have coming out," Plescia said. But "as far as the illegal immigration issue, our caucus is very unified on that."

Newly elected Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Vista, said he would reserve comment on the specifics of the plan until he sees it, but said: "We don't want to reward individuals that break the law."

Advocates, including Ross, said taxpayers already spend money on illegal immigrants when they visit the emergency room. He said offering medical coverage would improve public health and save money.

"I sleep better at night knowing that all children have been afforded the opportunity for immunization," Ross said. "From a public health perspective, the state of California already pays for emergency room care and hospitalization for the children of illegal immigrants. Why not spend the money more wisely and cheaply up front?"

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

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