Dems’ bills aid immigrants
Continuing California’s reputation as a pacesetter on immigration, state lawmakers unveiled a package of bills Tuesday to expand the rights of people who are in the United States illegally.
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, contrasted their actions with the political intransigence in Washington, D.C., where the two major parties are at loggerheads over comprehensive solutions.
“This is a reflection of the dereliction of duty of these members of Congress,” de León said.
Gov. Jerry Brown in recent years has signed several landmark pieces of immigration legislation, including bills to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses and practice law.
Massive interest in the driver’s licenses – nearly 500,000 applications have been received so far – surprised state officials and supporters, some of whom openly fretted that eligible drivers would abstain from the process because of deportation fears.
Brown also signed bills to protect the foreign-born from labor discrimination and to ban jails from detaining immigrants who commit nonserious crimes.
Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, said Republicans here have called repeatedly for comprehensive immigration reform at the national level.
“The federal government’s failure to act has unfairly shifted the burden to the states, and California is taking the brunt of it,” Huff said. “We understand the burdens facing immigrants who want to go to work and raise their families in safe neighborhoods, and the rationale behind these bills is admirable. But without money from Congress and President (Barack) Obama it will be very difficult and costly for California taxpayers to fund all of these bill proposals.”
State Democratic leaders cast the latest round of legislation as part of a broader effort to embrace the contributions of unauthorized immigrants, including the jobs they work and the taxes they pay.
The centerpiece of the package is a renewed push to expand access to health insurance coverage.
Senate Bill 4 by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, would extend Medi-Cal to unauthorized families based on income.
It also could open the Covered California health insurance exchange to undocumented immigrants, though they would not qualify for subsidies. A more ambitious and costly version of the bill was shelved last year.
Counties currently provide health care to undocumented immigrants, but coverage varies.
Under Lara’s bill, state officials would be directed to seek federal permission to allow undocumented residents to buy coverage through the exchange.
This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Dems’ bills aid immigrants."