Well being look after undocumented seniors, $600 stimulus checks coming in subsequent California price range

SACRAMENTO – With deadline looming, budget lawmakers said late Friday they had reached a budget framework with Governor Gavin Newsom negotiating deals on homelessness financing, health insurance for undocumented seniors and other ongoing political differences.

But officials, who refused to go on record, said some key details remained unresolved even as lawmakers prepare to revise the $ 262.2 billion spending plan on Monday, three days before the new fiscal year begins , to adopt.

Legislators already approved a wildcard budget last week to meet a constitutional requirement and get paid, and negotiations on sharing a surge in tax revenue continued. An unexpectedly strong economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has left California with an estimated discretionary surplus of $ 38 billion along with $ 26 billion in federal stimulus money, leading to a number of competing proposals on liberal priorities such as access to health care, early childhood education and college scholarships.

The deal has been delayed in recent days as officials haggled over payments to government-subsidized childcare providers. Legislative leaders gathered outside the Capitol on Thursday, with hundreds of vendors urging the governor to raise their rates.

Legislative budget officials said discussions on how much to raise fees for childcare providers are ongoing. Follow-up calculations are also needed to complete several other spending packages, including $ 6 billion to expand broadband Internet access, $ 3.7 billion for climate resilience projects, $ 3 billion to cope with the rapidly worsening drought, and $ 1 billion US dollars for forest fire preparation, according to a summary document submitted by officials.

Newsom governor’s office and Treasury Department spokesmen did not respond immediately.

In a historic move, the budget would extend eligibility for Medi-Cal, the government’s health program for the poor, to undocumented immigrants aged 50 or older. Undocumented immigrants from low-income families are already eligible for insurance up to the age of 26. Newsom had proposed that the undocumented immigrant program from age 60 should be discontinued.

The agreement includes $ 1 billion annually for each of the next two years to help local governments pay for homelessness services and $ 2.75 billion to extend Homekey, a pandemic program Converting hotels, motels and other vacant buildings into supportive housing for homeless Californians. Newsom had aimed for a wider expansion of Homekey, which he has identified as one of its outstanding accomplishments in rapidly creating thousands of new homes.

It doesn’t include an increase in funding for public health officials, which lawmakers had been pushing for in the wake of the pandemic, despite legislative budget officials saying they would come back to the issue in the years to come.

The spending plan would bolster California’s financial footing a year after the pandemic-induced recession forced the state to close a projected deficit of $ 54 billion. Reserve accounts that officials dipped into last year would grow to more than $ 25 billion, and the state would repay $ 11 billion in deferred K-12 school funding.

California would also spend $ 8.1 billion on a second stimulus package to help ease the financial pain of the pandemic. The state already allocated $ 3.8 billion earlier this year to pay $ 600 to millions of low-income households and residents who participate in government welfare and social security programs.

As part of the budget, additional checks of $ 600 would go to middle-income households, up to $ 75,000 a year, who did not receive the first round of support. Families with children and undocumented immigrants would receive an additional $ 500, so some taxpayers could receive multiple payments from the state.

Other pandemic relief programs in the budget include an additional $ 2.6 billion to help the state meet all rent that lower-income tenants missed out on during the pandemic; $ 2 billion to clear overdue utility bills; and $ 1.5 billion in small business grants.

The budget summary also outlines agreements to gradually roll out universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds over the next four years and roll out extensive post-school and summer school programs in low-income districts, spending $ 3 billion to create more community schools with social services on Expand Campus, a college scholarship program for middle-class families, by $ 515 million and spend $ 211 million to tackle increasing gun violence, among other things.

Alexei Koseff is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff