Assembly approves technical budget fixes, extends loan repayment relief for two rural hospitals

AB 104, a bill making technical and conforming changes to the 2025 budget act and reappropriating funding for projects and grants that need extended timelines, passed the California State Assembly 53-1 on June 4.

The measure, presented by Assemblymember Gabriel, includes provisions extending loan repayment terms for two Imperial County hospitals and updates budget figures to reflect revised federal funding allocations and Department of Finance corrections. "This bill makes technical and conforming changes to the 2025 budget act and reappropriates funding for a variety of projects and grants that require extended timelines," Gabriel said on the Assembly floor.

The Assembly debate was short and largely supportive. Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez urged colleagues to back the bill, saying the loan repayment relief will help rural hospitals maintain services in communities with limited access to care. "We're keeping hospitals open. We're keeping care local," Gonzalez said.

Clerk roll call produced a tally of Ayes 53, Noes 1; the Assembly concurred in the senate amendments and the bill will proceed per the budget process. The bill’s text as discussed did not specify total reappropriated dollar amounts on the floor during the presentation; the bill also indicated small technical fixes identified by the Department of Finance.

Because AB 104 amends the budget act, parts of its implementation depend on actions by the Department of Finance and the affected agencies to allocate and administer reappropriated funds and to implement the loan repayment schedule changes for the two hospitals identified on the floor: El Centro Regional and Palo Verde.

The Assembly took up other budget-related bills the same day; AB 104 was one of several measures on the concurrence and budget package memos taken up during the session.