Senate Subcommittee Approves Budget Package, Preserves Key Health and Social Services

Senate Budget Subcommittee 3 approved a broad set of staff recommendations Tuesday that reject many of the cuts proposed in the governor's May revision and preserve funding for a range of health, long-term care and food-security programs.

The subcommittee, meeting as part of the California State Senate budget process, voted to approve the staff recommendations after an hour of public comment from health providers, advocacy groups and county officials. Chair (unnamed) opened the hearing by thanking public commenters and staff, saying, "This has been an extremely difficult budget year," and noting that public input had been "instrumental and [a] very critical part of the entire budget process."

Why it matters: The votes keep intact funding for services relied on by seniors, people with disabilities, low-income families and immigrant communities while rejecting several of the governor's proposed reductions. The package preserves Medi'Cal access for most current enrollees, rejects proposed cuts to in-home supportive services (IHSS) overtime and travel time caps, restores grant funding for behavioral-health and community programs, and directs funding to food-security initiatives.

What the subcommittee approved and preserved

- Health coverage: Members emphasized that the budget would not disenroll people currently covered by Medi'Cal. The subcommittee rejected several of the May revision's deeper cuts, while adopting a more limited package of changes affecting enrollment for some immigrants that reduces the proposed premium amounts and delays implementation. Senator Scott Wiener, the motion's mover, summarized the effort, saying the budget "scaled back significantly the governor's proposal around undocumented access to Medi'Cal," and that the package delays some changes and reduces premiums.

- Long-term care and IHSS: The subcommittee rejected proposals to cap IHSS providers at 50 hours and preserved overtime and travel-hour funding that advocates said is essential for continuity of care.

- Asset limit: The committee supported restoring the Medi'Cal asset limit for seniors and people with disabilities to $130,000, reversing a lower limit proposed in earlier revisions.

- Food and basic needs: The package restores $52,000,000 for the CalFood program and supports $36,000,000 for the CalFresh fruit-and-vegetable pilot, and allocates $7,400,000 to diaper-bank operations. Kelly Longo Flores, state policy representative for the California Association of Food Banks, thanked the subcommittee "for fully funding CalFood at $52,000,000," saying the investment will help food banks respond to record need.

- Behavioral and community programs: The subcommittee restored funding for the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) and the Mental Health Wellness Act grants. Brenda Greilish, executive director of the Commission for Behavioral Health, thanked lawmakers for the proposed restoration of $20,000,000 for Mental Health Wellness Act grants and an additional $10,000,000 focused on youth substance-use services.

- Provider payment and clinics: The subcommittee delayed certain community clinic reimbursement reductions and postponed cuts to Prop 56 supplemental payments for dentists until later years, providing additional time for negotiations.

Public comment and stakeholder concerns

More than 60 organizations and dozens of individual residents spoke during the public-comment period. Speakers praised the committee for rejecting many proposed cuts, but several urged more extensive protections for immigrants and stronger revenue solutions.

Diana Douglas of Health Access California said the budget remains "profoundly disappointed" in its use of immigration status to determine access to care and warned that premiums, even reduced ones, could cause people to drop coverage. Other speakers representing child-care providers, county health officials, foster-family agencies, home-health providers and disability advocates urged continued attention to provider rates, child-care reimbursement, foster-family funding and protections for vulnerable populations.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve staff recommendations for a large batch of items (items listed aloud by staff): Mover: Senator Scott Wiener. Outcome: approved. (Roll call recorded as "Aye" by multiple members; chair announced a tally during the hearing.)

- Additional motions to approve remaining items on the agenda: Mover: Senator Scott Wiener. Outcome: approved.

(Committee staff presented the motions by item number on the record and the subcommittee approved the staff recommendations for the full list as read into the record.)

What the votes did not do

The subcommittee did not adopt all of the governor's May revision proposals; it largely rejected the deepest cuts and instead adopted a package of modifications that preserved core services while carving out limited, time-delayed changes for certain new enrollees and specific populations. The record shows the subcommittee left implementation details and certain trailer-bill language to ongoing negotiations with the Legislature and the governor's office.

What to watch next

The subcommittee's actions move the Legislature closer to a final state budget, but the package remains subject to negotiations with the governor and, in some cases, future trailer-bill language and implementation details. Advocates and county officials told the subcommittee they will continue to press for higher provider rates, full protections for immigrant enrollees and additional revenue measures to avoid future cuts.

Ending note: Public commenters repeatedly urged the Legislature to consider revenue options rather than balancing the budget with cuts to health, housing and long-term care programs; several organizations also asked the Legislature to restore additional immigrant-focused funding requests that they said were not fully met by the subcommittee's package.