Illegal immigrants would be allowed to purchase health insurance for themselves and their families through California’s state-run marketplace under legislation that passed both houses of the Legislature this week with bipartisan support.
Senate Bill 10 authorizes the state to apply for a waiver to a federal rule that blocks illegal immigrants from using their own money to obtain coverage through Covered California. It was one of hundreds of pieces of legislation lawmakers debated this week ahead of Friday’s deadline to cast floor votes in the chamber where the bills originated.
California already leads the nation in enacting new laws that expand immigrants’ rights. And if Brown signs SB 10, authored by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and seeks such an Affordable Care Act waiver, California would become the first state to ask for one.
“Covered California should be able to live up to its name and serve all Californians regardless of immigration status,” said Anthony Wright, director of Health Access California, which lobbied to pass the legislation. It cleared the Senate 27-8 and the Assembly 55-20.
SB 10 was one of almost 500 pieces of legislation the Senate and Assembly considered this week during several days of back-to-back, marathon floor sessions.
Other bill approved by the upper house include: Senate Bill 1143, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which limits the use of room confinement for juvenile offenders, and Senate Bill 1234, authored by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles. It would create a system that deducts a small portion of low-wage workers’ paychecks to help them save for retirement.
The state Assembly on Wednesday drew criticism from gun-rights advocates when it approved a package of five bills introduced after last year’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino that would close some loopholes in existing gun laws and place sweeping new restrictions on firearms owners.
The bills would limit the number of long guns Californians may purchase in a month, require people who use parts to make guns at home to register them with the state, ban the sale and possession of assault-style weapons with buttons that help shooters reload rapidly, and expand the reach of existing law on gun restraining orders.
“We raise our children in communities, not war zones,” said Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Marin County. “Military assault weapons have no place on our streets and gun violence must not be tolerated.”