The Brief

Jets are blazing across the sky in and around Huntington Beach on the first day of the Pacific Airshow that starts Friday and continues over this weekend.

In recent years, more than half a million visitors have come out to watch eye-and-ear popping aerial demonstrations from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and other renowned daredevils.

The event has also become a political lightning rod in the increasingly fractious beach city.

Why opinions are divided

Some say the airshow promoter got a suspiciously sweet deal in a recent legal settlement with the city. Others say Huntington Beach should support the airshow, and its hometown promoter, in any way it can.

At issue are questions of political quid pro quo, transparency and how cities determine whether and how much to support special events put on by private companies.

The backstory

Fans watch the 2021 Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach.

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Michael Heiman

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Here’s a guide to what happened, why this matters for residents and what’s to come.

First the shorthand timeline:

• In October 2021, the city canceled the final day of the three-day airshow after oil began gushing from an underwater pipeline and moving toward the Huntington Beach shoreline. 

• A year later, in October 2022, airshow organizer Kevin Elliott sued the city, saying the previous year's cancellation amounted to a breach of contract. Elliott also supported the election of new city council members who promised to support the airshow. 

• Then, earlier this year, that new city council majority approved a minimum $5.4 million settlement with Elliott plus a potential additional $2 million if the city recoups money from the companies responsible for the oil spill. 

About Huntington Beach politics

The strong and distinct reactions to the deal from residents and officials in this city of 200,000 residents illustrate intensifying political divisions. While Huntington Beach is traditionally conservative, the electorate had been trending more purple in recent years. Then, in November, voters handed a solid victory to four ardently conservative candidates.

Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland, a Republican former state legislator who ran Larry Elder's 2020 presidential campaign, said the settlement was good for the city.

"Anything that brings in $70 million to our local economy, that's worth it," Strickland said, referring to an economic impact report on the 2022 airshow.

On the other side, City Councilmember Dan Kalmick, one of three Democrats on the council, said Huntington Beach taxpayers got a "horrible deal." He and the other two Democrats on the council voted against the airshow settlement.

"The settlement, as publicized, goes well beyond any exposure the city had for cancellation of one day of an airshow, which it didn't even do," Kalmick said. He said multiple authorities — state, federal and local — agreed the airshow had to be canceled so that monitoring and clean-up crews could get to work.

Kevin Elliott, organizer of the Pacific Airshow and CEO of event company Code Four.

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What the airshow organizer says

Elliott, for his part, says he regrets that the airshow has gotten wrapped up in local politics. (We should note that after we published this story, it was announced that former President Donald Trump would do a flyover as part of Friday’s airshow lineup. Trump is on his way to the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim.)

Elliot told us that, at heart, he's a "plane brain" who's especially excited this year to watch the F-22 Raptor do "things that an airplane shouldn't do, including flying backwards and all kinds of really cool stuff."

"I just want to put on a great event and I want to go back to running my business and having a good time," he told LAist. "And staying out of the newspaper. That would be my goal."

The start of the problems: The oil spill

On Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 coastal authorities got a call reporting an oil sheen off the coast of Huntington Beach. Amplify Energy, ultimately responsible for the spill, later said it found out Saturday morning about the pipeline leak from one of its offshore oil platforms.

A worker with Patriot Environmental Services stands near bags of oil collected throughout Sunday morning near the mouth of the Santa Ana River and Talbert Marsh.

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That same Saturday, the Pacific Airshow went on, as planned as local officials tried to understand the extent of the oil spill and whether and when it might reach shore. By afternoon, boaters watching the airshow from the ocean began reporting oil in the water.

City and state parks authorities closed the water at many of the area beaches to swimming and surfing.

That evening, then-Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr appeared at a news conference with the city's marine safety chief, Eric McCoy, and several other officials. Carr said a decision about whether to cancel the third and final day of the airshow would be made the following morning.

At the time, the leak was estimated to be around 126,000 gallons of oil, which McCoy said was considered a major spill by the U.S. Coast Guard. Later estimates revised that down to a much smaller amount, around 25,000 gallons.

On Sunday morning, Oct. 3, 2021, the city announced that the airshow was canceled "in order to facilitate clean-up coordination efforts, and given the potential health impacts from the ongoing situation."

Beaches were closed and remediation workers were dispatched to mop up the oil that had already washed up on the shore and into several sensitive wetland areas. The coast reeked of petroleum.

A sign keeps beachgoers off the sand.

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Jill Replogle

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Impact of the 2021 cancellation

The airshow cancellation was devastating for Elliott. "It was probably one of the worst days of my professional life," Elliott said. "What we had put together in 2021 was essentially the Super Bowl of air shows."

Plus, the previous year, 2020, the entire airshow had been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elliott, who also runs an event company called Code Four, said he lost "in the multi-millions" the day of the oil spill. "We put over $750,000 worth of catering in the trash," he said.

It was also upsetting for patrons, some of whom had spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on premium tickets for the last day of the show.

The airshow is free to watch from part of the city beach and nearby state beaches. But Elliott also sells tickets, for example, for seating on the Huntington Beach pier or for a private cabana on the beach. This year, prices range from $25 to more than $5,000 for a group.

Elliott said he eventually reimbursed everyone who had bought tickets "out of my own pocket."

The legal battle that followed

The following year, 2022, Elliott asked the city to give him a break on some of the fees and other expenses involved with putting on the airshow — as the city had in previous years. Specifically, the city had previously credited Elliott up to $110,000 in parking revenue generated over the airshow weekend toward his bill for permits, reserved parking, and extra public safety staff needed for the event.

Elliott's city bill for the 2022 airshow, according to a presentation at the time, was expected to be around $257,000.

This time, though, Elliott made a last-minute request that all of the city's parking revenue generated by the airshow be credited toward his bill, with no cap.

The city council at the time denied his request by a vote of 6 to 1 and decided to revoke the parking credit completely. City officials and staff at the time noted that Huntington Beach didn't grant this kind of credit to the organizers of any other big events in the city, including the U.S. Open of Surfing, which has drawn crowds similar in size to the airshow, although over a longer period of time.

Former Councilmember Mike Posey told LAist the parking "subsidy … was always supposed to be temporary" until Elliott could attract a corporate sponsor for the airshow. A smaller, previous iteration of the airshow, before Elliott took it over, was sponsored by Swiss watchmaker Breitling.

But Elliott saw the city's decision to revoke the parking subsidy as the latest in a series of efforts, starting with the 2021 post-oil spill cancellation, to shut the airshow down.

The following month, Elliott sued the city and then-Mayor Carr.

In his complaint, he alleged the 2021 cancellation amounted to a breach of contract and damaged the airshow's reputation. He also claimed that subsequent actions taken by Carr and the city, including removing the parking subsidy, were retaliation for Elliott raising concerns about the cancellation.

Elliott told LAist he felt slighted after investing heavily in the airshow to try and make it profitable and to bring tourism benefits to the city.

"I wish that the city had come forth and said, 'Hey, you've been a great partner to the city, you're a local kid … we understand that you've been damaged by this and we want to try to do the right thing.' But instead they basically told me to pound sand and left me with no choice but to protect my interests."

Initially, the city tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, claiming it had no factual basis. But then it seemed to do an abrupt about-face, settling with Elliott for at least $5.4 million, to be paid out incrementally through January 2029. What changed?

How the air show became a hot-button campaign issue

A seat on the Huntington Beach city council is generally considered a non-partisan position — a candidate's political party is not listed on the ballot. But Huntington Beach had traditionally had a conservative-leaning council. That changed after the 2020 election, but not the way you might think.

Tito Ortiz, a mixed martial arts fighter and staunch conservative, won a seat on the council in 2020 and then resigned six months later. In his place, the council appointed left-leaning attorney Rhonda Bolton, giving Huntington Beach's city government a majority Democrat block.

They passed pro-housing measures and voted to fly the Pride flag outside city hall every June — with the support of the council's moderate Republicans. A backlash ensued.

A group of residents attempted to recall six of the seven council members in 2021. But the effort failed to make it to the ballot. They set their sights on the 2022 general election.

The Lincoln Club and several other conservative political action committees coalesced around a slate of four conservative council candidates — Strickland, Casey McKeon, Pat Burns and Gracey Van Der Mark — dubbed by supporters the "Fab 4," plus city attorney Michael Gates, who was running for re-election. (Huntington Beach is one of the few cities in California where voters elect their city attorney.)

They paid for mailers and signs saying the candidates would "save" Huntington Beach — and "save" the airshow.

On Oct. 27, 2022, the candidates held a "victory rally" at the Huntington Beach pier. Elliott's company, Code Four, provided the sound and some of the signage for the rally, he said.

Elliott said the work was "pretty simple" and cost him less than the $1,089 that the four city council candidates claimed as in-kind contributions in campaign finance disclosures.

Elliott did not donate money directly to any of the four council candidates or city attorney Gates. (His company Code Four did give money, the maximum $4,900 allowed, to the 2022 winning campaigns of state Republican state legislators Diane Dixon and Janet Nguyen.)

"Franky, I supported them as much as I could without creating any kind of a conflict of interest for them," Elliott said of the council candidates. "Because, you know, they campaigned on saving the air show and I've invested millions and millions of dollars in saving this air show for the city, so our interests were pretty aligned in that regard."

But looking back — post-election and post-airshow settlement — some political opponents and civic watchdogs see the rally and Elliott's work on it as part of a suspicious pattern.

"I have substantial questions about the relationship between the four newly elected council members, the city attorney and Elliott," said Kalmick, one of the liberal council members.

Kalmick also pointed to several photos from the 2022 airshow posted to Facebook showing Elliott and his wife posing on the beach with the "Fab 4" candidates. (Elliott said he regularly invites candidates, council members and many others to the show, "Democrats, Republicans, my mom's friends, you know, my friends that were my teachers in the first grade.")

All four council candidates and city attorney Gates won their election in November.

The settlement and concerns about quid pro quo

In March 2023, Gates, the city attorney, filed a request in Orange County Superior Court to have Elliott's airshow cancellation lawsuit dismissed. Gates and deputy city attorney Lauren Rose argued that the city was "legally permitted to cancel the Airshow due to unforeseen circumstances rendering performance impossible due to health and safety reasons."

They also said this about Elliott's claim that revoking the parking subsidy was retaliation: "it is speculative and unsubstantiated how this was in any way connected to [Elliott's] negative comments regarding the City's reaction to the unexpected and disastrous oil spill."

But less than two months later, Gates, Elliott, Strickland and two of the other conservative council members held a news conference announcing a settlement. "Ladies and gentlemen, we saved the airshow," Strickland said to applause.

"The previous city council was not business-friendly and not airshow-friendly," he went on. "The Fab 4 …saved the airshow by putting the hard work and leadership required to solve this conflict."

In dollars, what they put in is $4,999,999 of city funds spread out over seven years, with the first payment of $1,999,000 due before July 31.

The city also agreed to:

• Forfeit $194,945 in fees still owed by Elliott for the 2021 airshow.
• Refund him $149,200 from the 2022 airshow, when the city council declined to give him the parking subsidy. 
• Reinstate the parking subsidy, starting at a minimum, rather than maximum, of $110,000. Plus, waive parking fees for up to 600 spaces for airshow setup and takedown.
• Pay Elliott up to an additional $2 million of any money the city recovers from the oil companies responsible for the 2021 spill. 

Those are the details in the settlement summary released to the public. Gates has declined to make the full settlement public, raising questions about what else the city may have agreed to.

A legal push for more transparency

Gina Clayton-Tarvin, a local school board member and former city council candidate, has sued Gates under state public records law in an effort to get the full settlement released.

Gates told LAist earlier this year that he hasn't released the full settlement agreement because there's still pending litigation in the airshow saga and doing so could compromise the city's position in that litigation. "But if a judge were to order the release of [the settlement], I'm happy to release it," Gates said.

Both sides of the settlement say it was a tough negotiation and neither side got everything they wanted. "We get a lot more as a city than we're giving out," Strickland said. "It's not even a close call."

Earlier this year, a former Huntington Beach mayor and a former planning commissioner tried to intervene to halt the settlement agreement. Thus far, they haven't been successful, although Lee Fink, a lawyer working with them, has said they haven't given up.

At the same time, Elliott hasn't dropped his lawsuit against former Mayor Carr for her role in canceling the 2021 airshow. In his complaint, he said Carr "unilaterally" canceled the airshow because of her personal feelings towards Elliott, and in order to garner media attention to “further her own political career.”

Carr told LAist earlier this year that the claim was bogus. "He's created a completely fantastic tale of somehow I unilaterally canceled the air show," she said. "As the mayor of Huntington Beach, you do not have the authority to issue permits, consequently, you don't have the authority to cancel permits."

She said she didn't understand why the city would offer millions to settle what she called "an easily dismissible lawsuit." Then she corrected herself.

"Well, I do understand why the new council majority would settle. I mean, [Elliott] is their friend, their ally," Carr said. "To me, it smacks of corruption, definitely feels like a pay to play."

What about the oil company responsible for the spill that caused the 2021 airshow to be canceled? Amplify Energy recently settled a $45 million class action lawsuit with impacted businesses and property owners.

Elliott's company was not part of that settlement, but he said he's been "in very intensive pre-litigation settlement discussions" with the company.

The city of Huntington Beach also plans to pursue money from Amplify. How much could come back to city coffers after the Pacific Airshow gets its $2 million cut is unknown.

Fink, the lawyer, said his clients would likely be enjoying the airshow this weekend. "No one’s against the Airshow," he wrote in an email. "The Airshow will go on regardless of the litigation. But people are against a $7 Million giveaway to a political supporter under the guise of a settlement agreement in a frivolous case."

At Las Siete Regiones de Oaxaca in Pico Union, owner Lidia Young hears from customers that gas prices are playing a major factor in whether they can eat at her restaurant.

“It’s becoming very difficult because I have customers who come from far away, and with the increase in gas prices, they’re telling me they won’t be coming here anymore,” Young said, who has operated the business for about 30 years.

“Yesterday, some customers told us it would cost them more to drive here than to pay for the food,” she said Monday. 

It’s a reality that many small business owners are grappling with, as gas prices react to the war in Iran.

Gas prices surged across the country over the last week, with the average price spiking 51 cents, according to data compiled by GasBuddy. In L.A. County, the average price stood at $5.25 per gallon as of Monday, a dollar more than a month ago, AAA reported, and experts said to expect more volatility as the United State’s and Israel’s deadly war with Iran continues.

Between attacks on oil facilities, slowing of traffic in a key Middle East shipping route and general uncertainty, the price of oil jumped to over $100 per barrel this weekend for the first time since the pandemic

Some states could see prices go up another 20 to 50 cents this week, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement on Monday.

“While the situation remains highly fluid, consumers are already beginning to feel the impact as energy markets adjust to this sudden escalation,” he said.

By late Monday, the price of oil dropped back down to under $90 after President Donald Trump told CBS News the war is “very complete, pretty much.”

Trump later added he might remove sanctions on oil-producing countries — potentially Russia, though he did not specify — to keep oil prices from rising again. He also claimed the war in Iran was having a limited effect on gas in the U.S., in spite of prices jumping at pumps across the country.

“We have so much oil,” he said at a press conference Monday night. “We have Venezuela now as our new partner.”

At Un Solo Sol Kitchen, owner Carlos Ortez drives from Boyle Heights to about seven different suppliers every week for produce and ingredients for his vegan dishes. 

On Tuesday, he plans to drive to Glendale to purchase Armenian flatbread, known as lavash, as well as vegetables at Canto Food Company in downtown L.A. and grains at Whole Foods.

At Las Siete Regiones de Oaxaca in Pico Union, owner Lidia Young hears from customers that gas prices are playing a major factor in whether they can eat at her restaurant.

“Last week it wasn’t as bad as I expect it to be this time,” Ortez said on Monday. Even though Ortez drives an electric vehicle, he worries about the hit to his electric bill.

In Pico Union, Isabel Treminio has been selling cleaning supplies, snacks and toys at her small market Variedades Todito for about 25 years. She’s also worried about what the increase in gas prices means for her business.

“Yes, it affects us when gas prices go up because when gas goes up, everything else goes up too,” she said.

“Since we’re a small business, we can’t afford to keep our prices lower. Customers come in and tell us that everything is more expensive, and they’re not buying as much. Right now, it’s getting worse than in other times.”

At Las Siete Regiones de Oaxaca in Pico Union, owner Lidia Young hears from customers that gas prices are playing a major factor in whether they can eat at her restaurant.

Mariachis are also feeling the pinch at the pump as they travel for their gigs.

“We continue to charge the same while the costs for everything else rises,” said Joel Soto, a musician at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. 

For Teodoro Cuevas, another mariachi, the increase in gas prices impacts him because he’s retired and on a fixed income. The spike in gas prices coincides with a lack of work, Cuevas said. 

“You feel everything much more when you’re on [fixed] income,” he said. 

The bigger hit to small businesses may come when higher fuel prices affect imported ingredients, like at Las Siete Regiones de Oaxaca in Pico Union. Young, the restaurant owner, relies on many ingredients outside of a simple car ride.

“I also bring certain ingredients from Oaxaca, like quesillo, tlayudas, mole and chapulines,” Young said. “A plane flies them from Oaxaca to Tijuana, and then someone brings them to me by truck. With the higher gas prices, it will definitely cost me more.”

The post Gas prices are surging, and small business owners in LA are already feeling it appeared first on LA Local.

The Trump administration said this will be the most intense day of strikes on Iran, while Israel intensified its attacks in Lebanon, as the war in the Middle East entered its 11th day.

"Today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a news conference on Tuesday. He said the Pentagon was giving the president "maximum options," and that the war will not be "endless."

It came a day after President Donald Trump touted major success but sent mixed signals on whether the fighting was almost over.

Iran launched drones and rockets across the Gulf region on Tuesday, while Israel's military said it conducted strikes against the financial infrastructure of the Iran-backed organization Hezbollah in Lebanon.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Iran, nearly 500 in Lebanon and 12 people in Israel, according to figures from Iranian and Lebanese health officials and Israeli authorities. Seven U.S. soldiers have died in the war so far, the Pentagon says.

Here's what to know about the latest developments in the conflict.

To jump to specific areas of coverage, use the links below:

Trump on war's end | Iran's reaction | Israel strikes Hezbollah | Iranian strikes | Iran-backed militia in Iraq | Turkey NATO air defenses | Trump's reaction on Iran's new leader | Iran women soccer team

Trump sends mixed signals on when the war will end

In a phone call with CBS News Monday, President Trump said, "I think the war is very complete, pretty much." He said Iran's military capabilities were wiped out.

At a later press conference, Trump's first since the war began, he said the U.S. was "achieving major strides toward completing our military objective" and warned Iran against disrupting global energy supplies.

But at a separate event with Republican lawmakers in Miami, he struck a more open-ended tone. "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough," he said. "We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long running danger once and for all."

Trump also intensified his warnings about the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a post on social media late Monday that if Iran does anything to stop oil shipments from flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. would respond "TWENTY TIMES HARDER" than it has so far.

Trump's warning came as markets went into shock over fears of supply disruptions. The price of oil briefly hit nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, then fell back after Trump suggested the war might end soon.

— Rebecca Rosman

Iran says it will decide when the war ends

In an apparent response to President Trump's remarks, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that Iran, not the U.S., would have the final say on the end of the war.

"Iran will determine when the war ends," Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini told Iranian state media.

Sardar Shekarchi, a spokesperson for Iran's armed forces, called Trump "the delusional president."

In an interview with PBS Newshour on Monday, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said he did not believe negotiating with the United States would "be on the table" again.

"We have a very bitter experience of talking with Americans," he said. He pointed out indirect nuclear talks were underway last June when the U.S. attacked Iran, and negotiations had resumed in February when the U.S. attacked again.

Israel strikes more Hezbollah targets; Lebanon's president calls for direct talks

Israel said it carried out a new wave of strikes in Lebanon, targeting assets and storage facilities tied to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, which is tied to the militant group Hezbollah. The Israeli military said the organization finances weapons purchases and provides salaries for Hezbollah.

Israel has been striking southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, both Hezbollah strongholds, since the Iranian-backed group launched rockets into northern Israel last week.

Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, said Tuesday that Lebanon was ready to enter direct talks with Israel to put an end to the fighting there.

An official briefed on the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic affairs, told NPR that Israel saw positive signs from the Lebanese government in its approach to Hezbollah, but that the war would continue.

Israel and Lebanon last held direct negotiations in early December, over securing the southern Lebanese border.

— Hadeel Al-Shalchi

Iran continues strikes on neighboring Gulf countries

Iran's missile and drone attacks continued across the Gulf on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia's defense ministry said it intercepted and destroyed two drones over the kingdom's oil-rich eastern region.

Kuwait's National Guard, meanwhile, said it downed six drones in areas north and south of the country.

The United Arab Emirates also condemned what it called a drone attack targeting its consulate general in Iraq's Kurdistan region, saying it caused material damage but no injuries.

Iraq says airstrike on Iran-linked militia killed five

Iraq's military said an airstrike killed at least five members of an Iran-linked militia in the city of Kirkuk, located near the border with Iran.

It wasn't immediately clear who was behind the strikes.

NATO boosts Turkey's air defenses

Turkey's Defense Ministry said that a U.S. Patriot air defense system was deployed to its Malatya province as NATO takes steps to boost Turkey's air defense amid missile threats from Iran.

Malatya is home to the Kurecik NATO radar base, which helped identify an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Turkey over the past week.

Iran has denied explicitly targeting Turkey.

— Durrie Bouscaren

Trump "disappointed" with new supreme leader pick, won't say if he will be targeted

Trump said Monday he was "disappointed" that Iran had named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as its new supreme leader, arguing it would mean "more of the same problem" for the country.

Asked whether the new leader had "a target on his back," Trump said it would be "inappropriate" to comment.

In an interview with CNN Monday, Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, declined to rule out assassination plans targeting Khamenei, saying Israel would not disclose operational steps in advance.

"We never in a war declare what will be our operational steps or actions for that kind of thing," Sa'ar told CNN. "You will have to wait and see."

Iranian women's soccer players granted humanitarian visas in Australia

Australia has granted humanitarian visas to five members of Iran's women's soccer team, after they sought protection over fears of reprisals for refusing to sing Iran's national anthem during a match. The women, who were visiting Australia for a tournament when the war broke out, were later labeled "traitors" on Iranian state television, fueling concerns about their safety if they returned home.

The announcement came after calls from rights groups in Australia and by President Trump for the Australian government to help the women.

On Tuesday, Australian police said five of the women were transferred "to a safe location" after they made asylum requests.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the other 21 team members would be returning to Iran.

Rebecca Rosman contributed to this report from Paris, Hadeel Al-Shalchi from Beirut and Durrie Bouscaren contributed from Istanbul.
Copyright 2026 NPR

It's the last day of a cool front before a heatwave takes over Southern California for the next few days.

Temperatures across the region will range from 65 to 72 degrees.

In Coachella Valley, it will be warmer with highs from 79 to 84 degrees.

Meanwhile, wind advisories will go into effect around 5 p.m. for the 5 Freeway corridor, western Antelope Valley foothills, Ventura County mountains and parts of the Santa Barbara County mountains. Wind gusts could reach up to 45 mph.

Forecasters say windy conditions could lead to fallen tree limbs and possibly power outages.

Only two Democratic lawmakers voted against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal last year curtailing healthcare for undocumented immigrants. Sen. Maria Elena Durazo was one them.

Now, Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles, is proposing legislation that would reverse many of those immigrant healthcare cuts and reinstate Medi-Cal eligibility for all income-qualifying residents regardless of citizenship.

Senate Bill 1422 would ensure that all immigrant adults age 19 and older could enroll in Medi-Cal. It would not reverse limits placed on dental benefits that last year’s state budget included, nor would it eliminate the $30 monthly premium required of the same population starting in July 2027. The state budget last year did not cut benefits for children without legal status.

“We are no healthier as a community than the person least able to access care. When we accept a two-tier healthcare system, we borrow trouble,” Durazo said Monday.

Durazo argues that immigrants without legal status contribute billions in taxes each year and many of them now cannot benefit from programs those dollars support. The state spends about $12 billion annually on immigrant health care.

A shrinking budget, a growing fight

Whether Newsom will sign such a measure is unclear but seemingly unlikely. Grappling with a deficit for the fourth straight year — even as revenue grows — Newsom has already proposed cuts to other programs. Marissa Saldivar, a spokesperson for the governor, said his office would not comment on Durazo’s legislation.

His January budget proposal made few changes to the state’s Medi-Cal program, which enrolls more than 14 million Californians, but it underscored the ongoing fiscal challenges. One major threat comes from President Donald Trump’s federal tax reform package, which imposed new limits on the provider taxes that nearly every state uses to support their low-income healthcare programs. California’s tax on health insurers is particularly large, generating about $7 billion annually for the general fund — a figure that the state finance department estimates will decrease to about $6 million next year.

Medi-Cal spending has nearly doubled to $200 billion during Newsom’s two terms, adding to the state’s structural deficit, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. That amount includes about $119 billion in federal dollars.

Both Democrats and Republicans criticize Newsom’s handling of healthcare for immigrants without legal status. Republicans blame Newsom’s gradual expansion of Medi-Cal eligibility to immigrants for the program’s growing costs. Democrats are angry he partially reversed course, and some also take issue with his most recent budget proposal, which they say would needlessly extend some federal Medicaid cuts.

Assemblymember Mia Bonta, a Democrat from Oakland, has introduced a bill that would bar the state from imposing federal work requirements on enrollees whose healthcare is paid for solely with state funds, a group that includes immigrants without legal status. State officials estimate work requirements will cause roughly 2 million Californians to lose Medi-Cal largely due to administrative hurdles.

The fight over healthcare spending has become one of the defining issues heading into this fall’s elections.

The state’s largest healthcare labor union is pushing a billionaire’s tax to raise revenue for healthcare, a measure that has drawn opposition from Silicon Valley’s wealthy elite and divided state Democrats. Meanwhile, party leaders are also trying to unseat a number of vulnerable congressional Republicans, including Rep. David Valadao whose Central Valley district has the highest share of Medicaid recipients in the country.