From inmate release to immigrant home-buying aid, California bills spur end-of-session fireworks

It’s not that California lawmakers shouldn’t aim high, but in an election year, they might avoid taking on bills that could upset voters — their own, or voters of their colleagues.

But that’s not always the case.

In the final days of this session, some Democratic lawmakers are pushing bills that seem ripe for Republican attack ads.

Take Assembly Bill 1840 by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, which would expand the state’s “Dream for All” down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers to undocumented Californians.

The bill has prompted criticism from Republican lawmakers, some of whom cited the state’s budget troubles in their opposition. It also drew “no” votes from four Democrats in the Senate Tuesday, where it ultimately passed 25-14. Wednesday, the bill passed through the Assembly on a 45-15 vote and was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Senate Republicans immediately urged Newsom to veto the bill, calling it the latest in “a long litany of taxpayer dollar giveaways…that encourage and reward illegal immigration.”

Arambula, a Fresno Democrat, said the measure is part of representing his constituents, who struggle with being able to purchase a home despite working and paying taxes. He is up for re-election, but primary results indicate he is likely to win.

“Thus far, the Dream for All program has not had the diversity that we are used to seeing within our state benefit from the program, so we need to make sure that we’re passing policies that are inclusive,” Arambula told CalMatters.

Sen. Dave Min, an Irvine Democrat running for Congress this fall, voted against the bill — not because it’s an election year, though. He also did not vote for a previous version of the program proposed in 2022.

“I believe that the problem in California with our housing is that it’s too expensive and that is a bigger problem than down payment or lack of down payment assistance,” Min said. “I believe that that program and programs like it have the effect of increasing our home prices.”

But Arambula said ensuring a social safety net for all is important because of a “broken” immigration system, election year or not.

“We have to make sure that representation means that we’re standing up for every person who’s in our district, not just those who can vote for us,” he said. “We have so many people in our state who are not able to benefit from the programs despite the fact that they pay their fair share of taxes, and are working hard and helping our economy to continue to improve.”

As of 2021, California was home to about 2.4 million undocumented immigrants, who paid about $51.4 billion in state and local taxes, according to the latest numbers available from USC’s California Immigrant Data Portal.

Even if the bill is signed into law, its impact is uncertain. The California Department of Finance told KCRA that the program has no money to give anyone — undocumented or not — because lawmakers didn’t appropriate funds for it this year.

Matt Gunderson, a Republican candidate in a congressional seat in Orange and San Diego counties, is already using the bill to attack his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mike Levin, though there’s no clear connection between Levin and the state proposal.

“Mike Levin owes voters an explanation as to whether he supports giving taxpayer dollars to help illegal immigrants buy homes,” Gunderson said in a press release Wednesday.

Arambula isn’t the only ambitious lawmaker trying to push through a hot-button bill before the Legislature adjourns Saturday.

Sen. Dave Cortese revived Senate Bill 94 from the inactive file on Aug 13 It would allow some convicted felons to appeal for shortened sentences if the crime was committed before June 5, 1990, and they have served at least 25 years. It would not include anyone convicted of first-degree murder of a police officer, of three or more people, or of a “registerable” sex offense.

Republicans blasted the bill as a “pro-criminal” measure that would retraumatize victims or family members who may have to testify again at parole hearings. Republican legislators and crime victim advocates held a rally last week at the state Capitol to oppose the bill.

Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell, has defended the bill, saying it was a “conservative, narrow bill tailored to a specific subsection of our incarcerated population who may not have received the same sentence had they been convicted in the present day.”

On Wednesday, Republicans slammed a similar bill from Berkeley Democratic Sen. Nancy Skinner that would allow inmates serving at least 15 years to seek relief if there have been any changes in sentencing laws to make them eligible for a reduced sentence.

“Rapists, drug dealers, murderers, child molesters and worse. These are the people that legislative Democrats care about, really?!” Senate GOP leader Brian Jones of San Diego said in a statement.

Aside from partisan differences, public safety bills have also been a major sticking point this year in the Legislature among Democrats, with some concerned that the pendulum is swinging back too far towards measures that disproportionately impact communities of color.

Cortese said he has been working to balance the various concerns on the bill for the last two years, and that it has been significantly amended.

“The payoff for that is not necessarily getting the bill signed into law,” he told CalMatters. “That’s the goal. But sometimes the payoff is just to get your hearing and get a vote on it, and we’re still trying to do that.”

Cortese is up for re-election this year, but like Arambula, is likely to win.

Dan Schnur, a politics professor at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine University, said it is more difficult to pass a politically risky bill just weeks before an election than in an odd-year session when there is a full year for voters to calm down or forget.

“Sometimes, a piece of legislation is time sensitive so there’s no choice but to move forward in an election year,” he said. “But it’s almost always easier to persuade a reluctant colleague to cast a controversial vote when their re-election is still off in the distance.”

In Cortese’s view, though, there’s never a perfect time for a bill.

“I think the best policy for a Legislature is just keep doing what you think is the righteous thing to do, regardless of what the polls say or what popular opinion is saying from one day to the next, because it’s very fickle,” he said.

And if it doesn’t pass this year? “I hope it’s this year,” Cortese said. “But if it’s not, we just need to keep working on it. I will do that, either way.”