The California Endowment held an introductory webinar that discussed several new policy proposals for this new year, including the proposed budget. These new policy implementations will have significant impacts on the health and overall well-being of communities across the state. 

Speaker Kayla Kitson, Senior Policy Fellow with the California Budget and Policy Center, provided an overview of the governor’s proposed 2026 budget.

Kitson focused on the governor’s approach to the new budget proposal, what California residents should expect from the budget, and the general plan regarding housing, education, and economic security. She explained that, currently, Newsom’s proposal fails to meet the needs at this current moment. 

“The budget really fails to meet the moment right now. It still generally maintains existing state services, but as we’ll see, the plan targets immigrants for additional cuts, while at the same time protecting billions of dollars in costly tax breaks for profitable corporations, as we see many Californians struggling,” said Kiston.

She then explained the assumed plan the governor has for 2026-27, stating that they plan for extremely strong revenue growth, which would see a relatively small deficit in the budget. 

“The proposal is also expected to end the next fiscal year with over 20 billion dollars in total state reserves,” explained Kitson. She further explained the health policy cuts that will target immigrant communities, as the governor holds further rollbacks.

Data suggested by Kitson’s shows that individuals will begin to see work reporting requirements for undocumented Californians, alongside denying state funded Medi-cal for immigrants.

Masih Fouladi, Executive Director at the California Immigration Policy Center (CIPC), who explained the impacts the proposed budget will have on immigrant communities. 

Fouladi discussed the various concerns that he has heard regarding the safety of individuals’ healthcare data being accessed by immigration, the racial profiling, and discrimination.

“When we talked to immigrant communities over the last year, they mentioned two priorities: safety and access to healthcare. Given the current kidnappings and what we saw in Los Angeles and Minnesota. They don’t feel safe because of the language they speak and the color of their skin,” explained Fouladi. 

He further explained that due to limited access to Medi-Cal across the state, it remains one of the most prominent priorities for immigrant communities. 

“In early January of 2026, we saw the freeze of enrollment for undocumented individuals, and later this year, we will see the rollback of full scope Medi-Cal for undocumented individuals, and next year, we will see a 30-dollar premium go into place for individuals who are on Medi-Cal,” said Fouladi. 

The proposed 2026 budget only made things like affordable healthcare unattainable, not only for undocumented individuals but also for other marginalized groups: refugees, trafficking survivors, parolees, and more. 

 Laura Sheckler, Director of Budget Advocacy and Strategic Policy at the California Primary Care Association CPCA,  closed the presentation with information on community healthcare centers.

Sheckler ended the panel discussion and explained how these policy changes, drastic in their nature, will impact immigrant communities’ safety net, now and in the foreseeable future.

Sheckler discussed how the significant tool of community healthcare centers, which serve as a clinic and provide healthcare to individuals regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status, will see changes. 

“Our members operate over 22 clinical sites and over 6 million Californians, and more than two-thirds of those patients are enrolled in Medi-Cal, and 39 percent have limited English proficiency,” said Sheckler.

Sheckler notes that the changes to the budget will significantly challenge the ability of the community health centers to provide their services and the ability to access to healthcare.