- yesterday
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) held a press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Make sure everybody's on before we get started. Give it another second.
00:09That's good. So just wanted to thank everybody for taking a little bit of time on an extraordinarily
00:15busy Friday with so much going on, so much that is being advanced, not just in Washington, D.C.,
00:24but all across the globe. But I really wanted to circle back on such a foundational and profound
00:31and consequential decision that's about to be made by the United States Senate and advanced
00:37back to the House of Representatives as early as next week. And I wanted to underscore how
00:45consequential, how profoundly meaningful this big, beautiful betrayal, this bill that
00:58President Donald Trump is advancing in Congress. We wanted to paint a picture of the betrayal
01:05and put a perspective here in the state of California at how consequential it is.
01:11I will set out the numerics. I'll give you a sense of the estimated impacts on the state
01:20specifically. But I'm pleased and blessed to be joined by Director Boss and by Secretary
01:26Johnson, who will start to paint a human face and put a human face on the impacts of these
01:33devastating health care cuts that likely will be landing on the president's desk very, very
01:41shortly. Let's just quickly go over some of the top lines on the bill. You see a lot of
01:46different estimates out there, and we've all been struggling, I think, with trying to understand
01:49the magnitude of what the experts, quote unquote, are estimating to be the actual cuts to Medicaid
01:57coverage all across the United States. You can just see three just random examples, the Congressional
02:02Budget Office. This is, again, specific national impacts to Medicaid coverage loss alone. This
02:08is not the totality of the bill in terms of health care coverage reductions, but it gives
02:15you a sense of the Medicaid specifically. You see the Urban Institute has a different number
02:19and a substantially higher number by the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, some 14.4 million
02:25Americans. So we've been analyzing all of that. We've been reviewing the details of the House-passed
02:31bill, the amendments, the birdbath, as it's referred to as it relates to what's in, what's out on the
02:40Senate bill. This is a snapshot of what we know today and what we anticipate will be happening tomorrow
02:46and over the weekend. Up to three point four million Californians are at risk of losing health coverage
02:54specific to the Medicaid and under our Medi-Cal system, specific to the bill. Some twenty eight point four
03:03billion dollars of federal funding is at risk that's associated with those losses. So three point four
03:09million. And I remind folks in California, we have about 15 million people on Medi-Cal. It's a substantial
03:16number that are at risk of losing health coverage. Here's the breakdown. About three million people, we
03:23estimate, will be directly impacted by the work requirement and the paperwork. And I should note the
03:29paperwork, that's an actual PDF example of the paperwork that people will have to submit to for their
03:37eligibility checks. And that impact every six months, we think, will reduce the number of people getting health
03:43coverage by four hundred thousand. The paperwork you see there is thirty six pages long, just gives you an
03:51example or at least a perspective, I hope, on the magnitude of what that paperwork means. There's a hassle
03:57factor and that's exactly what they're counting on to score the savings, to score the cuts in terms of these new
04:06requirements. So the work requirement. We estimate that about five point one million people would be subject
04:13to these new rules, of which a third likely will have met. And this is based upon our assessment and analysis
04:22based on our data runs, that about a third of five point one million people, five point one million of the
04:2815 million that will be subject to the new requirements under the big, beautiful betrayal. And a third of
04:36them will likely, and this is an estimate, meet that work requirement, which is 80 hours income and wage levels.
04:46The other two thirds will go through the labyrinth of manual verification, et cetera. And we did some very
04:56comprehensive analysis based upon some real world examples. I'll give you two specific examples. In Arkansas
05:04and New Hampshire, as it relates to the self verification and the manual process. And we came up with numerics
05:10based upon the number of people that dropped out of their program when they instituted those verification
05:17procedures. And we blended that and came up with a percentage that ultimately led to the number you see on the
05:24screen. And if it, forgive me for confusing you, but we really dive deep and really tried to stress test our
05:34estimates. And we feel very confident that up to 3.4 million people will lose their coverage if this bill passes
05:42under the Medicaid system, just in the state of California alone. But that is not it. I want to remind you of the monthly
05:50premium increases. Millions of people will also face under Covered California. I'll also remind you, Covered California
05:56is not a general fund backed program. It's not a state program in that respect. Covered California, however, we'll see
06:03premium increases for roughly 2 million recipients. And we estimate on that basis that as many as 600,000 additional people will drop that
06:17coverage. So 3.4 million on the Medicaid side under our Medi-Cal system, an additional 600,000, 4 million people
06:27likely to lose health coverage, increasing uncompensated care, moving from one of the nation leading low uninsured rates,
06:38we're about 6.4% currently, one of the nation's leaders in terms of health care coverage and support. And to see those numbers
06:47increase by as much as 4 million people. Now, we can talk a little bit about what that means. But no part of our state, and for that
06:57matter, across the United States, or other parts of our country will be more impacted than the impact of this betrayal
07:06on rural communities. And I don't think it's an exaggeration to say devastating rural communities.
07:13And let me back that up by providing you just some enrollment data. You can see here the Medi-Cal enrollment by
07:21county. This is a percentage of total population. Upwards of 64% of some jurisdictions, some counties in the
07:29state of California, 64% of all of the residents of those counties are on Medi-Cal, on national Medicaid.
07:38Just to put it in perspective, who this really hurts. I'll remind some of you that may recall, it wasn't that long ago,
07:46it was a few years back, in an effort to address the crisis for rural hospitals. We initiated a program in partnership with the
07:56legislature that funded, this was a state loan program, that funded because the crisis already in providing care in rural
08:07hospitals, provided to 16 hospitals, provided to 16 hospitals in these 14 counties, $300 million in state loans.
08:17I think it's incredibly important to highlight, we had 3x over $900 million of applications to seek the $300 million in loans.
08:26That's how distressed our rural hospitals are today. Imagine in counties that have 64% of their population on
08:38Medi-Cal, like counties that are represented by people like Representative Valadeo, who supported,
08:46enthusiastically supported these unprecedented healthcare cuts, the most significant healthcare cuts in American history,
08:54industry who enthusiastically embraced that bill and voted for it. When 64% of his own population will be
09:03devastated and impacted, that representative whose district abuts this healthcare district alone that received that
09:13distressed loan. Imagine the impacts to this healthcare district that is adjacent to that same representative's district or the
09:23district, the district by this representative, Keeley, Ridgecrest, adjacent to his district in Kern County, 54% of the
09:32population in that county on Medi-Cal. What's going to happen to Ridgecrest Regional Hospital? They're already on the
09:41ropes. They're already struggling. That same representative, Keeley, enthusiastically supporting, gutting this program, cutting
09:50these funds that will disproportionately impact these hospitals that many of his constituents, again, adjacent to his district are
09:59benefiting from. Representative McClintock, the same, up there in John Fremont Healthcare Hospital District. So this is serious. The betrayal, the big,
10:09beautiful betrayal, gutting an already vulnerable system where $300 million of distressed loans the state had put up before this
10:20big, beautiful betrayal was promoted. And you have representatives in these very districts promoting this betrayal, supporting these
10:30devastating cuts, gutting networks of providers, the healthcare industries, which will lead to thousands, hundreds of thousands of
10:39jobs lost. About two-thirds of those, a report that was just done by UC Berkeley, about two-thirds of those 217,000 jobs they
10:48estimate will be lost specific to the healthcare sector in skilled nursing homes, board and care, hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, nurses, jobs lost,
10:58unemployment going up. Another third of those, people providing food and providing another contract and support for the healthcare
11:09delivery system. So devastating cuts, devastating impacts on hospitals, providers, healthcare coverage, uncompensated care, people
11:19struggling, suffering, premiums going up for close to 2 million people, hundreds of thousands of people that can't pay for those
11:27premiums. Now losing coverage completely under the Obamacare under covered California and an increase of
11:36unemployment. That's what the Trump administration is promoting and that's what Republicans in Congress representing
11:43many of these districts have already supported. And by the way, I referenced that $28 billion impact. That doesn't include a
11:52potential additional $4.3 billion penalty because California chooses to use its own money as the federal
12:01government uses our money, over $80 billion that we provide more to the federal government than we receive for the
12:08federal government. As they cut what comes back to our state, they want to cut an additional $4.3 billion because we want to
12:18provide for mixed status families, provide for those that contribute over $8.5 billion a year in tax revenue just to the state alone,
12:27people that are out there working the fields, that are working hard every single day, not just in the fields, but many of them
12:35working in boardrooms and classrooms and working to take care of our seniors, many working in those same hospitals that they want to cut. So that is an
12:44additional $4.3 billion penalty that they're promoting. I'll remind you as well, $305 million just to gut the funding for
12:53cancer screenings, for contraception, for STI testing, to gut Planned Parenthood funding. That's in the bill, $305 million. State puts out
13:03about $150 million. They would remove all, eliminate all of that funding. That's what these House
13:12of Representatives already adopted and what the Senate is proposing to adopt. Never in my lifetime, in our
13:21lifetimes, have we seen these kinds of cuts, the magnitude that will be profound in terms of the impacts on this
13:30state, the quality of people's lives and their livelihoods. And I haven't even gotten to slashing food
13:38assistance. I mean, this is, where's the morality to the least of us? I'm old enough to remember what Father
13:46Cause taught me, what the Bible teaches all of us, Speaker Johnson. 735,000 Americans at risk of losing the access to
13:57food, to nutrition programs, educational assistance grants. They're looking to charge penalties up to 25%
14:05cost share in states like California. Big, beautiful betrayal. That's what's being promoted to do what?
14:15To do this, to provide tax cuts to people who aren't even asking for them and don't even need them.
14:23Disproportionately skewed to the wealthiest among us. You think I'm exaggerating? Take a look at the
14:29CBO's own analysis. $1.1 trillion of tax cuts for people making over half a million dollars a year.
14:35How do you pay for that? Well, they don't even pay for it, but they get close. You gut food assistance to
14:43poor people. You gut basic medical care, preventative care to folks. $715 billion just in the Medicaid
14:53cuts. That didn't even get you to a trillion dollars. And you make up the rest by selling
14:57out our kids and grandkids, by financing deficit and debts to then provide even additional dollars
15:03to folks, millionaires, not just billionaires. Again, that aren't asking and don't need these tax cuts
15:11while raising taxes on low income Americans. It's a fact. Read your own bill. They increase tax on folks.
15:21Now the $30,000, their taxes start going up in 2029. So that's the state of play with this bill that's being promoted.
15:33Forgive the intensity, but I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime. This is devastating.
15:41And I know that word is often, well, it's overused in this line of work. But this is a, in many ways,
15:51an understatement of how reckless and cruel and damaging this is to millions and millions of people
16:00all across this country, but more than any other state here in California. And so my state of mind is
16:09resolved to continue to call this out. People need to make phone calls, call their representatives.
16:17How shameful. I don't know how these people can walk their districts. How shameful it is
16:23for these representatives, these Keely types and Valadao to walk their districts and to betray
16:31their own voters like this. For Donald Trump to anyway, say, perform, say it's not going to impact or hurt anyone
16:37like he did today when he lied about that today. What a shame, what a disgrace that someone could actually assert that,
16:45let alone perhaps even believe it. Someone happens to be in this case, the president of the United States.
16:52So we, we're going to continue to do what we can to activate. Grateful. We have remarkable leaders
17:00and our two U.S. senators and, and of course, the congressional delegation, Democratic congressional delegation.
17:06Uh, they'll do their best. Uh, but, uh, we, we, we, we've got a brace for something likes of which, uh, we, uh, in our worst,
17:16worst case scenario could have never imagined. Uh, that, uh, is arguably just a week or so away.
17:22With that, forgive the long-windedness. Um, I'm blessed to have our secretary, uh, Elvin Herman Services, uh,
17:30Secretary Johnson amplify and perhaps fill in, uh, some details that I omitted.
17:36Thank you so much, Governor, and appreciate the opportunity to, to do that amplification.
17:41Just to leave off, you left with, uh, the CalFresh program. This is California's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
17:48Uh, we're talking about 5.5 million low-income individuals in California,
17:543.3 million households accessing food. They need to thrive.
17:59The proposals result, result in a loss of that access.
18:02Benefit levels that will not keep up with the ever-increasing cost of food,
18:06will limit access to nutrition education services that support healthier food choices.
18:11Uh, as you said, these proposed cuts, these are not abstract.
18:15These are immediate threats to the well-being of millions of Californians and will impact all of us.
18:21Uh, Governor, the Governor just referenced, uh, one of the major drivers of the loss of benefits
18:26is the proposed implementation of work requirements for individuals participating in both CalFresh and in Medi-Cal.
18:33This isn't about the value of work. These are proposals that are intentional sets of requirements
18:40aimed to increase the burden of those accessing health care and food and nutrition supports
18:46so that they no longer have this access.
18:48We believe in the value of work and community engagement and, in fact,
18:51have a successful employment and training program embedded into our CalFresh program today,
18:56which includes strategies that address the barriers individuals experiencing poverty may be facing and engaging in work.
19:03Work requirements have appeal because they align with the widely held value of work.
19:07However, in practice, they do not help people find or keep jobs.
19:12The lessons learned from other states implementing the work requirements, as the Governor mentioned, in Arkansas,
19:17Medicaid work requirements had no measurable impact on employment.
19:23Half of affected individuals reported problems paying off medical debt.
19:2856% delayed care due to the cost.
19:3264% delayed taking necessary medications.
19:36These results are devastating, and these administrative hurdles or hassle factors ultimately undermine access to necessary care,
19:43care that has been shown to help low-wage workers become or remain healthy enough to work.
19:51In addition to the work requirements under the Republican proposals,
19:54many Medi-Cal participants would also have to prove their eligibility every six months instead of once a year beginning in 2027.
20:02As you heard, this alone could cause up to 400,000 Californians lose Medi-Cal coverage,
20:08most of whom will have still been eligible to receive it.
20:12We are in California guided by a vision of a healthy California for all,
20:17and these proposals roll back progress we've made together in achieving this vision.
20:22California's health care infrastructure is also at risk,
20:26and so I'd like to turn it over to Director Boss to say more about the provider impacts of these proposals.
20:31Thank you, Secretary.
20:34We're here today really because Medi-Cal matters.
20:37It serves nearly 15 million Californians, roughly 35% of the state, including 5.5 million children and teens.
20:46It supports older adults and individuals with disabilities.
20:50Medi-Cal is more than just health care.
20:52It's a lifeline for the Californians it serves, providing access to vital medical and dental services,
20:59preventive care, mental health support, substance use disorder treatment, and care for chronic conditions.
21:06The proposed Medicaid changes by congressional Republicans and proposed federal rules regarding health care taxes
21:13would cause widespread harm by making massive reductions in federal funding
21:18and potentially cripple the health care safety net that all Californians depend on.
21:23These changes put tens of billions of dollars of federal funding at risk for California
21:28and could result in a loss of coverage for millions of Californians.
21:33Under this proposal, significant restrictions are placed on state funding tools and vital mechanisms,
21:39thereby destabilizing the Medicaid system.
21:42California, like 48 other states, relies on state taxes from providers and managed care organizations
21:50to bring federal matching dollars.
21:53The proposal would freeze these taxes and ban new ones, threatening this fundamental funding stream.
21:59Additionally, under this proposal, the federal government is also changing how it decides
22:04whether these state taxes are permissible and imposes more limitations and restrictions on these taxes.
22:11Several of California's major current provider taxes wouldn't qualify under the new rules,
22:17putting billions of dollars that fund the Medi-Cal program at risk.
22:22Provider taxes are essential to keeping hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, and other health care safety net providers stable.
22:31This cut may be fatal for the many rural and critical access hospitals that are already financially strained.
22:38This bill would also limit how much federal funding hospitals can receive through certain types of directed payments.
22:45This would mean less funding for both public and private hospitals in California.
22:50If a hospital is forced to close, every member of the community loses access to hospital care,
22:55not just the one and three Californians covered by Medi-Cal.
23:00These proposals would fundamentally undermine our capacity to serve and provide care where people need it the most,
23:09with consequences that extend far beyond Medi-Cal.
23:12These proposals will impact our emergency departments, rural hospitals, private and public hospitals,
23:20community health centers, ambulance providers, and the broader health care system that serves every community.
23:30Thanks, Michelle.
23:31So that's an overview of what we know today.
23:35Obviously, we continue to analyze all of the amendments that are being made in real time,
23:41what happened over the course of the last 48 hours as it relates to the Senate parliamentarians' assessment of what can and cannot go into the bill.
23:51The bill, of course, there's a lot of workarounds as it relates to that.
23:55So they're being very aggressive in trying to find ways to continue to impose more harm, candidly, on communities all across this country.
24:06But the magnitude, again, of this cannot be understated.
24:09The magnitude of this simply cannot also be absorbed by backfilling through the state general fund.
24:15And while we are moment balancing our own budget, we are certainly mindful that this will have a significant impact,
24:24some of it more immediate, some of it rolling over the course of a number of years, 2027, 28, 29.
24:33But the impacts of that as we begin to address work requirements and create new system of eligibility,
24:43eligibility, all of that will start to occur and have some immediate impacts.
24:48So we cannot, again, be passive in our capacity to be flexible and to address some of the intended and unintended consequences in real time.
25:01With that, we're happy to answer any questions.
25:03If you're a member of the media and you would like to ask a question,
25:06please click the raise hand icon at the bottom of your screen and then unmute yourself and call the bond.
25:11And again, please click the raise hand icon at the bottom of your screen.
25:15If you're a member of the media and you would like to ask a question.
25:18And our first question goes to Alex Michelson with Fox LA.
25:22Alex, please unmute yourself.
25:25Hi, Governor. Alex Michelson, can you hear me?
25:28Perfectly.
25:30So, you know, some of your critics will point to the fact that the state spends billions of dollars on health care,
25:35on health care for the undocumented currently.
25:38Could that be a way to save money going forward?
25:42Well, we have universal health care.
25:45It's called the emergency room.
25:47It's called sick care.
25:48We pay for it on the back end or we can pay for it on the front end.
25:51There are a few states that don't provide some basic care, particularly pregnant women, people that come into the emergency room.
25:58That's universal coverage in this country, regardless of your immigration status, ability to pay or any preexisting conditions.
26:05California, among many other states, has prided itself on providing support for our children that are particularly living,
26:14many of them living in mixed income or mixed status families.
26:18And seniors in California, of course, expanded that coverage further.
26:21We also put a limit on it, and that's the budget that the legislature today will sign.
26:27But these cuts go well beyond the scope of that expansion.
26:31I'll remind you, eight and a half billion dollars a year is contributed by undocumented residents in this state.
26:37You're talking about 30 plus billion dollars of impacts because of these cuts to pay again for tax cuts for people that aren't asking for them and don't need them.
26:51Are you getting a sense that this message is working, that any of the Republican members of Congress that you're talking to,
26:58the California's lobbyists are talking to, are willing to push back on this and that this thing might not actually pass?
27:04Well, they won't be working in 18 months. They'll be out of a job.
27:07I can't even conceive of being representatives in those districts, particularly where you have 50 to 60 percent of your entire district population,
27:15the people you quote unquote serve, and you're gutting their access to care by increasing their premiums for those that are on the exchange,
27:25eliminating their coverage in many cases if they're on Medicaid.
27:31But also, and I thought it was an incredibly important point that was just made, increasing, significantly increasing the likelihood that everyone else that's not even directly impacted becomes indirectly impacted because the hospital that they are in desperate need of accessing no longer exists because the hospital will go out of business in real time.
27:55And those distressed hospital loans came at a time of abundance.
28:00Those distressed hospital loans came at a time when we had much more stability with state funds and federal funds.
28:09And they were 3x the requests for support.
28:14And that, again, before these cuts.
28:18So you've got a hospital system and all the related impacts that are going to be gutted.
28:24And so for the life of me, I don't know how you lay claim to being a representative of your district and vote the way they did.
28:34Now, they'll have a second chance. And we're all for second chances.
28:38Valadeo and these guys will have a second chance to do the right thing, did the wrong thing.
28:43He voted for these cuts.
28:45He was part of the group that voted for him.
28:48When they come back, he has a chance to stand tall.
28:52And if he doesn't, I think he should stand down.
28:54I don't even think he should run for reelection.
28:56What claim do you have that you're a representative of the people in a district with 64% of its population that are on Medicaid?
29:05So I certainly hope, to your question, that we can persuade.
29:10And the vast majority of American people are overwhelming in their opposition to this betrayal and this bill.
29:20And it's our job to get those that may not be as familiar here in the state of California about its direct impacts to start to rationalize that this impact is directly coming to you.
29:36Our next question in the queue goes to Sophia Bollag.
29:39Sophia, please unmute yourself.
29:44Secretary Governor, your rhetoric toward President Trump has become much, much more critical in the last couple of weeks.
29:51And I wonder how has that affected your relationship with the president?
29:56And how would you describe sort of where your relationship with him stands at this moment?
30:01Well, you have to ask him.
30:03I have an open hand, not a close fist, but I stand tall when you're attacking vulnerable people, when you're creating chaos,
30:12when you advance policies that I think are cruel at the core, when you've analyzed the economy, the tentpole of the American economy, California,
30:21with these tariff policies and trade policies, including even today, more impulse in terms of new tariffs in Canada.
30:34So we'll stand tall in that respect.
30:36The areas he wants to work, we'll work with him.
30:39Look, last time I talked to him was on the 6th of June.
30:44It was a very good conversation.
30:46And the President of the United States calls.
30:49The President of the United States wants to work with the state of California.
30:53I'm absolutely committed to doing so, just as we did through COVID.
30:58And I hope to continue to do as we rebuild L.A. and try to rebuild this democracy.
31:06But I'm not naive that, you know, working with Donald Trump is a challenge at best.
31:14One thing I will never do is work for him.
31:17Our next question goes to Ashley Zavala with KCRA 3.
31:22Ashley, please unmute yourself.
31:24Hi, Governor.
31:25I want to sincerely thank you for making yourself available today.
31:29I know you mentioned that the state budget is being passed here at the legislature, here at the Capitol.
31:36I just want to ask you about basically the contingency plan with the current state budget, which I know you've indicated.
31:44You basically won't sign the state spending plan for now if you don't get the bill that would reform California's Environmental Quality Act to make it easier to build housing.
31:54Just if you could, if you could just tell us why, why right now in this moment during the fast track process, instead of waiting until like September to figure this out.
32:03Because we have a crisis.
32:04We have a crisis of affordability.
32:05We've had a crisis of affordability.
32:07And while we've made great progress, and you've been part of that, and I've signed more secret reform bills than any governor probably in modern history.
32:15And we've made a lot of progress in terms of housing and zoning reforms over the course of the last many years.
32:21It's not enough.
32:22We need to do more.
32:23We have to be bold.
32:24And I really applaud the leadership of Buffy Wicks.
32:27I applaud the good work of Scott Wiener and members of the legislature.
32:31There's some real leadership there that recognizes the urgency of the moment.
32:35And we don't have any time to wait.
32:38And so I've been very clear.
32:40It was clear in my budget presentation, which you participated in.
32:43And I think most of you that are here today, that this was foundational and critical.
32:50And we wanted to get it done, get these laws going in effect quickly, and send a message to folks out there.
32:57We mean business about addressing the original sin in this state, affordability, addressing the supply demand imbalance in this state, and address some of the regulatory thickets that remain in this state.
33:11So I'm very grateful for the progress we've made, and I'm very confident that on Monday I'll be signing those bills, and we will be moving forward on continuing our momentum to advance even further reforms.
33:27Our next question in the queue goes to Eitan Wallace with Nexstar.
33:31Eitan, please.
33:33Hey, Izzy, and Mr. Governor, thanks for taking the time.
33:38Coming to you from the Capitol, forgive me, it's a little bit noisy.
33:41First of all, I want to echo what Ashley had to say and say thank you for taking this Q&A.
33:45We do really appreciate it.
33:47Two very quick questions, number one, Mr. Governor.
33:49First, on the state budget, what do you appreciate most about it, Governor Newsom?
33:54And what was perhaps the biggest disappointment for you before you signed this thing?
33:59And number two, on behalf of KTLA, just wanted to ask about the Fox News lawsuit.
34:04What is the message you want to send to Fox News Channel and those who work there, Mr. Governor?
34:09Thanks for taking the time.
34:10So, on the budget, I'm mindful, votes are happening in real time.
34:17So, I'm going to respect that.
34:20And also, I hope you appreciate and respect that I'll have a lot to say after we sign this budget.
34:25And as Ashley implied, or at least inquired, the housing component parts that will trail at least a few component parts on Monday.
34:36And we'll have a lot more to say.
34:37In fact, on Monday, we'll be having a conversation with you and others.
34:42And we'll invite you into that press conference in the signing.
34:45So, I'll get into the details of my feelings and sentiment about the budget.
34:50But I am just tonally, in this respect, deeply grateful for the leaders of both the Assembly and the Senate,
34:57the budget chairs and respected houses for their collaborative spirit.
35:01This was not an easy budget.
35:03There's so much uncertainty that marks this moment.
35:06We highlighted that today.
35:07And that spirit of collaboration, cooperation, compromise was once again demonstrably on display in this process.
35:16So, in that respect, I'm very, very pleased.
35:21As it relates to Fox, I'm not pleased.
35:24Donald Trump lied about a phone call he had with me, quote unquote, the day before.
35:30Fox chose to cover up that lie.
35:33Fox chose in multiple instances to amend, omit, and edit facts that were in evidence in order to shape a narrative that was malicious, which was defamatory.
35:51And as a consequence of their lies, as a consequence of their lack of journalistic ethic, as a consequence of crossing that red line as it relates to news, we filed a defamation.
36:06I filed a defamation lawsuit against them.
36:09They seemingly have learned nothing from the Dominion lawsuit, which they settled for an unprecedented $787 million.
36:19Fox News is a propaganda network, the national news.
36:22Local Fox affiliates do an extraordinary job.
36:26Back to your question.
36:27My message to the newsrooms of most of the Fox affiliates.
36:31Thank you for being excellent journalists.
36:34Thank you for having ethical standards.
36:37Thank you for doing your best to communicate truth and build trust.
36:43But there are some at Fox that simply do not abide by that basic principle.
36:49And as a consequence, they need to be held to account.
36:53It is not because I'm, quote unquote, sensitive to the coverage on National Fox.
36:58I've been a pinata for Fox News for years and years and years.
37:03Never, however, have I seen that line crossed in such a clear and instinctive way.
37:12Jesse Waters and John Roberts.
37:15They should apologize.
37:17They should spend as much time on the apology they did weaponizing the lie that was shared
37:24not only by the 65 million people that are part of Fox News and Fox Business,
37:29but by the hundreds of millions that shared that lie around the globe.
37:35They should issue that apology if they choose not to.
37:39We will initiate, we have this lawsuit.
37:43They need to stop the lies.
37:46That's simple.
37:48And that line was crossed.
37:50And again, I didn't do this lightly.
37:52This is not money I'm seeking for myself.
37:55The punitive damages would be money to go to advance the notion of truth,
38:00trust and transparency.
38:02But Fox, the Murdochs, the news at Fox National,
38:08needs to get its act together and act in an ethical way.
38:14They haven't in this instant and they're dead to right on this lawsuit.
38:19It's crystal clear they crossed that line and they defamed me.
38:25Our next question in the queue goes to Alexi Kosoff.
38:29Alexi, please unmute yourself.
38:31Hi, Governor.
38:34My questions are also related to these CEQA provisions in the budget that you wanted and which landed today.
38:43Obviously, there was a lot of back and forth to get to this deal on, you know, on this approach.
38:52And it was a demand of yours in the budget.
38:54So I'm wondering why, you know, if you could speak to why you were so insistent on having this in this budget,
39:01why it was so difficult to get to an agreement with the legislature on this and whether even after you had to make changes because of some labor pushback,
39:09you still feel that these will be as strong as you wanted them to be exceeded expectations.
39:17This is a triumph.
39:19I want to see this boat on Monday, one of the most significant housing reforms in California's history.
39:27Big day getting these amendments crossed in that 72 hour process rolling and getting this to my desk, hopefully on Monday.
39:37I want to be cautious, careful about that final vote.
39:40But I'm very, very grateful of all the hard work that was done in this process.
39:46And I'll just refer you my prior answer.
39:50I did it because it's critical and it's essential that it was done.
39:55It's critical that we address the issue of the lack of supply and affordability of housing in the state of California.
40:03We've got to get out of our own damn way.
40:06It's code red for this state.
40:08I've said it on many occasions.
40:10I'll repeat it again.
40:12It explains more things and more ways and more days about the challenges this state faces, the issue of housing and affordability.
40:20It directly connects the issues of what's happening on the streets and sidewalks.
40:24It directly connects with the issues as it relates to working families in the middle class in this state.
40:30And so, again, my state of mind is resolved.
40:33And I'm grateful that legislative leaders and the authors of these bills did everything in their power to meet this moment.
40:43And if this continues, as it appears to, and we get this thing done on Monday, we'll have a lot more to say about it.
40:52But what's in these bills is extraordinary.
40:56And that progress will mark an important historic moment on housing policy in the state moving forward.
41:04Governor, we have three remaining questions in the queue.
41:06Our next question goes to Antonio Ray Harvey with California Black Media.
41:11Antonio, please unmute yourself.
41:13Yes.
41:14Good afternoon, Governor.
41:16I actually have two questions.
41:18Let me start right here.
41:20In your budget, you have $102 million allocated to Proposition 36 funding.
41:25Just want to know how did you and your administration come to that number when the Republican at the state legislature were asking continuous funding $400 billion?
41:36Well, Prop 36 has just gone into effect.
41:42It builds off the markable number of bills that I signed in partnership with the legislature, I think over a dozen, to address the issues of retail theft and to address the issues of prosecution, of organized retail theft.
41:59Prop 36 tended to focus a little bit more on drug possession.
42:05And issues related to not only possession of drugs, but the prosecution of that possession into state prison and state custody.
42:18We put $100 million in the budget over the next number of years to support the courts and the adjudication of the facts of these cases that have been brought in front of them to public defenders.
42:32As well as to treatment programs of which, as you know well, we have provided more support for than any modern modern administration.
42:43This is specific to behavioral health and substance abuse issues.
42:47So we added additional funds in that respect.
42:51And so we landed on that as an estimate of some of the need.
42:56We also, as you may recall, had budgetary impacts related to Prop 36.
43:02We are estimating it will increase at a cost of over $130,000 per year, our prison population per inmate.
43:11It will put pressure on some of the other reforms, the other criminal justice reforms that have been proven very successful public safety reforms and slow down the reduction of total number of prison closures at a cost to the taxpayers.
43:28And as well, it redirects money from Prop 47.
43:33It will redirect money, take away savings under Prop 47 to move money away from drug and alcohol treatment programs, mental health programs and victim support, but will do so under the rubric of what the proponents of Prop 36 were promoting.
43:53So those are other budgetary impacts above and beyond the $100 million that the legislature and I landed on.
44:00And thank you for my second question.
44:05Earlier, you mentioned that these policies, Trump policy may affect hospitals.
44:10I just want to know, had you administration looked at the impact that it would have on rural communities for people who probably don't have hospitals around the area and probably have to drive one or two hours to get to one.
44:25Could you answer to that too, how that would impact these communities?
44:30Well, I appreciate you painted the picture about people quite literally having to drive one, two, three hours to get access to care, something we should not take for granted and something candidly we'll no longer be able to take for granted if Donald Trump signs this betrayal.
44:46He's betraying the very people that disproportionately supported him, many of them living in rural parts of our state in California and many that will see their hospitals, those hospitals that are still difficult to access, hospitals that are not necessarily proximate to their homes and places of worship and work.
45:07Many of them will likely, many of them will likely, it's not a gross exaggeration, I don't think it's exaggeration at all, many will likely simply go out of business as a consequence of this betrayal.
45:17So we laid that out in the slides I just presented a moment ago, we highlighted the 16 hospitals that we've already identified, 16 disproportionately, not all exclusively rural, but disproportionately impacting the distress program, the rural parts of our state.
45:38These hospitals that sought emergency loans of $300 million, they wanted almost close to a billion at the time, those should be exhibit A, B and C of a preview of things to come if their representatives in those districts betray their voters and betray hospital leadership and put those hospitals out of commission, people out of work, and people struggling to access care.
46:10Governor, our second to last question goes to Dan Moraine, freelance journalist.
46:13Dan, please unmute yourself.
46:15Governor, thank you.
46:20There are 505,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities covered by the regional center.
46:31I am wondering whether any of these Medicaid cuts are going to affect any portion of the 500 to 5,000 individuals, and if so, whether you have raised that with Secretary Kennedy.
46:46Yeah, no, look, I appreciate that.
46:49I'm going to ask Secretary Johnson or Director Bass to answer that with more specificity.
46:55But let me, if I may, just a point of indulgence, and this is not to patronize, thank you for bringing up the developmental centers.
47:05Rare do people bring the developmental centers up.
47:09It's a point of deep pride that California makes the kind of investments we do.
47:14And I'm deeply mindful that we need to make significantly larger investments.
47:19And it's been a point of tremendous friction in the budget negotiations because of so many competing areas of our budget.
47:28And so often, DDS is overlooked.
47:31And again, I recognize my own responsibility in that space.
47:36I'm proud of the master plan we put out.
47:38I'm proud of the fact we got a pathway in terms of a vision to provide more support and more stable funding, but it's not enough.
47:46And so the vulnerability to that system in light of these cuts only magnifies that.
47:54And so, Director or Madam Secretary, if you could perhaps answer with a little bit more understanding and detail.
48:00Sure.
48:01Just to say, a large number of the population you just referenced who's accessing developmental services is also enrolled in Medi-Cal.
48:10So there are no exceptions there in terms of the impact that it could have.
48:15Some of the work requirement proposals do provide some exceptions for that specific population.
48:21But in large, the impact will be felt by those individuals.
48:25And just to say again, the individual who's enrolled in Medi-Cal is also likely also engaged in CalFresh and maybe even developmental services.
48:34So these proposals are going to have multiple impacts on that one family, that one household who will not have the same food resource, access to health care resources, and will have a very devastating impact as many of our program participants are actually participating in multiple programs.
48:51So the short answer is yes, there will be impact for those who are also enrolled in the Medi-Cal program.
48:57Our final question goes to Angela Hart with KFF News. Angela, please unmute yourself.
49:06Hi, Governor. Happy Friday.
49:09As you know, most but not all of the funding to cover the expansion or to cover health care for undocumented immigrants in California comes from the state.
49:20The federal government kicks in a share for the emergency portion.
49:25I have a two part question for you.
49:28Are you concerned that the federal government, that the Trump administration is going to come after that funding somehow?
49:36And separately, are you concerned about the sharing of Medicaid enrollment data with not only CMS, but once the state sends over the Medicaid enrollment data for undocumented immigrants to the federal government, that it would be shared beyond CMS, perhaps to DHS or other immigration authorities?
49:56Does that give you concern?
49:57Of course.
49:58It long has.
50:00And that's clearly, it appears to be happening, not just CMS, but other databases that was highlighted in multiple reports as it relates to some of the activities of DOGE, et cetera.
50:14Of course, they're trying to weaponize these databases that have been sacrosanct in the past.
50:20And so, yes, that concerns me greatly, concerns our diverse communities all throughout the state and providers.
50:30And it's created a chill, a chilling effect.
50:33So we're deeply concerned about that and certainly concerned in the first part of your question that Trump, of course, he's doing that on the F-MAP.
50:41That's the $4.3 billion penalty on that 10 percent.
50:45That penalty is intended, again, to go after states that provide care to people, again, without ability to pay, pre-existing conditions or immigration status.
50:56Choosing to do that, as you suggest, with state general fund money, a decision state policymakers and their representatives make to stabilize populations, reduce uncompensated care,
51:08support our emergency departments and hospitals, particularly those most vulnerable in our rural communities, and support healthy and thriving families.
51:18And so, no, this is, they mean business as it relates to their assault on these programs and these databases.
51:32Governor, that's it for the questions.
51:34Well, thanks, everybody.
51:35We'll be back on Monday.
51:38As I said, hopefully we'll have a lot more to say on the budget and the housing bills.
51:43No, not hopefully.
51:44We will have more to say on the budget and housing bills.
51:47While certainly more to say, though, I think on this subject matter as things get clearer and we see what other shenanigans they come up with and other assaults on the health and safety of our communities all across California.
52:03But I appreciate everybody's indulgence and I hope we can share some of the information that we provided today.