From the Legislative Counsel Analysis of SB 1534, Public benefits. (Senators Ortiz and Alarcon)
Federal law, Section 411 of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), provides that certain persons are not eligible for defined state and local public benefits unless a state law is enacted subsequent to the effective date of the act, August 22, 1996, that affirmatively provides for that eligibility.From the Senate Floor Analysis(snip)
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to affirm the ability of counties, cities, and hospital districts, at their own discretion, to provide health care and other services to all residents. The bill would authorize any city, county, city and county, or hospital district to provide aid, including health care, to persons who, but for the above-referred to provision of the federal PRWORA, would meet the eligibility requirements for any program of that entity.
(snip)
PRWORA prohibits states and counties from providing free or discounted nonemergency health care to the undocumented, but authorizes states to provide additional public benefits to this population as follows:
• A State may provide that an alien who is not lawfully present in the U.S. is eligible for any State or local public benefit for which such alien would otherwise be ineligible under subsection (a) [which excludes them] of this section only through the enactment of a State law after August 22, 1996 which affirmatively provides for such eligibility.
According to the author, this bill provides the reaffirmation allowed under federal law.
(snip)
Arnold giveth, and then Arnold taketh away.
Ugh. Thanks for pointing that out. It's a full-time job keeping up on what laws the legislature here is trying to force down our throats, isn't it.
A veto of SB 1534 would've been nice but at least it preserves local municipalities to act "at their own discretion" which is a good thing: LOCAL CONTROL.