Prenatal Care for Immigrants in Davis Budget

Gov. Gray Davis, in one of several early attempts to reverse his Republican predecessor’s policies, wants the state to spend $60 million on prenatal care for poor pregnant women who are illegal immigrants--money that former Gov. Pete Wilson repeatedly fought to cut from California’s budget.

Davis’ budget plan for the next fiscal year would continue to allocate about $60 million for the prenatal services--expenditures that Wilson was battling in court.

In his first 10 days in office, Davis has reversed the state’s position on Proposition 5, the voter-approved Indian gambling measure that has been suspended by the courts. He also has promised raises to state employees and welfare recipients; Wilson balked at such increases.

Davis is weighing the state’s position on several other issues as well, and is pushing for tougher restrictions on assault weapons than Wilson supported.

Davis and his spokesman downplayed the shift on prenatal care. But it could strike a chord in the Capitol, where questions of illegal immigration and welfare have stirred passions among Democrats and Republicans alike.

Wilson repeatedly battled the Legislature to delete such funding from the state Medi-Cal program. The issue became a hallmark of the Republican governor’s second term, when he took a hard line on illegal immigration and welfare.

Courts in San Francisco and Los Angeles stymied Wilson’s efforts, issuing preliminary orders directing that the state pay the costs. As a result, women have continued to receive such care.

Davis included the money in his first budget, unlike Wilson, who refused to earmark any funds for the program. Michael Bustamante, Davis’ press secretary, said the decision to include the money is “certainly a difference from the previous administration.”

However, he acknowledged the court orders directing the state to provide the service as the main reason that Davis included it. “We provided the funding first and foremost because the courts ordered us to do so,” Bustamante said.

Wilson aide Sean Walsh defended the former governor’s stand and attacked Davis’ shift away from it, saying the money is “going not to kids in our schools but to people who broke the laws. I don’t think it will be well received.”

Davis is expected to prevail in the Legislature, where Democrats have strong majorities in both houses.

As many as 70,000 illegal immigrant women a year use state-funded prenatal services, at a cost of about $1,000 each.

The state’s first Democratic governor in 16 years, Davis included in his proposed budget a 2.1% cost-of-living increase for welfare recipients and about 2% in pay raises for state workers.

And last week Davis filed court papers announcing that he is neutral on the court test of Proposition 5, which would allow expanded gambling on Indian reservations. Wilson opposed the measure.

But few issues have the symbolic power of health care for women and their expected babies, even though the $60 million is a small portion of a state budget of almost $78 billion.

“To have hospitals asking people their status is convoluted and more costly to the state,” said Assembly Budget Committee Chairwoman Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego).

She and others estimate that for every dollar the state spends on health care for pregnant women, it saves $3 in health care costs for infants who otherwise would be born with preventable maladies. Children born in the United States are citizens, regardless of their mothers’ immigration status.

A Challenge for New GOP Official

The issue presents an immediate challenge for Assembly Republican leader Rod Pacheco of Riverside, the first Latino to lead the GOP in the lower house.

Pacheco, who is trying to broaden his party’s base, entered the fray Wednesday by supporting the expenditure. That puts him at odds with conservatives, who sided with Wilson and have campaigned against illegal immigration.

Pacheco said the savings associated with prevention programs are only one reason to endorse Davis’ stand.

“The overarching facet for me is the humanitarian side of it,” he said. “Why would we not help a woman who is with child, and that child is about to become a U.S. citizen?”

“I haven’t found anyone who supports illegal immigration,” Pacheco added. But helping to ensure that a child is born healthy gives that child “an opportunity in the land of opportunity,” he said. “That’s not something we’re against.”

Other Republicans are sure to oppose Davis’ effort when budget discussions begin later this year.

“There are probably better places to spend our limited funds,” said Assemblyman George Runner (R-Lancaster), the leading Republican on the Budget Committee. “We also would be concerned about the message it would send. . . . The first priority is to respond to the needs of our citizens.”

Meanwhile, one of the court cases is set for argument before a state appellate court next week.

Attorney John Affeldt of Public Advocates in San Francisco, representing immigrants in the case, filed papers Wednesday asking that the hearing be delayed to give the new administration time to decide how to proceed. Affeldt also called on Davis to drop the appeal.

“They should take a stand and say, ‘Gray Davis does not support this inhumane policy from the Wilson administration,’ ” Affeldt said in an interview.

Bustamante said Davis has not decided how to proceed. Among the governor’s options is to ask that Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, a fellow Democrat, drop the appeals--a likely step, sources outside Davis’ office say.

While the court cases concern funding for the past two years, Davis also can make the issue moot for future years when he signs the budget for the 1999-2000 fiscal year by simply leaving in place money for prenatal care.

His proposed budget includes an additional $14.4 million for long-term aid to disabled people who are in California illegally. Wilson allocated similar funds.

Wilson cut the money for prenatal care after Congress approved and President Clinton signed the welfare overhaul law in 1996. The federal law requires that states that want to provide such coverage pass legislation authorizing it.

At least one bill, by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), already has been introduced to authorize the spending.

State-paid prenatal care for illegal immigrants was scarcely discussed during the recent gubernatorial campaign, although a Davis press aide said in October that the candidate would reverse Wilson’s policy if elected.

Davis did not mention the changed position when he unveiled the budget Friday. There is no single line item in the massive budget document that lists the costs. Only three paragraphs are devoted to it in the 190-page summary of the budget.