As Congress debates Medicaid cuts, the effects on California are still unclear
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
MEDICAID DEBATE RAMPING UP IN CONGRESS
Via David Lightman ...
The effort in Congress to find ways to save money in the Medicaid program is set to formally kick off Tuesday, and it’s difficult to predict the outcome.
Already, Republicans have scaled back potentially bigger cuts to the health care program for lower income and disabled people — which serves roughly 15 million Californians through Medi-Cal — than originally feared.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will write the first version of the legislation. Dominated by Republicans, the panel was instructed by the full House of Representatives to find $880 billion in savings over 10 years in Medicaid and other programs.
A proposed bill released by the committee Sunday does include new work requirements for certain beneficiaries and would impose tougher eligibility rules. The committee includes one California Republican, Jay Obernolte, and five Democrats from the state, including Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento.
Democrats and many health care activists remain concerned, though. Protests are planned in front of hospitals around the state by doctors, nurses, families and others.
Among the sites for the rallies are the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and the Dignity Health Mercy Hospital of Folsom.
In Washington, D.C., last week, Rep. Ami Bera, D-Sacramento, a physician who’s a member of the Democratic Doctors Caucus, explained his concern.
“Republicans need to understand that Medicaid is more than a health care program — it’s a lifeline for working families, seniors and children across this country,” he said.
Republicans saw the issue differently.
“Undoubtedly, Democrats will use this as an opportunity to engage in fear-mongering and misrepresent our bill as an attack on Medicaid,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., of the plan.
“In reality,” he added, ”it preserves and strengthens Medicaid for children, mothers, people with disabilities and the elderly — for whom the program was designed.”
The committee action is the first step in a process that could take months.
CAPITOL INFLUENCER
Via Kate Wolffe ...
Chrissy Teigen, the former supermodel turned celebrity chef, stopped by the Capitol Monday to put her influencing skills to the test, calling for legislators to maintain current benefits for recipients of CalFresh, the state’s food assistance program.
Teigen, flanked by Assembly members Alex Lee, D-San Jose, and Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, spoke to reporters about Lee’s Assembly Bill 936, which would keep alive a pilot program that tried to encourage people to buy more fruits and vegetables. The bill is awaiting a vote in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
“There’s a lot of competing interests out there that have a lot of star power and lobbying power, and that’s why we need our own,” Lee said.
Teigen said food and heritage were of utmost importance to her mother, who came to the United States from Thailand nearly 40 years ago. That sentiment has guided her desire to increase food access to others in the state.
“It’s not just about giving people food, but giving people good, healthy food,” she said. Teigen also supports maintaining current funding for the CalFood program. It sets aside money for food banks to buy and distribute food that is grown in California.
Teigen said she pulled her children out of school to visit the Capitol, and was scheduled to speak with Gov. Gavin Newsom for an hour.
HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS AGENCY COMING SOON?
Legislators and the Little Hoover Commission, a state oversight body, will discuss Newsom’s plan to create a new housing and homelessness agency in two separate hearings Tuesday morning.
The first starts at 9 a.m. when the Assembly Business and Professions and Housing and Community Development committees are scheduled to hold a joint hearing. An hour later, the Little Hoover Commission will start a virtual hearing on the matter.
Under state law, the commission is supposed to review and make recommendations on proposals to potentially reorganize the government. It has until early June to do so. Then, the Legislature will have the chance to reject or accept the plan.
“This new agency will strengthen California’s ability to plan, produce, and preserve housing while enhancing the state’s homelessness response now and over the long term,” Newsom’s administration said earlier this year about the proposal.
The reorganization would break the current Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency into the housing and homelessness agency and another that oversees business and consumer issues.
PANDEMIC LOAN PAYBACK
Governmental Advocates, a Sacramento-based lobbying company, recently resolved a claim over COVID-19-related aid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.
The organization received a Paycheck Protection Program loan that was supposed to help businesses keep workers employed and weather economic turmoil during the pandemic. Governmental Advocates had applied for the aid in April of 2020. But the business was actually not eligible for it because of its line of work, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In September, the company disclosed to the federal government that it had received the loan, which was more than $183,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It had also applied for loan forgiveness and was not required to pay it back.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the company has since agreed to repay the loan, with interest.
Governmental Advocates received more than $6 million in payments during the 2023-24 legislative session, putting it in the top-25 of all lobbying firms, according to California Secretary of State data. Its clients this year include the A’s, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, records show.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This is just a pause.”
— U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on CNBC following the announcement of an agreement by the United States and China to, at least temporarily, reduce tariffs the countries imposed on each other.
Best of The Bee:
The race for California governor in 2026 heated up at a union forum Monday night, via Nicole Nixon
- Newsom calls for cities to adopt policies eradicating homeless encampments, via Lia Russell
- For Sacramento’s Maggy Krell, ‘all-in’ fight over solicitation bill was worth it, via Kate Wolffe and Stephen Hobbs
- A’s ace says he is struggling to pitch at home after getting crushed by Yankees, via Chris Biderman
- Millions of Californians experienced ‘act of hate,’ many at businesses, survey says, via Ishani Desai
- Immigrant children face legal cases without lawyers. A CA bill could change that, via Stephen Hobbs
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 4:55 AM with the headline "As Congress debates Medicaid cuts, the effects on California are still unclear."
