California government will spend more than ever

Gov. Jerry Brown placed his signature Tuesday on a $183.2-billion state budget, a spending plan that boosts public schools and programs aimed at California’s less fortunate while stashing away an additional $1.8 billion in the state’s long-term cash reserves.

The budget is the first crafted since President Trump’s election and includes money for a few programs that Democrats insisted were a necessary response to the changing political times. Most notably, it includes $50 million to provide legal services for immigrants facing deportation.

But it is silent on the biggest potential effect from Republican control of the White House and Congress — a major rollback of federal dollars for Medi-Cal, the state’s healthcare program for the poor. Brown and legislative leaders said it would be premature to act while the fate of the Affordable Care Act remains unknown.

Read more at L.A.Times