California lawmakers are one step closer to their goal of providing hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded home loans to citizens living in the country illegally.
According to an official vote tally, Democrats on the California Senate Budget Committee unanimously approved bill AB 1840 late last week. The bill has one last chance to be defeated in the state Senate, where Democrats hold the majority, before it lands on the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat.
The bill would amend the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan program, an initiative launched last year that provides first-time homebuyers with a loan of up to 20 percent of the purchase price for the down payment or closing costs. If passed and enacted, the bill could give illegal immigrants living in California a piece of the pie.
“Once again, California has chosen to put illegal immigration and fiscal irresponsibility above the needs of its citizens, all while facing a $60 billion budget deficit that will ultimately be passed on to taxpayers,” San Diego County Executive Jim Desmond said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“California is in dire financial straits, and yet lawmakers continue to prioritize programs that encourage illegal immigration and strain local resources,” Desmond said. “Expanding this program to illegal immigrants is not just another handout – it is a massive overreach that shifts the financial burden onto law-abiding taxpayers.”
These taxpayer-funded home equity loans are interest-free and borrowers do not have to make monthly payments, making the program extremely popular among California residents.
When applications first opened in May 2023 for the $300 million program, which offers interest-free loans to about 2,300 middle- and low-income homebuyers, the money ran out in less than two weeks, according to the Los Angeles Times. Since then, state authorities have tightened the requirements to participate in the program, requiring that at least one of the applicants be the first homebuyer in their family and replacing the first-come, first-served model with a lottery.
Although California is struggling with a tens of billions of dollars in budget deficits and funds for the program are already incredibly tight, one state lawmaker said he believes the loan program is not comprehensive enough.
Rep. Joaquin Arambula, a Democrat from Fresno, first introduced AB 1840 in January, seeking to expand the definition of “first-time homebuyer” to include illegal immigrants. The lawmaker argued in March that the “social and economic benefits of homeownership should be available to everyone,” according to KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. Arambula did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bill has since been easily passed by the Democratic-dominated California Assembly and received little approval from the Senate Budget Committee – with opposition limited exclusively to Republican lawmakers.
“California’s budget deficit continues to grow, and Democratic lawmakers have become so out of touch with ordinary Californians that they are literally taking money away from law-abiding citizens, their own constituents, and giving it away to people who have broken federal law to cross the border illegally,” said California State Senator Brian Dahle.
“There is no accountability or transparency regarding the Democrats’ spending sprees, and that’s unfortunate because for many Californians, owning a home has become nothing more than an illusion,” Dahle said.
California is suffering from a massive budget deficit.
In June, state lawmakers passed a budget that drastically cut spending and temporarily raised taxes on businesses to help offset a nearly $50 billion budget deficit, the Associated Press reported.
The dire financial situation is a far cry from the $100 billion-plus surplus the state enjoyed about two years ago. But those revenue spikes have proved temporary, as rising unemployment, inflation and a slowdown in the technology industry have hit Californians’ wallets hard.
According to California Republicans, the state deficit was expected to be around $32 billion in 2023, having already grown to over $46 billion earlier this year and now standing at around $60 billion. This raises the question of why lawmakers would make such a coveted loan program available to a large portion of the population without legal residency status.
According to data released in July by the Pew Research Center, nearly two million illegal immigrants live in California.
It is not immediately clear whether Newsom will sign the bill. When asked, a spokesman said the governor’s office does not typically comment on pending bills, adding that the governor would “judge the bill on its merits” if it lands on his desk.
The passage of AB 1840 came the same day that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign announced she would introduce a proposal similar to her home state’s current program: $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, including greater assistance for first-generation homeowners.
It is not clear whether the proposal from Harris – who has recently presented herself as more of a border guard – would explicitly exclude illegal immigrants. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Meanwhile, Republicans in California are resisting their own state’s legislative measures.
“Many people living legally in California cannot afford to own a home in their own state,” said State Senator Brian Jones, one of only two Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee.
“Instead of addressing the housing crisis, radical Democratic lawmakers want to use taxpayer money to help illegal immigrants buy homes,” Jones said. “Faced with a $62 billion budget deficit, we need to focus on preserving essential government functions, not on unjustified political spending on illegal immigrants.”
Originally published by Daily Caller News Foundation
