California’s estimated $10B deficit matches 'precisely' the cost of illegal immigrant healthcare | 9 May 2025 | California legislators have been told to expect a deficit of $10 billion or more even if revenues do not fall due to higher than anticipated spending, reports Politico. Critics note that the $10 billion figure matches the estimated costs of the state's expansion of eligibility for Medi-Cal, the state's taxpayer-financed health care system, to all income-qualifying illegal immigrants. "What a fiscal coincidence: precisely the estimated cost of Gavin Newsom's plan to extend state Medi-Cal to illegal immigrants," said Will Swaim, president of the conservative California Policy Center on X.