Lawmakers and advocates say Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is making inflated estimates about the cost of legislation, with some suggesting his subordinates have been trying to kill the bills without making the governor politically accountable for the outcome.

“While people are dying on the streets from a lack of access to behavioral health care treatment, state agencies continue to fabricate exorbitant cost estimates,” Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell, told CalMatters after one of his mental health proposals died recently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco who authored another mental health bill that died recently, said in a public hearing last month that the administration’s cost estimate of his bill was “extreme and outrageous.”

The pointed accusations from Democratic lawmakers and health care advocates who tend to be friendly with the Democratic governor are extraordinary because such criticism is rarely made in public. The examples also stand out because they challenge the administration’s response on one of the governor’s top priorities, mental health.

The administration did not accept an interview request with CalMatters and would not provide more detail – to CalMatters or to lawmakers – to explain the cost estimates. By email, however, a spokesperson insisted the costs were accurate and rejected the idea that they were intentionally inflated.

“It’s outrageous and inaccurate for anyone to suggest these numbers are fabricated or artificially inflated,” Rodger Butler, a spokesperson for Newsom’s Health and Human Services Agency, said in an email. “Legislative fiscal analyses from state government departments are informed by real-world, on-the-ground experience implementing legislative mandates.”

Whatever the motivations, four health care bills with controversial cost estimates died quietly earlier this month in the Senate and Assembly Appropriations committees even after each had advanced without a single “no” vote from a Democratic legislator.

Assembly lawmakers meet during a Suspense File hearing at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento, on Aug. 15, 2024. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

The Appropriations Committees are focused on the cost of legislation, especially in a year when the state is struggling with a budget deficit. The four bills were moved to the committees’ “suspense files” along with 263 other controversial or costly bills. Each committee then killed the bills in their respective suspense file with a single vote.

Mike Gatto, a former Democratic lawmaker from Los Angeles who chaired the Assembly Appropriations Committee, said inflated cost estimates from a governor’s administration are nothing new.

When an executive-branch agency provides “a significantly exaggerated cost” on a piece of legislation “it’s generally a big flashing light that the administration dislikes the bill and that the governor would likely veto it,” he said.

It can be advantageous for the governor when legislators quietly kill those bills, he said.

“Having the appropriations committee there to kill it and to take the arrows (of criticism), that is a tremendous benefit politically for any governor,” Gatto said.

Gatto has a hand-written note framed on his wall that former Gov. Jerry Brown gave him expressing Brown’s appreciation for keeping bills from reaching the governor’s desk.

In a corner of the note are two words: “Keep holding.”

But Thad Kousser, a former legislative staffer who’s now a professor of political science at UC San Diego, said the integrity of the legislative process is jeopardized if cost estimates are not accurate.

“You’ve got to have reasonable and realistic estimates that are not part of a political strategy in order for everyone to make informed decisions,” he said.

This year alone, according to the Digital Democracy database, lawmakers considered 2,522 bills, many of them with large potential costs to taxpayers.

Democrat calls costs ‘extreme and outrageous’

Sen. Wiener’s legislation, Senate Bill 294, would have required an automatic review of cases in which commercial health plans denied children and young people mental health treatment.

Wiener, the chair of the Senate’s mental health caucus, said in the public hearing last month that the measure “does nothing more than require health plans to provide the coverage that they’re required to provide and stop denying covered behavioral health care treatment to children.”

So he said it was “outrageous” when the Department of Managed Health Care estimated that the bill would cost $87.6 million per year by 2028 and would require 340 new employees. That’s a 55% increase over the 610 positions in the department’s budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year. A separate state office, the Department of Insurance, also said the bill would require it to hire an additional five positions by 2026 for $1.2 million. There is no description in the cost estimate about how the departments arrived at the estimate or what jobs the new positions would perform.

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Medical debt weighs heavily on the lives of millions of Californians. It can ding their credit scores and hurt their chances of landing a rental or securing a home mortgage.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced a proposal to stop medical debt from showing up on credit reports. That proposed rule is under consideration with an uncertain timeline.

California lawmakers are moving faster with a similar measure that would take effect as soon as January if it becomes law.

Sen. Monique Limón, a Santa Barbara Democrat, is carrying Senate Bill 1061, which would remove medical debt from credit reports and prohibit debt collectors from reporting patients’ medical debt information to credit agencies. It would pertain specifically to debt owed to a medical provider, such as a hospital or a doctor’s office.

It passed the Assembly on Monday and is heading to the Senate for a final vote. Until recently, the bill would have also included debt charged to medical credit cards and specialty loans, but changes in the Assembly Appropriations Committee redefined “medical debt” to exclude these.

Limón was surprised by the changes. The amendments were a win for a coalition of bankers and lenders that had been requesting that change for months. Following the amendments, the coalition removed its opposition to the proposal.

“This legislation passed through three Assembly policy committees without the most recent amendments by Assembly Appropriations, which substantially weaken the bill,” Limon told CalMatters in an emailed statement. “It is clear that … influential entities opposed to the measure prevailed.

“In spite of this disappointing setback, I plan to continue pushing for the passage of SB 1061 in the hope that we can provide partial relief to consumers.”

Representatives for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas would not comment on the bill and Assembly Appropriations Committee Chairperson Buffy Wicks did not reply to messages and emails asking why the changes were made. Those lawmakers can change bills in the Appropriations Committee.

Supporters of Limon’s bill say even though the feds are moving in a similar direction, California’s bill still has merit.

“The (federal) rulemaking right now, it’s just a proposal. It could get watered down, they take a long time. And then, of course, depending on what happens with the election, there’s a big question mark of what happens to any of our federal rules,” said Jenn Engstrom, state director with the California Interest Research Group, a co-sponsor of the bill. “So rather than leaving it up to the uncertainty of the federal government, we think it’s really important that California has a strong role here.”

The bill is backed by Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Nurses Association, among other health advocates. Proponents argue that people acquire medical debt through no fault of their own. After all, going into debt because you need surgery is not the same as going into debt for a luxury vacation. Experts and advocates say medical debt is also more prone to inaccuracies because of mistakes in billing or disputes with insurers.

The bill “does not forgive debt, but it does ensure that when it’s not reported we don’t negatively impact credit scores for a lifetime for people,” Limón said.

If the bill makes it to the governor’s desk and he signs the bill, California would join states such as Colorado and New York in prohibiting medical debt from damaging credit scores.

The burden of medical debt

About 4 in 10 Californians report carrying some type of medical debt, according to the California Health Care Foundation. Nationally, the average medical balance on credit reports is around $3,100.

“The impact of this debt is so well-known that many people take it into consideration when deciding whether to seek care when they need it, and many opt not to, deciding to steer clear of the (medical) bill, which puts their health at risk,” said Katie Van Deynze, a policy and legislative advocate with the consumer advocacy group Health Access California.

In June, the Biden administration announced a proposal that would bar medical debt from appearing on credit reports. It’s expected to help raise the credit scores of approximately 15 million Americans by an average of 20 points, according to the administration’s announcement. The administration estimates that would translate to the approval of about 22,000 additional mortgages every year.

The federal proposal also leaves out medical credit cards, a gap Limón was hoping to close.

Medical credit cards may be offered by medical providers as an option to cover the cost of a procedure. They can be enticing, offering people the option of no payment upfront and a promotional period of deferred interest. However, if interest does kick in, it can be higher than that of a regular credit card.

Groups such as the California Bankers Association argued that the definition of “medical debt” in Limón’s bill was too broad. The only debt that should be included in this legislation, they said, is the kind that is directly owed to a medical facility or provider. In hearings and letters to the Legislature, lobbyists for these groups argued that medical credit cards could also be used for elective procedures, fitness programs and veterinary services, among other expenses. That type of debt, they argued, should not be hidden from creditors.

Medical debt forgiveness

The topic of medical debt resonates so much with the public that some local governments and states are going one step further and pushing for debt relief programs.

This summer the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors announced a pilot program to buy off millions worth of its residents’ medical debt through a partnership with the national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt. Hospitals and other providers can sell unpaid debt to companies that would profit from collecting that money. Undue Medical Debt leverages this arrangement and purchases debt for cents on the dollar, but instead of collecting the debt, it cancels it.

Through this model, county supervisors estimate they can spend $5 million to cancel $500 million worth of debt for 150,000 low-income residents. Medical debt in Los Angeles County surpasses $2.9 billion, according to an analysis by the county’s public health department.

New York City and Arizona have done similar deals with the same nonprofit. And just last week, New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the state would use leftover pandemic relief dollars to eliminate $100 million worth of medical debt for 50,000 residents.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has pledged to build on the current administration’s efforts to wipe medical debt from credit reports by incorporating debt forgiveness. Among her campaign promises: “Work with states to cancel medical debt for millions of Americans.”

Last month, the Washington Post reported that Harris had been working with North Carolina to incentivize hospitals there to forgive patients’ medical debt in exchange for additional Medicaid dollars. In mid-August, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper announced that all of the state’s 99 hospitals agreed to participate in this program. About 2 million low- and middle-income North Carolina residents are expected to benefit starting next summer.

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Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Brad Mettam was born on November 12, 1952 in San Francisco to Ron and Dolores Mettam. On October 16, 1976 he married Diane Yee and her son David became his son too. On March 27, 1978 their daughter Jessica Joy was born. Their family complete, Brad and Diane moved as their jobs demanded, living in San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, South Lake Tahoe, Dyer, Nevada and Bishop, California before finally relocating in Eureka, where Brad was the Deputy District Director for Planning and Local Assistance with CalTrans. His office was always open to anyone needing help or advice. Upon his retirement he was presented with a resolution from the California State Legislature.

Prior to his carer with CalTrans, Brad worked with Esmeralda and Inyo Counties seeking to impede the negative aspects of the proposed nuclear waste facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. He served as chair of the Esmeralda County School District, and in Bishop he served as chairman of the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District Hearing Board.

Brad and Diane believed in sharing their blessings. While the children were school-age they coached soccer, led 4-H groups, taught dance, tutored students, and offered a temporary home to kids who needed a roof over their heads. They welcomed three AFS exchange students for various periods of time from Thailand, China and Norway. Brad and Diane served as soccer coaches in South Lake Tahoe. As a couple and a family, they did things together.

Brad served as Santa’s elf each year at the Bishop Christmas Parade, riding with Santa on the fire engine and helping with the children in line. Diane made his elf costume. Brad had a long affiliation with firefighting. He served as a volunteer firefighter in Half Moon Bay and South Lake Tahoe, and reorganized and served as Chief of the Fish Lake Valley Fire Protection District in Dyer, Nevada.

Some time after settling in Bishop, Brad joined the local Rotary Club. He served in several offices before becoming President. He also became a member of the Paul Harris Society. When Brad and Diane moved to Eureka, Brad joined the Eureka Rotary Club and was again elected to serve as President. He remained active in Rotary until his death.

He was also a devoted church member, serving as the sound tech for the Eureka First United Methodist Church. He served a similar position at the Bishop First United Methodist Church, as well as keeping the books. When Diane was pastor at Pioneer Memorial United Methodist Church in Independence Brad ran the music system, proof-read and folded the bulletins, made sure there was a dish for the potlucks, and Diane had a clean robe and stole.

Brad and Diane loved animals, especially dogs, although there was a time when the family had seven sheep. For the past 45 years they had at least one rescue dog - at one time they had five. Lately they were always accompanied by Hannah, a bichon, and Jack, a miniature schnauzer. They also have a large feeder in their back yard to take care of the local birds and squirrels.

Brad passed away suddenly on August 6, 2024 in Eureka. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, August 31st at 11 a.m. at the Eureka First United Methodist Church at 1901 F St, Eureka.

In lieu of flowers, the family recommends donations to the Eureka First United Methodist Church or the Eureka Rotary Club. Condolences may be sent to Rev. Diane Mettam, 4381 Cedar St., Eureka, CA 95503.

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Lyn Anderson was born in Puyallup, Washington on August 27, 1947. She passed away on August 20, 2024, in Fortuna.

Lyn was the eldest child of 5 born to Emil and Inez Blomberg. She graduated from McKinleyville high school in 1965. She accomplished several things throughout her life such as going to school for cosmetology and later getting her CNA. She worked for many years at Sea View Conv. Hospital beginning as a CNA, then doing physical therapy and eventually becoming the office manager. She then ventured out doing transcription and running the office for Psychiatry & Psychology Assoc. led by Dr. Tanenhaus and Dr. Clausen where she retired.

Lyn enjoyed reading every night before bed, traveling, crafting, camping, cooking and spending time with her family. She spent many summers in South Lake Tahoe and visiting her father in Nevada. She loved hot tubbing, raising her fur babies and gardening while living many years in Arcata with her husband. She was an amazing, loving, devoted mother to her four children who are heartbroken at this loss.

She was blessed with 15 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren who love her dearly. Lyn made many friends in her life, who would describe her as the kindest, most genuine, and loving woman they have ever met.

Lyn is preceded in death by her parents Emil and Inez Blomberg, her brother Mark Blomberg, grandson Matthew Middleton, her grandparents and many aunts and uncles. Lyn is survived by her husband Richard Anderson of Fortuna, her brother Terry Blomberg (Sonya), sisters Randi Whitney (Lonnie) and Jeri Pettit. Her children Tracie Middleton (Jim), Anthony Hernandez (Elesha), Lori Hutchinson (Joe), and Matthew Hernandez. She will be greatly missed by all those who knew and loved her!

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Quite a few Humboldt County residents with sub-par internet access will soon be net surfin’ and content streamin’ at broadband speeds thanks to a new wave of state grant money slated for final approval next month.

Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission recommended awarding Humboldt County more than $35.3 to complete several broadband infrastructure projects aimed at enhancing connectivity and bridging our region’s digital divide. Plus, there’s another $14,111,494 in recommended grants from the CPUC that would fund multi-county projects that include Humboldt.

The Humboldt County projects include:

• The Karuk Tribe Fiber-To-The-Home Project, recommended to receive up to $27,445,463 to serve an estimated 767 currently unserved people in and around Orleans.
• The Vero Fiber Networks Arcata Bay Project (which we’ve written about before), receiving up to $4,396,29. This project will eventually serve residents along the 299 corridor, but in the short term this grant award would benefit 244 unserved locations in Indianola, Fairhaven and Manila.​
• A trio of AT&T projects, with a suggested award of $3,462,021 to serve unserved communities including Myers Flat, Miranda, Phillipsville, Weott and Kneeland.

The projects also commit to providing low-cost plans, maintaining prices for years, and participating in programs like Lifeline to ensure affordability and accessibility for residents. 

Press release from the incident management team:

• Acres: 12,907
• Crews: 25
• Containment: 43%
• Engines: 47
• Detection Date: August 9, 2024
• Dozers: 7
• Cause: Under investigation
• Helicopters: 11 + 2 UAS
• Total resources: 886
• Fixed wing: available as needed

Headlines

•Traffic control remains in place along the Salmon River Road between Butler Flat and Nordheimer Flat for the safety of firefighters and residents. Expect up to 30-minute delays. Incident personnel driving vehicles with more than two axels will not be allowed on the road.

•Fire information phone: (707) 572-4860 or email at 2024.Boise@firenet.gov

•Get all your Boise Fire information in one mobile-friendly place! See this link.

•Evacuations are in place for residents near the fire area in Humboldt County. For the most current evacuation information please visit the Boise Fire linktree or visit— or visit—

✓Humboldt County: Link.

✓Siskiyou County: Link.

Leader’s Intent

The Boise Fire is being managed with a full suppression strategy.

Operational Update: On the west side of the fire, firefighters continue to mop up, patrol, and chip vegetation along the roadways. Some damaged roads have been repaired to allow crews to access the fire’s edge. Two new spike camps have been created along the east side of the fire to decrease the travel time for crews. Additionally, new heli-spots have been created to facilitate the movement of equipment and personnel. Multiple crews are being inserted into the China Creek area to create handline along the fire’s edge.

Weather and Fire Behavior:

Drier and warmer weather is expected to return to the area. With the recent moisture, no significant fire movement is expected. As conditions continue to dry, fire activity may pick up.

During Zuleima Baquedano’s first year as a teacher, she faced an important choice.

One of her students had difficulty controlling her emotions. One day, she had a meltdown and kicked Baquedano down.

The principal asked Baquedano if she wanted to call the police, because the incident legally counted as assault. But not long before, the student had moved in with her family after being in and out of foster care, was beginning the diagnostic process for her disability and had been working with Baquedano on coping mechanisms.

“Any contact with police would have really put all of that in jeopardy,” Baquedano said. “Calling the police, getting Child Protective Services involved and all that would have completely just ruined any kind of progress she’d made.”

Baquedano decided against calling the police. “I’m never going to regret advocating for her, despite the fact that several teachers told me I couldn’t let her get away with it, and that she did this on purpose when they didn’t even know her,” she said.

She had a choice because she worked at a charter school in Los Angeles. Staff at traditional public schools don’t have the same freedom: Under California law, they are required to make a police report if a student assaults them — and can be prosecuted if they don’t.

A bill before the Legislature in its final week would change that.

But what supporters see as a common sense bill, opponents see as going too far, raising partisan tensions in an election year in which crime and education are top of mind for many voters.

A difficult path to the Senate

Assemblymember Ash Kalra, a San Jose Democrat, has been trying to get similar legislation passed for four years.

“The data very clearly shows that when law enforcement is required to come onto campus, those that they choose to arrest are disproportionately people with disabilities and students of color,” Kalra said in an interview.

A 2021 study by the ACLU of Southern California found that students with disabilities make up 26% of school arrests, despite being 11% of total enrollment. According to a 2024 report by the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board, students of color are handcuffed by police at a disproportionate rate — 20% of Black students compared to 9% of white students.

“This bill is really a turning point in addressing issues around school climate,” said Oscar Lopez, an associate managing attorney at Disability Rights California, a sponsor of the bill.

Assemblymember Ash Kalra at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 13, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters

This is the first time Kalra’s bill has made it to the Senate, and it wasn’t easy. It barely squeaked out of the Assembly by a vote of just 41-22, with seven Democrats voting “no.”

“It’s unfortunate that a common sense bill like this has struggled so hard to make it through the Legislature,” Kalra said.

And opposition is organizing.

Last week, Senate Republicans released their own bill analysis, listing concerns about school safety, drug possession and the relationship between schools and law enforcement.

“The bottom line is this is going to make our school campuses less safe,” Senate GOP Leader Brian Jones of San Diego told CalMatters. “It’s going to endanger our students, teachers, administrators and even the law enforcement professionals who have to serve on these campuses.”

Law enforcement officials worry that AB 2441 could open the door to eliminating school resource officers.

“School officials and law enforcement should work together, especially when it comes to pupils whose behavior violates the law and puts school safety in jeopardy,” said Cory Salzillo, legislative director of the California State Sheriffs’ Association. “Removing requirements just runs counter to that notion.”

If AB 2441 were to pass, there would still still be times when staff are required to call the police. Under federal law, local education agencies must call law enforcement if a student has a firearm or is caught selling controlled substances.

“School officials and law enforcement should work together, especially when it comes to pupils whose behavior violates the law and puts school safety in jeopardy.”
— Cory Salzillo, legislative director of the California State Sheriffs’ Association

Some opponents have also raised concerns about school administrators’ ability to discern between students who are selling controlled substances or just possessing them — a task they think should be left to law enforcement, particularly amid the fentanyl crisis.

“Schools are not isolated in the community, so when there are crimes being committed, even if it’s simple possession of a controlled substance, that’s something that law enforcement should be aware of,” Salzillo said.

The California Department of Public Health plans to announce a new fentanyl education campaign on Wednesday.

“Fentanyl is so dangerous that we need to be all hands on deck on dealing with that crisis on our school campuses,” Jones said. “Removing this requirement of reporting is just unbelievable to me at this point in time.”

Because of an amendment to the bill, staff would also need to notify law enforcement if someone needed immediate medical attention.

After the Senate Republican Caucus released its analysis — and sent it to its entire press list for the first time — supporters of the bill accused them of fear mongering and spreading misinformation.

“There’s been a lot of untruths shared and promoted by the opposition to this bill,” said Rachel Bhagwat, legislative advocate at ACLU California Action, a bill sponsor.

Jones denied that’s what’s happening.

“California voters and taxpayers are fed up with the criminal justice system in California right now,” he said. “They’re fed up with the progressive wing that’s continuing to decriminalize crime.”

Preventing the school-to-prison pipeline

Research has shown that when young people face severe discipline at school — such as police interaction, suspension or expulsion — they are less likely to graduate high school and more likely to go to prison.

“The interpretation of normal, age-appropriate behaviors as being threatening and criminal and dangerous is leading to a situation where young people are not getting educational opportunities in school, and they’re being funneled into further criminal contact and the criminal system,” Bhagwat said.

Under current state law, staff are required to try other methods — such as meeting with parents, speaking with a psychologist, creating an individualized education plan or restorative justice programs — before resorting to something more severe.

“Between counseling and other programs, there are methods to use that don’t involve punitive consequences such as a misdemeanor crime,” Naj Alikhan, senior director of marketing and communications for the Association of California School Administrators, wrote in a statement to CalMatters.

The bill would also get rid of a clause that makes it a crime to “willfully disturb” public schools and meetings. Under this provision, students could be criminally prosecuted for running in hallways or knocking on doors.

“It’s somewhat of a vague term,” Kalra said, “and it’s been used against students who might have behavior issues. There’s a lot of different reasons why a student may be causing a disturbance and we want to give schools the ability to decide how they want to handle those situations.”

“There’s an assumption that we’re going to stop calling the police, and that’s not the case. The idea that we wouldn’t have that common sense is a little insulting.”
— Zuleima Baquedano, a charter school teacher

An amendment to the bill would make it an infraction for someone to prevent a school staff member from calling the police.

Baquedano — who testified on the bill before the Senate education committee in July and now teaches in Santa Ana — said that if the bill passes, there are serious situations, like having a deadly weapon or being in possession of drugs, where she would still call.

“There’s an assumption that we’re going to stop calling the police, and that’s not the case,” she said. “The idea that we wouldn’t have that common sense is a little insulting.”

It’s a decision Baquedano said teachers deserve to have.

“People should trust us — the professionals in the situation, who’ve been trained, who’ve gone through education to do this — they should be trusting our judgment,” she said. “We’re the ones who best know our students. We spend all these hours with them a year, sometimes more than parents do.”

Kalra remains optimistic that AB 2441 will pass the Senate this week and make it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

“You would hope,” he said, “that legislators would understand the need for us to support all students, and I’m hopeful that at least we can get this bill through to see that it’s not going to create some doomsday outcome.”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.