By admin 
ISSUE | FAIR SHARE PROPOSAL: California legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom are leaving a tough question for the state’s next governor: Should corporations that don’t offer healthcare be charged for their employees who rely on taxpayer-supported coverage?
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The idea was championed by unions and other advocates who argue that companies are exploiting state law and benefiting from Trump administration restrictions to boost their bottom lines and should help offset restrictions on California’s Medicaid system, known as Medi-Cal, imposed by the federal government.
The lawmakers directed the state to come up with ideas and present those findings to legislators by March 1 through what is known as the Fair Share from Big Corporations Act.
Here’s where the state’s gubernatorial candidates stand.
Xavier Becerra, Democrat: Supports idea
Since advancing in the June primary, Becerra has kept a low profile and largely avoided major campaign promises that he might not be able to deliver on. But he has taken a forceful approach with the Fair Share plan.
“I will pursue a fee on large employers who do not offer health coverage to their low-wage workers who qualify for Medi-Cal, so that corporations who shift their healthcare costs onto taxpayers pay their fair share,” his campaign website says. “Profitable companies should not get to pass their obligations onto working families.”
That appears to be more than just talk. During the summer, Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, told reporters she and Becerra were already discussing moving the plan forward.
Steve Hilton, Republican: Against it
Hilton has stayed firmly opposed to the idea, arguing it will lead to higher prices, lower wages and fewer jobs for Californians.
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“California already taxes and spends more than enough to protect healthcare for the people the program was created to serve,” he said in a statement. “We do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending, management and accountability problem.”
He said the idea would punish companies that employ people who qualify for Medi-Cal.
Why it matters
That last concern raised by Hilton is shared by advocates who fear companies will be disincentivized from hiring people who use Medi-Cal if a tax is imposed. A charge also could affect the state’s tax revenue if companies decide to pull back business. One of the proposals put forward by March must include a tax for businesses with at least 250 employees.
The future of the tax could also affect how much the state supports undocumented immigrant healthcare.
Newsom until recently also pushed to expand Medi-Cal, which is funded by both the state and federal governments, for undocumented immigrants in an effort to approach universal healthcare coverage. But budget deficits and federal government cuts led him to propose restrictions on who is eligible.
Advocates see the proposal, and Becerra’s support of it, as a way to restore eligibility for people no matter their immigrant status tilt the scales more in favor of everyday working Californians.
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