Assemblywoman Schiavo Helps Secure Critical Budget Investments for Healthcare Access, Victim Services, Landfill Response, and Community Health

• Furkan Yalcin
• [email protected]

SACRAMENTO, CA - Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo announced today that last night, the California State Legislature passed the 2026-27 state budget bill, representing the Legislature's priorities heading into final negotiations with the Governor. In a difficult budget year shaped by federal cuts and growing needs across the state, the Legislature advanced many of Assemblywoman Schiavo's priority investments to protect healthcare access and community care programs, support victims of crime, and strengthen the state's response to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill crisis, and did so without raising taxes.

The budget also maintains $29 billion in reserves and works to protect our Rainy Day Fund to help prepare for future uncertainty and challenging years ahead.

"At a time when families in our community are struggling with high costs, new barriers to accessing healthcare, ongoing health impacts from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, and cuts to life-saving services, we fought to make sure the state budget includes investments to help with these issues and more," said Assemblywoman Schiavo. "This was a tough budget year, especially with cuts coming from the federal government, but we were able to balance fiscal responsibility with protecting critical programs families depend on. No budget is perfect and there is still more work ahead, but today's vote moves us closer to delivering for our community in the ways they need and deserve."

Some of the priorities Assemblywoman Schiavo fought for in the budget include:

Supporting Victims of Crime
For two years in a row, Assemblywoman Schiavo has fought to include money in the budget to fund the life-saving work of victim service providers. This year's budget includes $50 million for Victims of Crime Act programs, filling the gap due to federal cuts, preventing devastating loss of services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, human trafficking, and other crimes.

Strengthening the Response to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill Crisis
The budget approves $5.14 million in funding for landfill response, helping support the state's ongoing work to address the Chiquita Canyon Landfill crisis impacting Castaic, Val Verde, and surrounding communities. Assemblywoman Schiavo has consistently pushed for a stronger, faster, and more coordinated state response to protect residents' health and quality of life.

Protecting Medi-Cal Access and Eligibility
Due to new federal Medi-Cal requirements and timelines, 1.4 million Californians may lose healthcare coverage due solely to paperwork. To help prevent that, the budget includes $213 million for county Medi-Cal eligibility workers, who will be ready to help hundreds o f thousands of Californians keep their healthcare by guiding them through the new requirements created by H.R. 1.

Delaying the Return of the Medi-Cal Asset Test
The Medi-Cal asset test looks at how much money and property a person has to decide if they qualify for Medi-Cal. Assemblywoman Schiavo strongly opposed bringing back this limit because it could force seniors and people with disabilities to spend their modest savings on everyday expenses and emergencies just to keep their health coverage. The budget delays implementation of the asset test and rejects the governor's proposed limit of $2,000.

Congregate Living Health Facilities
For many with chronic care needs, congregate living health facilities, or CLHFs, provide health care that would otherwise require much more expensive extended stays at a hospital. However, CLHFs have not received an increased reimbursement rate for decades, only recently being able to transition to a new reimbursement structure next year. Until then, CLHFs struggle to keep their doors open to help these patients on the edge. This year, the Assemblywoman successfully advocated for $7.7 million dollars in funding to help CLHFs bridge their support until the new structure is finalized.

The Legislature's budget also prioritizes investments in wildfire protection, higher education, child care, school funding, and housing support. It also includes $375 million in new funding for Proposition 36 implementation, including support for courts, mental health treatment, and rehabilitation, building on the $300 million provided last year.

"I am proud we secured important wins, but I will keep fighting for our shared priorities as the negotiations move forward while continuing to ensure we aren't raising taxes," said Assemblywoman Schiavo. "We must do more to make sure the needs of veterans, families, seniors, workers, and people with disabilities are protected as final budget details are negotiated."

The budget bill now moves to the Governor's desk for final negotiations and ultimately his signature when an agreement is reached between the Legislature and Governor. Final budget details are expected to be completed through additional budget actions in the coming weeks.

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Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo was elected to the California State Assembly in November of 2022 and re-elected in 2024 to represent the 40th Assembly District, representing the Northwest San Fernando Valley, Val Verde, Castaic and the Santa Clarita Valley. Upon her election, she was appointed as Assistant Majority Whip by the Speaker of the Assembly and now serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs. During her first term she brought back a record $100 million district investments in school and community safety, seniors meal programs, veteran housing, domestic violence services and creating local jobs. Prior to her election, Assemblywoman Schiavo was a Nurse Advocate and Small Business Owner who worked in the labor movement for more than 20 years. Throughout her career, Assemblywoman Schiavo helped deliver healthcare, including reproductive healthcare, to more than one million people. In the Northwest San Fernando Valley, she co-founded an organization that helped secure housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness, has delivered more than 50,000 meals to people in need, and increased resources to help keep our communities safe. Assemblywoman Schiavo lives in Chatsworth with her creative kid where they love to hike in the Santa Susana Mountains.