DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: What Will Governor Newsom Do With the Bill to Fund Illegal Immigrant First-Time Home Purchases?

By now most of you have probably heard about California’s absurd new bill to offer illegal immigrants who are first time home buyers up to $150,000 towards a downpayment. I think the coverage of this has been a little unclear. California already has a “first-time home buyers” assistance program. AB1840 prohibits the California Housing Finance Authority from “discriminating” against applicants based on immigration status. So, while the bill doesn’t technically give out wads of cash so illegal immigrants can buy homes, it opens up the possibility of some illegal immigrants getting wads of cash so they can buy homes.

But there’s a problem (besides the obvious). The program handed out 1,700 first-time home buyer grants in June, depleting the fund. The legislature has not appropriated any further funds. The California Department of Finance has told the Governor and the legislature there is no money to fund more applicants.

The program is broke.

My suspicion is Governor Newsom will ultimately veto the bill. He is clearly planning a future presidential run and cannot afford to alienate the middle class.

It’s a little late for Newsom to embrace either the middle class or fiscal sanity.