As a companion piece to providing free healthcare to all its illegal aliens, the state of California has now promised food stamps for all indigent aliens 55 and older, becoming the first state to do so. An estimated 75,000 illegal aliens are expected to enroll annually, initially costing taxpayers about $35 million. Near-term projections, however, show the cost rising to as much as $113 million by 2026.
The state’s action received predictable but muted praise from the left. Betzabel Estudillo, of a group called Nourish California, said:
California is once again making history by removing xenophobic exclusions to our state’s safety net. This move towards equitable access to our food and nutrition state safety net will help reduce hunger and mitigate poverty.
In other words, Cali is moving toward being equitable; it’s just not there yet. Earlier Estudillo had told the Fresno Bee:
We need to be able to cover a whole family unit. It’s not the equitable thing to do to exclude some family members from food assistance.
Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom is basking in a Virtue Signaled glow, so much so that he’s begun paying for a political ad urging residents of the state of Florida to relocate–or return–to California! The 30-second spot features Newsom telling Floridians that “freedom is under attack in your state” and goes on to portray Florida as a dastardly enemy of free speech and the right to choose, etc, while upholding his own state as an exemplar of liberty.
The ad appears to be the opening salvo of what might be a 2024 showdown for the presidency between himself and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Florida Florida Department of Health spokesman Jeremy Redfern responded with the following tweet:
And DeSantis campaign spokesman Dave Abrams said in a statement:
Gavin Newsom might as well light a pile of cash on fire. Pass the popcorn for his desperate attempt to win back the California refugees who fled the hellhole he created in his state to come to Florida.
California is hemorrhaging employers and taxpaying citizens steadily. The only “bright” spot in its demographic picture is its ability to attract, through self-congratulatory measures like the food stamp giveaway, more and more mostly indigent aliens. We’ll see how this socialist utopian dream plays out.