Fact Sheet
Getting Back to School and Work
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted California students’ and families’ lives — affecting learning, upending social and emotional support systems, and creating a caregiving crisis. Students have also missed out on expanded learning opportunities, such as before and after school, summer, and intersession programs. Expanded learning programs offer academic enrichment for over 900,000 students throughout the year.
Fact Sheet
Eliminating the Medi-Cal Asset Test: Making Access to Health Care More Equitable and Fair
Millions of California seniors and people with disabilities turn to Medi-Cal — known federally as Medicaid — for essential health care because ableist, ageist, racist, and classist policies and practices have blocked them from access to jobs, income, and wealth that can provide health coverage throughout their lifetimes. These Californians face further discrimination due to an asset test in Medi-Cal that unfairly applies only to people age 65 or older or who have a disability.
Data Hit
Undocumented Californians and Their Children Have Been Excluded from Thousands of Dollars in Federal Cash Payments
Undocumented and mixed status families have been excluded from thousands of dollars in federal aid during the pandemic, even though they are deeply integrated into our communities, workplaces, and schools. For example, two undocumented parents with two children were denied $8,600 to $11,400, depending on whether the children had Social Security numbers.
Report
California Leaders Must Expand Comprehensive Medi-Cal Coverage to Undocumented Seniors
Over one year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, confirmed cases and hospitalizations are declining and more Californians are getting vaccinated. While these are positive developments, state leaders must invest in communities that have been historically underserved and have been most impacted by the pandemic. Long-standing state and federal policy choices that do not value communities of color have compromised people’s ability to be healthy before and during the pandemic.
Report
Promoting Racial Equity Through California’s Tax and Revenue Policies
Legacies of historical racist policies and ongoing discrimination in areas such as education, employment, and housing have barred many Californians of color from economic opportunities. As a result, Californians of color — particularly Black, Latinx, and American Indian Californians — are less likely to have high incomes and to have built enough wealth to be able to weather periods of income loss, retire comfortably, and pass on wealth to their children. These barriers have also made Californians of color more likely to have experienced health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. One area policymakers should consider in efforts to address these inequities is the state’s tax and revenue policies. Although these policies may appear race-neutral, they can play a significant role in either worsening existing racial and ethnic income and wealth disparities or promoting greater equity for Californians.