West
Ex-Biden official running in blue state gubernatorial race must tackle key issue amid skyrocketing costs
California gubernatorial candidate and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the state may need to rein in its Medicaid program as it faces concerns about costs partly related to those in the country illegally using the system.
Becerra, a Democrat who previously served as the Golden State’s attorney general, explained his stance in an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles this week.
“I believe we should eventually get there,” he said about allowing people to enroll in Medi-Cal even if they’re undocumented.
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Health Secretary Xavier Becerra testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement. (House Judiciary GOP / X)
“Can we afford to do it? That’s where a governor has to decide… if we can’t afford it, we have to be realistic. If we can’t afford it, how do we do it?” he added.
“But when you do the scrub… this is where it’s important, if you don’t have the dollars to do it, how do you do it? You need the money. California needs a balanced budget. You scrub it. If you find a way, you do it and don’t delay. But if you scrub it and you can’t figure out how to do it, then that’s the reality and that’s the choices we have,” the former Biden official continued.
The overall Medi-Cal program was originally expected to cost $6 billion until a California budget official revealed that it’s projected to cost $9.5 billion this fiscal year. The governor’s office then asked for two separate loans, totaling $6.2 billion.
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Illegal immigrants wait to be picked up at the southern border on May 23, 2024. (Bill Melugin/Fox News)
When asked by KCRA, Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and will leave office in January 2027, said that while illegal immigrants in the program are not the whole issue, it’s a contributing factor.
“That’s partial,” Newsom said last month.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
“With tough fiscal choices ahead, Governor Newsom, jointly with Pro Tem McGuire and Speaker Rivas, will evaluate proposals to rein in long-term spending – including in Medi-Cal – while working to protect the core health and social services Californians rely on,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The governor and his office have said rising costs have led to higher than expected Medicaid costs in other states that do not allow illegal immigrants to enroll.
“Immigration status doesn’t matter,” according to the California Department of Health Care services website, but Republicans have staunchly criticized allowing illegal immigrants in the program.
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Newsom and Trump face off. (Pool)
“Even Jerry Brown refused to expand Medi-Cal to all illegal immigrants because he knew it was fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable,” California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones tweeted last month. “Now under Newsom, legal residents are paying the price both financially and in reduced access to healthcare. The public deserves answers: Why are the costs so much higher than what Newsom promised? What is Newsom’s plan to fix the financial disaster he created?”
The 2026 California governor’s race is expected to be contentious, as Becerra, former Rep. Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis are already in the race on the Democratic side. Reports swirl that former Vice President Kamala Harris could make her comeback into politics after losing the 2024 election by running for governor. On the Republican side, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco is currently in the race, and many others are expected to join him.
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Washington
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Wyoming
At 6,000-year-old crossing, Gov. Gordon OKs Wyoming’s first-ever designated pronghorn migration route – WyoFile
SUBLETTE COUNTY—Gov. Mark Gordon heralded Wyoming’s first-ever designation to protect a pronghorn migration corridor — a more than 2 million-acre web of habitat — at Trapper’s Point, which he called a “wonderful passageway.”
“How incredibly valuable it is that you are standing here today,” Gordon told the crowd, “to witness this remarkable moment.”
Gordon commemorated the moment with his feet planted on the narrow bulge of high country that splits the Green and New Fork rivers. Thousands of years ago, the site was a well-used hunting ground for Native Americans — it’s the earliest known killing and processing site for pronghorn in North America. Now it boasts a wildlife overpass.
No pronghorn were to be seen during the especially windy Friday afternoon gathering, which attracted 75 attendees from nearby Pinedale and other western Wyoming communities.
Now Trapper’s Point is officially classified as a “bottleneck” for the Sublette Pronghorn Herd — one of 13 such bottlenecks. That classification is supposed to prevent any surface-disturbing activity, with the intent that pronghorn can keep passing through Trapper’s Point for generations to come.

Protecting the ability of the fleet-footed, tawny-and-white ungulates to migrate is a “key factor” in sustaining their population, Wyoming Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce said.
“This becomes even more important in severe winters or extreme droughts,” Bruce said. “Pronghorn are long overdue for recognition.”
Pronghorn in Sublette, Teton, Sweetwater and Lincoln counties travel a long road — some migrate more than 200 miles to escape harsh winters, trekking south into the lower Green River Basin, a semi-arid sweep of sagebrush steppe between Pinedale and Rock Springs. Then in the spring, they retrace those paths, returning to summer ranges, lush with verdant vegetation, even going as far as Grand Teton National Park.
There was also a long road of bureaucracy to get to this point.
Nearly three decades of effort preceded the formal designation of the migration routes used by the Sublette Pronghorn Herd, which is the farthest-traveling and among the largest pronghorn herds in the West.
Jackson Hole biologists long knew that the valley’s pronghorn left in the winter. But details were hazy on where they went and how they got there until around the turn of the century. Using data from tracking collars, biologists like Joel Berger, Steve Cain, Hall Sawyer and Doug Brimeyer helped delineate the route.
In 2008, a Bridger-Teton National Forest plan amendment established a portion of the path as the nation’s first designated wildlife migration corridor.
Popularized by its branding as the “Path of the Pronghorn,” the route has received press in national publications like High Country News and the New York Times.
But the southern reaches of the migration through the energy-rich Green River Basin have faced major political opposition since the early 2000s. Wyoming first attempted to protect those travel corridors in 2019, under a policy administered by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. That effort was halted after a coalition of industry trade groups and counties protested.
Then, in early 2020, Gordon revamped the migration policy with an executive order. Still, the Sublette Pronghorn Herd proposal gathered dust, even as development threatened the route.

Game and Fish revived efforts to protect the migration in late 2023 and early 2024. Biologists pulled together one of North America’s most comprehensive migration datasets, benefiting from approximately two decades of GPS collar information collected from more than 400 pronghorn.
Some controversy followed the process until near the end. There was a debate about whether to designate the migration’s two easternmost segments, in the Red Desert and east of Farson. The Game and Fish Department proposed excluding the routes, but was overridden by its commission. Then Gordon upended that decision, excluding the two segments.
Vetting the migration corridor through a Gordon-appointed working group was the second-to-last step in the designation process.
“Today’s designation demonstrates that voluntary, locally driven conservation works,” said Robb Slaughter, who chaired the group, during the commemoration at Trapper’s Point.
Time will tell if that’s the case. Wyoming’s migration policy is, by design, permissive of development. Private land is exempt from protections, and designation is not an assurance that new stressors won’t be added to the landscape.
“Today is not the end of the process,” Slaughter said. “It’s the beginning of the next chapter. Continued monitoring, adaptive management, research, and cooperation will ensure these recommendations remain effective as conditions change.”
But Friday was the end of the migration designation process. The governor’s informal OK — no signature was needed — was the last step, said Sara DiRienzo, the governor’s deputy policy advisor.
Wildlife advocates celebrated the moment.
“This is historical,” Bruce said. It’s the first effort to protect the full length of a pronghorn migration corridor in the nation, she said.
San Francisco, CA
Newlyweds celebrate Pride-themed weddings inside SF City Hall as parade preparations underway
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — On Friday in San Francisco, hundreds of newlyweds began the next chapter of their love story at City Hall.
As they got married inside, Pride preparations were also underway outside of City Hall.
These Pride-themed City Hall weddings were all happening as the setup for the Pride celebration at Civic Center were wrapping up in preparation for Pride Saturday and Sunday.
More than 250 couples arrived for Pride Friday, some of them getting commemorative Pride marriage licenses.
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Couples like Chris Parker and Jared Duensing got a very special officiant: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.
“This is such a wonderful day, and so happy to finally be married after four years of knowing each other in such a wonderful location. Being married by the mayor was so special,” said newlywed Chris Parker.
“Just happy and excited for those couples, and I’m happy and excited for our city to show off what makes San Francisco so great — and our LGBTQ+ community is a huge part of why San Francisco is so special,” Lurie said.
All of this leads to a huge weekend in San Francisco.
The stage being set up just outside of City Hall will mark the end of the parade route — but there’s a lot happening before that.
MORE: San Francisco Pride insiders reveal their must-know tips for the weekend
On Friday afternoon, the annual Trans March takes place at Dolores Park.
On Saturday, both the Trans Ally March and Rally and the Dyke March will take place.
On Saturday, performers will start taking the stage at Civic Center Plaza starting at noon.
All of this, of course, is leading up to Sunday’s big parade when thousands will line Market Street.
Zach Fuentes will be hosting SF Pride Parade coverage only on ABC7 Eyewitness News this Sunday with Drew Tuma, Cameron Bopp and Tara Campbell — as well as with our community guest hosts.
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