Gavin Newsom gets caught in a Republican trap, and first-time home buyers are the losers

California’s Republican party is a superminority, but its Sacramento leaders recently engineered a political win, albeit as a loss for potential first-time homebuyers.

At issue was a bill by Fresno Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula. A Democrat, Arambula shepherded his Assembly Bill 1840 through both his lower chamber and the state Senate. All that remained was for Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign it into law.

The bill would have modified an existing program to allow undocumented residents the chance to apply for no-interest loans up to $150,000 to help purchase a home.

California was set to become the first state to allow undocumented people such an opportunity. But state Senate Republicans in late August called out the bill as a “giveaway of public funds” to people who were not legal citizens. They sharpened their attack by adding that money given to undocumented people would mean less funds for other borrowers like veterans. Senate Republicans advised Newsom to veto the measure.

Then on Sept. 5, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he would ban undocumented residents from getting home mortgages if he was elected to the White House.

Opinion

The next day, Newsom vetoed Arambula’s bill. It was the first veto of his bill-review period this month.

In his veto message, Newsom said there was no funding for the loan program. Given how he had to close the state’s $47 billion budget deficit, Newsom indicated he had no other option.

But the politics of the moment are obvious. Given Trump’s debate Tuesday night with the Democrats’ presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, Newsom did not want to give the Republican a new line of attack based on California’s liberal politics.

This despite the crisis of housing in California that Newsom has spent years trying to address. A way to help taxpaying residents move into home ownership got caught up in presidential politics and wound up in the proverbial trash.

Score this contest Trump and California Senate Republicans 1, Newsom 0.

Undocumented could apply

Conservatives opposed Arambula’s bill with knee-jerk predictability. But a closer look reveals AB 1840’s merits.

First, nothing in the legislation promises undocumented people that they will actually get the loans. All 1840 did was allow such buyers to apply. The bill says borrowers in the California Dream for All program “shall not be disqualified solely based on the applicant’s immigration status.” Beyond that, all applicants must meet the same qualifications to get a loan.

Second, it is highly unlikely new immigrants would take advantage of the program. To participate, borrowers need to have IRS tax-identification numbers or Social Security numbers. Such borrowers would have been in California for some time and would be working and saving money for a house purchase.

It used to be that Republicans fully supported anyone who worked hard and saved money to buy a home.

Moving people from renting to home ownership should be a bipartisan goal in Sacramento. When people have a stake in their community through home ownership, they are more involved and committed to its good. Nothing should stand in the way of that, especially when a housing crisis exists.

A new way for the GOP

Arambula hopes to bring back a new bill like 1840 in the next legislative session. Democrats will likely back it again.

This time, it would be advisable for California Republicans to support it, too. It could be a way of the GOP remaking itself into something relevant in state politics.

California has an estimated 1.8 million undocumented residents, the most in the nation. Rather than blame them for every societal ill like Trump does, California Republican leaders should work to bring them into citizenship. Owning a home is a great way to do just that.