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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14-SEPTEMBER 20, 2026
NO. 293
VOL. 12,
Long Beach adopts budget with deficit of over $58 million
California sanctions insurer after it cut assisted living coverage to thousands
By Joe Taglieri
By Kristen Hwang, CalMatters
joet@civicnewsgroup.com
This story was originally published by CalMatters.
C
Councilwoman Kristina Duggan discusses her opposition to
Mayor Rex Richardson opens the public hearing prior to the
the 2027 budget Tuesday. | Photo courtesy of the city of Long
City Council’s approval of the 2027 budget. | Photo courtesy of
Beach/YouTube
the city of Long Beach
T
he Long Beach City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to adopt a 2027 budget totaling $4 billion in spending at a deficit of $58.2 million, closing out a marathon session that restored library hours and dozens of positions while raising parking citations and cannabis taxes to pay for them. The vote capped what Mayor Rex Richardson called “budget adoption day,” a process he said had “improved significantly at every step along the way, moving from departments to the city manager’s proposal to the mayor’s recommendation” since January. But several council members said the final package arrived too late for meaningful review, with the Budget Oversight Committee’s 28 recommendations released only hours before council adoption and after the committee received the mayor’s budget preferences with no time for meaningful review.
“I don’t know how these recommendations come from the BOC when I didn’t even see them until today,” Councilwoman Cindy Allen said, adding she would not “rubber stamp a $4 billion budget when I’ve only had minutes to review”. Councilwoman Kristina Duggan, who cast the second “no” vote, echoed Allen’s concern, saying the full council had “only part of a day to review significant changes before being asked to adopt the budget tonight”. The approved budget restores about 70 positions that had been proposed for elimination, including fire engine and patrol positions, and includes $1 million for the Long Beach Justice Fund. It also preserves Monday hours at five branch libraries by restoring $1,275,575 and 11 full-time positions in the Library Arts and Culture Department. To fund those restora-
tions, the council approved raising specific parking citations to $100, projected to generate $1.5 million, and increasing street sweeping citations from $75 to $80 for an estimated $700,000. The budget also repeals a prior 1% tax reduction for adult-use cannabis retailers, raising the rate from 7% to 8% and setting the cultivator rate at $15 per square foot, estimated to bring in $1,154,304. Allen and Duggan opposed the parking fee increases on equity grounds. “Renters are more likely to depend on street parking, while homeowners have access to garages and driveways in many cases,” Duggan said. “At the same time, we are approving new apartment projects with less than one parking space per unit, and in some cases, even less for affordable See Budget Page 23
housing. Housing.” A substitute motion to remove the parking citation increase failed, as did a separate motion to delay the budget hearing by a week. The council also approved a $1,490,000 grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for the city’s Community Crisis Response Team, a program that dispatches mental health responders instead of police to nonviolent crises. Public speakers urged expanding the team beyond its current five staff members, who operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to a Richardson in a Facebook post, the budget also preserves funding for the city’s Police Academy Class 101 and “Quality of Life teams” while preventing “disruptive fire engine brownouts citywide”
alifornia regulators ordered Health Net to fix how it’s handling the termination of assisted living services for low-income residents after the insurer’s abrupt decision left patients and providers scrambling. The state’s corrective action plan requires Health Net to extend services for all members until the end of the year, rather than stopping some as soon as October. Health Net, one of the largest Medicaid insurers in the country, notified providers several months ago that it was ending its assisted living and home care services contracts. The services are optional under Medi-Cal — California’s version of Medicaid — meaning an insurer can decide annually whether it will continue coverage. Providers and family members said they got little or no warning, leaving them confused and panicked about finding other arrangements. In an August letter to Health Net, the Department of Health Care Services cited eight deficiencies in the insurer’s handling of the change, including failure to submit transition plans for members, failure to move members to other medically appropriate care, and denying services to members. Regulators wrote that violations “jeopardize member safety, disrupt continuity of care, and endanger medically vulnerable members.” If Health Net does not extend benefits and create individualized transition plans for each affected See Assisted living Page 04
member, the state may fine them $25,000 per member per day of violation, the letter states. Advocates and providers estimate about 3,500 Medi-Cal patients rely on Health Net to pay for assisted living costs. Most are elderly, and many have cognitive issues like dementia. Health Net operates Medi-Cal plans in 10 counties: Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare. In a statement to CalMatters, Health Net spokesperson Beatriz Lopez said the company still plans to end the services next year, but will now cover all members through the end of the year. “Health Net and DHCS share a commitment to advancing the health and well-being of Medi-Cal members,” Lopez said. Health Net has previously told CalMatters the assisted living benefit “has not led to better care” in terms of fewer emergency room visits or days hospitalized. The benefit is part of CalAIM, a broad state initiative to improve Medi-Cal services and save money by stabilizing high-cost users who frequently end up in emergency rooms. Lopez said Health Net would continue analyzing data and supporting services that result in better health outcomes. Providers confirmed to CalMatters that their contracts would run through the end of the year.