Gov.-elect Becerra still mulling over how to cut prices, provide healthcare
SACRAMENTO — In his first news conference since being elected governor, Xavier Becerra remained noncommittal on taxes, energy and healthcare policy — even refusing to commit to reversing cuts to Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented immigrants, a campaign pledge.
But he asserted that he was already working with legislative counterparts on how to provide critical services and lower the cost of living.
“I can’t make a commitment without knowing what exactly I’m facing,” Becerra said of reversing cuts to Medi-Cal. “I don’t think any voter, any taxpayer, any Californian wants to have a governor who’s still acting like a politician” on the campaign trail.
The governor-elect, speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon inside the state Capitol, had just concluded a meeting with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro-Tempore Monique Limón. The three Democrats appeared side by side in a display of unity between two branches of government with a sometimes-prickly relationship.
“You guys should get used to this,” Becerra said, pointing thumbs at the lawmakers on either side of him. “We’ve got lots to do, and the public made it very clear we should be focused on jobs one, two and three, and that is: cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. Letting California families know we want them to stay, we want them to thrive. We want them to retire in California.”
Becerra has provided few specifics about his plans to ease inflationary pressures. Asked whether he would consider cutting income tax rates for low- and middle-income Californians, he responded that “everything should be on the table.”
“You’re probably going to be hearing me say that a lot, whether it’s on energy, whether it’s on revenue tax policy, whether it’s on healthcare,” he said. “Why should we take anything off the table? We will explore it. At the end of the day, what should stay on is what’s smart and makes sense.”
Although he did not support the billionaire wealth tax on Tuesday’s ballot, Becerra has said repeatedly that he thinks the state’s wealthiest should contribute their fair share.
As a trained lawyer who spent more than 25 years in Congress, Becerra has earned a reputation as a thoughtful politician who takes time to mull over decisions.
Rivas and Limón were equally noncommittal when asked about Becerra’s proposal to provide low-income people with two daily hours of free electricity, which he calls “power hour.”
“Could there be some alignment on this idea of power hour?” Rivas asked. “Possibly, but specific to this proposal, I don’t know enough about it.”
“There’s an opportunity here to look both short-term and long-term” at energy issues, Limón added.
California’s three most powerful elected leaders — for the first time, all Latino — in their private meeting discussed healthcare, energy costs, artificial intelligence and implementing funding from an $11.25-billion housing bond voters approved Tuesday. Becerra, the state’s first directly elected Latino governor, took several questions in Spanish.
The top Democrats will decide how to divvy up hundreds of billions of dollars in the state’s budget beginning early next year.
The state expanded Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented residents over several years, but the costs proved higher than anticipated. In an October 2025 report, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated program expansions cost the general fund $10 billion annually, “more than double the initial estimates.”
However, thousands of undocumented immigrants disenrolled from the program last year after President Trump took office.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers imposed enrollment freezes and $30 monthly premiums for working-age undocumented adults, which take effect next year.
Becerra’s campaign website says he would “direct state agencies to protect access to essential, medically appropriate health services from federal restrictions, including reproductive care and healthcare for immigrant communities.”
Shortly before the news conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass conceded the race to challenger Nithya Raman. Becerra offered congratulations and said he would soon be in touch with the mayor-elect.
“I hope I can change the relationship with local government,” Becerra said, adding that he wants his administration to work closely with mayors and county supervisors around the state. “I know local government fears sometimes that Sacramento doesn’t pay attention to them and shortchanges them.”
On the Capitol grounds earlier in the day, Republican nominee Steve Hilton, whom Becerra defeated, said he hoped his opponent “can and will bring the change that people want to see in California.”
“There’s a desperation among regular working people in California,” Hilton said, his voice shaking with emotion. “Whatever they do in the next four years, I really hope they understand that Californians are at breaking point.”
