FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alicia Isaacs, (916) 224-8488

September 28, 2014

Governor Brown Signs Perea Bill Helping Fresno Continue
Providing Healthcare for Indigent and Undocumented
SACRAMENTO-Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2731 by Assemblymember
Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno) into law. AB 2731 provides clarifying language to a budget bill, Senate Bill
(SB) 853, passed earlier this year providing Fresno County the budget flexibility to continue providing
care for the Countys indigent and undocumented population by delaying the $5.5 million the County
owes to its local Road Fund for Maintenance-of-Effort.
I applaud Governor Brown for signing this important district measure into law, and look forward to
working with the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to reinstate medical care for the undocumented
and indigent, said Assemblymember Perea. Without care this population will suffer unnecessarily.
Its time for the Board of Supervisors to step up and do the right thing for these people in our
community who pick our crops and provide us with services.
With this action by Assemblyman Perea and Governor Brown, the state is giving Fresno County the
budget flexibility it says its needs to continue to provide safety-net health care for the remaining
uninsured, said Anthony Wright, executive director, Health Access California, the health care
consumer advocacy coalition. Theres no reason for Fresno to roll back eligibility for health care, and
theres many reasons to ensure Fresnos workers and families have access to basic health care, for the
good of the communitys economy and health system. Fresno County now needs to take affirmative
steps to use this budget flexibility to continue to provide safety-net care for those who need it.
As a grower, I know the success of our farms is contingent on the workers just as much as the
farmers, said Manuel Cunha, President of the Nisei Farmers League. In order for Californians to
have food to put on the table, we need to have a healthy workforce. Assemblymember Perea authored a
bill making it easy for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to step up and do the right thing. Our
workers provide us with services, and now we need to make sure they are taken care of just like any
other Californian.
On behalf of many Fresno County families and children in danger of being left without health care,
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) appreciates Governor Brown signing this
urgently needed bill - AB 2731 (Perea) - that gives the County the funding flexibility to continue health
care to the most marginalized residents. We thank Assemblymember Perea for his leadership on this
critical health issue, said Noe Paramo, CRLAF Legislative Advocate.
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