In merely the latest absurd and unaffordable proposal to come out of the Democrat-controlled state of California, the state legislature is considering offering unemployment benefits to illegal aliens regardless of their immigration status.

State Senator Maria Elena Durazo this week put forward Senate Bill 277, which seeks to provide income assistance to unemployed individuals known as “excluded workers” who are unable to qualify for regular state or federal unemployment insurance benefits due to their status as illegal immigrants.

Implementation of the program would be handed over to the Employment Development Department, and its execution would be dependent on the legislature allocating adequate funds for its implementation.

“Every day, undocumented immigrants contribute to California’s economic prosperity in agriculture, construction, clothing and other industries” said Durazo on proposing the legislation.

“California is set to be the world’s fourth-largest economy in large part thanks to immigrant labor, yet immigrants continue to be shut out from California’s economic success due to unjust exclusions from the safety net,” she continued. “That is why I am authoring SB 227, the Safety Net for All Workers Act. California must include a life-saving unemployment benefits program for these workers.”

As part of the legislation, the EDD would be prohibited from taking any of the following actions:

1. Requesting, orally or in writing, an individual’s nationality, place of birth, or eligibility or ineligibility for a social security number.

2. Compelling or requesting an individual to admit in writing whether they have proof of lawful presence in the United States.

3. Contacting an individual’s current, former, or prospective employer for any purpose, including to verify employment status. However, does not prohibit the department from using other means to verify past employment.

4. Recording an individual’s immigration or citizenship status.

Meanwhile, the proposed legislation also grants applicants the authority to self-declare their eligibility for the program, only mandating that they provide documentation with a value of at least four points as evidence of their work history.

However, the legislation may struggle to get past Governor Gavin Newsom, who last year vetoed a similar bill on the grounds that it needed “further work to address the operational issues and fiscal concerns, including a dedicated funding source for benefits.”

The bill is merely the latest in a series of ludicrous proposals put forward by the state’s legislators, where Democrats currently hold supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature.

Among those proposals was the California Reparations Task Force, which was first established by California Assembly Bill 3121 back in 2020 following the Black Lives Matter riots sparked by the death of George Floyd.  Last week, the task force called for billions of reparations for African-Americans determined to be descendants of slaves, with payments of up to $1.2 million per black resident.

Newsom called the recommendations “a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing,” but refused to be drawn on whether he would seek funding for the recommendations. “We need to wait for the Task Force to finish its work and submit its final report,” Newsom said at the time. “We are waiting for the process to be completed,”