California SB 227: Newsom’s Veto of the Excluded Workers Bill

California SB 227, the Safety Net for All Workers Act, would have created the state’s first Excluded Workers Program, paying $300 per week to unemployed workers who cannot access unemployment insurance because of their immigration status. The bill passed both chambers of the California Legislature but was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 28, 2024. It never took effect, though a successor measure has since been introduced.

What the Bill Would Have Done

SB 227 was authored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo. It would have directed the Employment Development Department to run a new Excluded Workers Program with a single purpose: providing income assistance to unemployed workers shut out of state or federal unemployment insurance because of their immigration status.¹ Roughly one million undocumented workers in California fall into that gap.

Eligible workers would have received $300 per week for each week of unemployment, up to 20 weeks, for a maximum benefit of $6,000. California’s regular unemployment insurance currently pays between $40 and $450 per week, so the flat $300 rate would have sat roughly in the middle of that range. Payments were designed to cover unemployment occurring between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, funded through California’s General Fund at an estimated cost of $356 million for benefits and administration.²

Because federal law bars unemployment compensation for workers without authorized immigration status, SB 227 was structured as a state-funded program sitting outside the federal-state unemployment insurance system.

Who Would Have Qualified

The program targeted one specific population: workers ineligible for unemployment insurance because of their immigration status. A U.S. citizen freelancer would not have qualified under SB 227, because that person already has access to existing programs.¹

To qualify, an applicant would have needed to meet all of the following:

Live in California.
Be ineligible for state or federal unemployment insurance because of immigration status.
Have performed at least 93 hours of work or earned at least $1,300 in gross wages across three calendar months (not required to be consecutive) within either the 12 months or the calendar year before applying.¹
Have experienced at least one full week without work.

The bill stated explicitly that immigration status alone could not be grounds for denying benefits, provided the applicant met all other requirements.¹

How Workers Would Have Proved a Work History

One of the harder practical problems the bill tried to solve was documentation. Workers paid in cash or off the books often lack pay stubs, W-2s, or tax returns. SB 227 addressed this with a point-based verification system. Applicants would self-attest to eligibility and submit documents totaling at least four points.³

Documents worth four points on their own included wage statements, W-2 forms showing at least $5,200 in gross wages, federal or state tax returns reporting at least $5,200 in gross wages, or time records showing at least 93 hours worked within a three-month window. A single one of these would satisfy the requirement.

Two-point documents included bank statements showing regular direct deposits from an employer, receipts from check-cashing establishments, transaction logs from payment apps, and commuting records such as toll receipts or transit passes showing travel to a work location. A letter from a registered charitable organization attesting to the applicant’s work history also counted for two points.

One-point documents included employer-issued ID badges, text messages or emails containing work schedules or instructions from an employer, and similar informal records. The tiered approach was designed so that workers without any single formal record could still piece together enough proof to qualify.³

Privacy and Data Protections

Because applicants would be disclosing their immigration status to a government agency, the bill included strong confidentiality safeguards. All personal information collected under the program would have been confidential and exempt from California’s Public Records Act. The data could only be used to administer the program, with one narrow exception: compliance with a court-issued order, warrant, or subpoena.¹ A general request from another government agency would not have been enough to access the data.

The bill also prohibited sharing applicant information with other government agencies, even where the Employment Development Department already had data-sharing agreements in place. Submitted documents could not be retained any longer than necessary to administer benefits, and the department would have been required to establish procedures guarding against unauthorized access by any person or entity, public or private.¹

Why Newsom Vetoed the Bill

Governor Newsom vetoed SB 227 on September 28, 2024, despite the bill clearing both houses of the Legislature. His stated reasons were that the bill’s timelines were impractical, the program presented operational challenges, and the required funding had not been included in the state budget. He did not raise federal preemption or constitutional concerns in his veto message.

The veto came alongside rejections of other bills that would have expanded state programs to undocumented immigrants, including one that would have opened University of California and California State University campus jobs to undocumented students.¹ It was the second time Newsom blocked the excluded workers concept.

Would Accepting Benefits Affect a Green Card Application?

A common worry among workers this bill was designed to help is whether accepting government benefits could hurt a future green card or visa application under the public charge rule. Federal guidance from USCIS is clear that unemployment insurance is not considered in public charge inadmissibility determinations. USCIS lists it alongside Social Security retirement benefits and veterans’ benefits as an “earned benefit” that falls outside the analysis.⁴

Whether a state-funded program like the Excluded Workers Program would be classified as unemployment insurance for these purposes is not entirely settled. The USCIS fact sheet on public benefits also notes that pandemic and disaster relief cash payments are excluded from the determination.⁵ SB 227 was designed to resemble unemployment insurance, which would support the argument that it falls within the same exemption. Anyone weighing this question should consult an immigration attorney, because federal enforcement priorities can shift.

Where Things Stand Now

No state-level excluded workers program currently exists in California. The SB 227 bill number in the 2025–2026 legislative session has been assigned to an unrelated bill about a green empowerment zone in Contra Costa County. SB 1054, introduced by Senator Cabaldon with Senator Durazo as a coauthor, appears to carry forward at least some elements of the excluded workers concept in the current session. Its details are still developing.

Workers who lose their jobs and cannot access unemployment insurance because of immigration status may still be eligible for other forms of assistance, including disaster relief programs, workers’ compensation for on-the-job injuries, and services through community organizations. None of these replicate what SB 227 would have offered, but they are the options available while the Legislature considers its next move.

1
LegiScan. Unemployment: Excluded Workers Program
2
California State Senate. SB 227 Safety Net for All Workers
3
California State Legislature. Summary of SB 227 (Durazo) – Excluded Workers Program
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 7 – Consideration of Current and/or Past Receipt of Public Cash Assistance for Income Maintenance or Long-term Institutionalization at Government Expense
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Fact Sheet: How Receiving Public Benefits Might Impact the Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility