- HOME
- About
- Topics
- Angelides
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- California Attorney General Race
- California Congressional Races
- California Democratic Party
- California Governor Race 2010
- California Legislative Races
- California Lt. Governor Race
- California Secretary of State Race
- California State Budget
- California State Controller
- Campaign Finance Reform
- Campaigns
- Cell Phones
- Children and Families
- Consumer Rights
- Corporate Accountability
- Criminal Justice
- Death With Dignity
- Disaster Preparation
- Discrimination and Civil Rights
- Education
- Elections and Voting
- Electoral College
- Energy
- Environment
- Farm Animal Cruelty Ballot Measure
- Flood Control
- Food Safety
- Gas Prices
- Governor's Election Race
- Gun control
- Health Care
- Health Insurance
- Hiram Johnson's Corner
- Housing
- Human Rights
- Humor
- Immigration
- Infrastructure
- Initiative Reform
- Insurance Commissioner Race
- Labor
- Language and Politics
- Legal System
- Media and Communication
- Minimum Wage
- Open Government
- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Politics
- Preschool
- Presidential Election 2008
- Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act Prop
- Prison Reform
- Privacy
- Privitization
- Prop 11-Redistricting/Reapportionment
- Prop 1A--High Speed Rail
- Prop 2--Treatment of Farm Animals
- Prop 3-Children's Hospital Bonds
- Prop 4 Waiting Period and Parental Notification
- Prop 5--Non-violent drug offenses
- Prop 7 and 10-Alternative Fuel and Energy Bond
- Prop 8 and-Marriage Equality
- Prop 85 Parental Notification
- Prop 86 Tobacco Tax
- Prop 87--Alternative Energy
- Prop 9 Parole
- Prop 90
- Prop 91--Transportation Funding
- Prop 92- Community Colleges
- Prop 93--Term Limits
- Props 94-97--Tribal Gaming
- Props 98 and 99
- Racial Disparities
- Responsible Lending
- Retirement Benefits
- Site of the Day
- Solar Initiative
- Structure of California Government
- Taxes
- Toxic Chemicals
- Transportation/Transit
- Water
- Westly
- Workers' Compensation
- Stories
- Cavala: A Constitutional Convention for California?
- Eight Years From Bush v. Gore to Palin: The Bridge to Nowhere
- California Proposition 11: Redistricting Commission – YES
- What Does a Republican Running in an Increasingly Democratic District Do? Why Aghazarian Wants to Make Legislative Races Non-Partisan
- Prop 1A and High Speed Rail's Role in Fighting Dependence on Oil and Sprawl in California
- Schwarzenegger Vetoes Bill Recommended By Autism Commission
- Governor Schwarzenegger Can Put a Dent in Auto Repair Fraud and Protect Consumers by Signing AB 2825
- California Assembly District 26: Republican Refuses to Debate Eisenhut in Close Race Democrats May Pick Up
- Bankruptcy Relief and the Bailout
- A Renewed Call for Mortgage Reform in California
- Preschool Legislation Aimed at Closing the Achievement Gap in California Becomes Law
- Debate: Opening Advantage Obama
- Directory
- Donate
- Contact Us
RSS Advertise Here
Deliver your message to thousands of readers every day.
Our readers are influential opinion makers - politicians, journalists and activists.
Our latest headlines
- Attorney General Brown Announces Largest Predatory Lending Settlement in History: $8.68 Billion in Home Loans and Foreclosures Relief Nationally—Up to $3.5 Billion to Californians—From Countrywide Financial Corporation
- Hannah-Beth Jackson Has the Goods on Tony Strickland in Pivotal California Senate Seat Race
- Proposition 5: We Need to Fix the Drug Court System
- Turning a Red California District Blue: Is the Third Time a Charm for Ferial Masry and the Sixth Seat for Democrats to Gain Two-Thirds in the Assembly?
- The Heller Gun Decision Week 14 – The U.S. Senate Holds H.R. 6842 and California Holds SB 327
- Cavala: Competitive Legislative Seats Do Not Produce “Moderate” Lawmakers
- In California’s 5th Senate District Race Democrat Wolk Should Win
About Us
The California Progress Report is published by Frank D. Russo, a longtime observer of and participant in California politics.
About Frank Russo.
About California Progress Report.
Got a news tip? Want to write a guest column? Contact Frank here.
Sponsors
Books
Crucial Day in Sacramento for Major Legislation: Assembly Votes on Universal Health Care, Senate on Cable TV/Internet Bill
By Frank D. Russo
Dozens of the biggest bills of the two-year session of the legislature will face key votes on the floors of both houses today. If some are passed, they will go directly to the Governor, while others are a couple of steps removed from final legislative approval and must pass a floor vote in the other house.
Senate Bill 840 by Senator Sheila Kuehl, a historic universal health care, single payer system proposal, will be voted on by the Assembly. A last minute press conference by Fabian Nunez, the Speaker of the Assembly and Senate President pro Tem Don Perata along with Senator Kuehl and others is scheduled for 10 a.m. to give it an extra push. It would cover all California residents for a comprehensive range of medical costs, including dental care, prescriptions, mental health care and hospitalization and give patients the right to choose their own doctor.
It has the support of over 475 organizations as well as 15 cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland. It has drawn heavy opposition from the California Chamber of Commerce and other powerful interests in the state. It should pass the Assembly on what may be a narrow vote and have clearer sailing in the State Senate where it was approved 25 to 15 in May. If it is any indication of what is to come, the Assembly defeated by a 46 to 28 vote margin an attempt by Republican Assemblymember Aghazarian to put hostile amendments into the bill on Thursday.
Senator Kuehl and others are already looking ahead to what may be the biggest obstacle of all—getting Governor Schwarzenegger to sign the bill. There is a rally scheduled for Wednesday in the Capitol to tell the Governor to “do the right thing” and sign this bill into law. Most observers expect a veto. If it does become law, it would California would be a leader in the nation for what may become a single payer plan for the nation, cutting out much of the 25% or more that is taken by insurance carriers and the expensive paperwork that medical providers must process.
Speaker Nunez’ bill, AB 2987, “The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006,” would allow phone companies to compete with the cable companies for television and internet services. It has been the subject of intense lobbying by the cable and phone giants as well as cities, consumers, and others. The devil is in the detail in this complex bill and it was amended on Wednesday, with many expecting further amendments before passage.
Also up in the Assembly is the final vote on Electoral College Reform, AB 2948 by Tom Umberg, Chair of the Assembly Elections Committee. It would award our state’s vote to the winner of the national popular vote and require other states to ratify a compact to award their state’s vote in the same manner for it to become effective.
In the Senate the Speaker also has a gasoline anti-price gouging bill, AB 457, and the Los Angeles Unified School District reorganization bill, AB 1381, sought by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
All told, there are 245 bills lined up on “Third Reading,” ready for a Senate Floor vote in addition to noncontroversial measures on a special consent calendar, not to mention those that are in second reading, going to committee, in conference committees, and up for reconsideration.
The Assembly has 169 measures lined up for votes in addition to a number of others in different stages and still available for consideration.
No major announcement has been made on an agreement on what to do about the state’s prison mess, another major area involving billions of dollars and thousands of human lives on different sides of fences and bars. A package of flood control bills has been pulled off the table by Senate President pro Tem Perata, but some or all of those bills could be passed before the final gavel.
Negotiations are ongoing on global warming between legislative leaders and the Governor and may or may not get resolved. The Speaker has vowed to put AB 32, which he has coauthored with Asemblymember Pavley, on the Governor’s desk. Senator Perata has another greenhouse gas emission bill as well.
Among other items pending are overtime for domestic workers, brownfield cleanups, impounding of cars driven by those without a valid license, biomonitoring, and far too many to mention.
We will report throughout the day when the smoke clears.
Comments
If passed and approved, SB 840 would wreak havoc on the California population trying to access health care. Its financial basis claims that a single-payer system would save money on administrative costs. However, the formula SB 840 uses to calculate “savings” has been proven to be overstated at best. Furthermore, SB 840 would place the burden of managing the entire state’s health care system at a time in which the State is challenged to maintain its existing programs.
Despite the myths asserted by single-payer supporters about the cost efficiency of the Canadian health system, the truth of the matter is that Canada has been no more successful in reducing health care costs than the U.S. according to a 2005 Canada Newswire Report and numerous studies from the policy journal, Health Affairs. From 1967-1987, per capita health care spending in Canada has actually exceeded per capita spending in the U.S.
Rather than handing the reins of our health care system over to a new state bureaucracy, wouldn’t we all be better served by developing solutions to our health care system that involve both the public and private sectors?
Posted by: David Benson at August 28, 2006 10:29 AM
Post a comment
Get Email Updates
Want the California Progress Report by email? Once a week, we'll send you the latest and greatest headlines.
© 2008 California Progress Report Our copyright and fair use policy.
Powered by Mandate Media. Logo design by Jane Norling.
