2010 Federal Legislation

By Wilma Chan

One of the most critical functions of government is to protect our health from hidden dangers in our homes, schools, and workplaces.  In particular, we rely upon our government to protect us from dangers that we, as individuals, are powerless to address.  Major milestones in the field of public health improvements in the last century include vanquishing threats like botulism, smallpox, and polio, as well as protecting people and the environment by tackling chemical contamination left over from decades of unregulated dumping of hazardous wastes.  Today, we face another urgent call for our government to step in and protect future generations from a serious health threat that lurks in schools and homes.      

By Elizabeth Abbot
Health Access

Well, I'm back from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) meeting in Seattle!

I went to the NAIC meeting because I am one of the dozen or so consumer representatives who were chosen in March to represent consumers' interests as that organization works out many of the details of how health care reform will play out. The NAIC increased the numbers of consumer representatives this year because of the central role the NAIC has in writing policies and model regulations for the states and their official advisory role to the federal government in health care reform implementation. They already are lobbied by hundreds of industry representatives, and the commissioners needed the consumer perspective of how the implementation of health care reform.

By Willie Pelote
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

No one is competing for low-income patients: that’s the unfortunate truth for those who depend on Medi-Cal for their health insurance. When national health care reform is fully implemented, one in four Californians will be eligible for Medi-Cal. In concept, that should mean that more Californians will have improved access to doctors, but that isn’t the reality because most doctors – 70% of California’s doctors according to the California Medical Association- won’t accept Medi-Cal patients.

Current California law limits employment options for doctors by prohibiting hospitals from hiring doctors. Since doctors cannot afford to set up private practice in communities where most of the patients are Medi-Cal insured or uninsured, low-income and rural Californians are left without adequate access to medical care.  This needs to change if we want national health care reform to fulfill its promise.

By Amos Lim
New America Media

Not many people realize that within the United States there are approximately 36,000 couples who are struggling to be together because they are binational same-sex couples. The Uniting American Families Act would allow U.S. citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their partners to become permanent residents.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., recently held a press conference with more than 40 advocacy groups to urge congress to pass the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) this year by ensuring that it gets included in comprehensive immigration reform.

Here in the state of California, our state legislature voted overwhelmingly in a bipartisan way a few weeks ago for AJR15 -- a joint resolution that makes California the first state to support the passage of UAFA and its inclusion in comprehensive immigration reform.

By Anthony Wright
Health Access California

On Jan. 1, 2014, at least two million Californians will become newly eligible for Medi-Cal; but this is not to say that they will magically be enrolled when the ball drops in Times Square.  Without carefully laying the proper groundwork, this and other provisions of health reform law won't have their full impact.

How to best make this transition for Medi-Cal, which currently serves more than seven million Californians -- including low-income children, parents, seniors and people with disabilities -- is just one of the key goals through the current negotiations between the state and federal governments over the program's next five years. The stakes are high on these and other issues, all considered as part of discussions around a new Medicaid waiver.

By Dr. Ami Bera
Candidate for Congress, District 3

182,000,000 gallons. That’s how much oil scientists estimate spewed into the Gulf during the BP catastrophe. It’s enough oil to cover San Francisco, Oakland and Berkley.

The oil is visible from space. It covers 400 miles of coastline across two states. It’s permeated fragile marsh ecosystems. The initial explosion killed 11 workers.

$82,000. That’s the amount of money my opponent, Congressman Lungren, has taken in campaign contributions from oil companies. Money from Chevron, from Exxon, and yes, even from BP.

$2.6 billion. That’s the amount of money Lungren voted to give Big Oil in tax breaks.

By Paul Hogarth
BeyondChron

Netroots Nation concluded this past weekend in Las Vegas – with appearances by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, dozens of panels and workshops and a rousing Keynote by Senator Al Franken that renewed hope for liberal bloggers. If there’s one major frustration leading into November, it’s the U.S. Senate – where Republicans have obstructed practically everything that passed the House. Reid came to the Conference on July 24th – right after announcing we “don’t have the votes” for comprehensive climate change reform this year, only adding insult to injury.

One panel on filibuster reform suggested we’re in a constitutional crisis, but Reid himself wouldn’t commit to any specific solution. But rather than give up, Al Franken reminded the netroots that Senators elected in 2006 and 2008 with their help are a “coalition of the impatient” – and represent a new generation of more progressive Democrats. Bloggers are needed this November to add to their ranks, in order to change the Senate.

By Kristen Eberhard
NRDC

The federal climate bill has been declared dead. What do we do now?

We turn back to our federalist roots. We make the states the laboratories of innovation while the federal government tries to get its act together. The World Resource Institute just issued a report analyzing possible progress towards meeting our emission reduction goals under existing state and federal authority. 

There’s some bad news: with our current set of tools, we can’t do enough to solve the problem. But there’s also good news: if we pursue our existing state and federal policies aggressively enough, we can stay on a reasonable path for the next five years, buying time to implement a comprehensive national plan. 

By Ryan Scholl

After 87 days, the latest reports are that BP may finally have stopped the flow of oil from its Deepwater Horizon well. Although tests showing that the cap is working are positive, work continues on drilling two relief wells that will permanently plug the gusher.

Over the last long 12 weeks, the government estimates that approximately 175 million gallons of oil have flooded into the Gulf of Mexico. That is roughly equivalent to 16 Exxon Valdez spills, making it many times over the largest oil spill in national history and perhaps the worst environmental crisis we’ve ever confronted. It is hard to understate the scale of environmental destruction the Gulf will continue to experience for months and probably years to come.

By Anthony Wright
Health Access

It’s about security.

For our health care system, it’s the best of times, and the worst of times. Celebration over the new federal health reform law has been muted because of the crisis of the moment — our economic recession and resulting budget crisis. Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed health cuts that would not just imperil lives and harm our health care system, but would undermine our efforts at an economic recovery.