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The full Healthy Families report, with updated info...
Friday, September 04, 2009
Here's our full treatment on AB1422 and Healthy Families. We previously reported a preliminary tally. The official tally is 62-5, with the following Republicans in support: Berryhill, Berryhill, Conway, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Nestande, Niello, Neilsen, and Villines. HEALTH ACCESS ALERTThursday, September 3rd, 2009 ASSEMBLY ADOPTS DEAL TO KEEP HEALTHY FAMILIES GOING* Bi-Partisan Backing of AB1422 (Bass) Leads to a 62-5 Vote For New Tax
* Governor Vows to Sign Bill, Pleased No General Funds Involved
* AB119 (Jones) Passes, Banning Gender Bias in Health Insurance Pricing
More Updates on the Health Access Blog: Gov will sign, and no kids kicked off, but many cuts continue: Healthy Families: a resurrection; By any legislative means necessary; Public options all over the place; Seeing what the candidates do; Rallies this week for health reform!; New data on debt shows need for action; Get well soon, Rick!; Blue Cross is at it again; Video blogging by Biden; Change the channel and the health reform debate
Follow Health Access on Twitter, at @healthaccess, or www.twitter.com/healthaccess for quick updates on budget and health reform issues. Followers were among the first to find out about key bill passage in the Legislature yesterday and big HCAN rally in LA!SACRAMENTO -- In what one assemblyman called “our finest moment,” the Assembly on Thursday overcame its partisan differences long enough to pass a bill allowing 600,000 California children to keep their low-cost Healthy Families insurance coverage. Healthy Families seemed destined for the chopping block before a bi-partisan, two-thirds Assembly majority rescued the program by voting 58-0 for a new tax that everyone -- even those being taxed -- agreed was worth bridging the ideological gulf. Children’s advocates working to ensure continued coverage for kids in Healthy Families were relieved Thursday at the reprieve negotiated in the Legislature. “The parents of the nearly 1 million children enrolled in the program can sleep better tonight knowing that their kids will have health coverage as the school year starts,” said Children Now’s Tim Morrison. The legislation likely will reverse a decision by the state’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board to begin disenrolling children from the program in a matter of weeks. MRMIB members already voted to begin disenrollment, citing “insufficient funding” but also indicated they were holding out hope for an eleventh-hour funding solution. Now, the board appears to be well-positioned to reverse that vote. In the Assembly on Thursday, a number of Republicans stood to deliver a series of dramatic, last-minute tributes to AB 1422, (Bass-D), throwing their support behind the measure estimated to generate $97 million. They spoke passionately of the need to preserve the Healthy Families program, the struggles with poverty they see in their districts and the need to provide health care to children vulnerable to the swine flu, already making its rounds through California schools. The result was surprising, breaking up the partisan iceberg that successfully froze out several proposed budget solutions in the Legislature in the past year. In the Senate, the measure had passed 27-8 on Wednesday, with somewhat less bi-partisan backing. After the vote, Speaker Karen Bass (D), declared, “This is a memorable day when we can cross party lines and stand up for 600,000 California children” who were at risk of being kicked off the program. Bass also told lawmakers that California’s Taxpayer Association, traditionally an opponent of tax increases, saw enough merit in the deal to take a neutral stance on AB1422, and the California Chamber of Commerce supported the bill. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose severe budget cuts contributed to a $194 million shortfall in the Healthy Families program, said he would sign the bill. At least three key factors in the AB 1422 deal were instrumental in attracting Republican support: First, the new 2.35 percent tax that AB 1422 imposes is a reduction from the expiring 5.5 percent fee that health plans contracted by the state to manage Medi-Cal and Healthy Families coverage were previously paying. Second: The health plans did not object to paying the new tax, if it drew down federal funding that went back to them to keep Healthy Families going. Third: Families enrolling in the program will share some of the cost burden, allowing a good fit with the Republican tenet of personal responsibility. Democratic Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D) called the AB1422 proposal “a win-win. They (health plans) get a lower tax and they get the money back in the form of increases or higher payments.” Of the bi-partisanship exhibited by Assembly members, Calderon said, “This is one of our finest hours, if not our finest hour yet.” Families will be charged nominally higher fees for premiums, ranging from $4 to $7 per child, with very low-income families exempt from the increase. Other cost-sharing will include co-pay increases from $5 to $15 for emergency room visits that do not result in hospitalization and co-pay increases from $5 to $10 for non-preventative health, dental and vision services. In addition, children’s options in choosing dental service providers will be limited. Still, the increased costs for families are the lesser of several, more expensive options considered by the MRMIB staff. In the final analysis, staff embraced the more moderate proposals, hoping to spare families whose budgets already are stretched more financial pain than necessary. “This is a high-quality program,” Assemblyman Roger Niello (R) said of Healthy Families, California ’s version of the national children’s insurance program known as SCHIP. “The tax is supported by the industry. I think we can all agree this is a good thing.” Assemblyman Michael Villines (R) noted that the tax is a temporary fix-it, in place until 2010, to keep Healthy Families in operation, and it ends when enhanced federal funds are no longer available. Part of the purpose of the funds generated by the tax is to secure the increased federal matching funds announced by President Obama last spring -- $2 for every $1 the state spends on Healthy Families. Republican Assemblyman Danny Gilmore said he had hoped the floor vote would be 80-0 (which would have required participation by all Republicans). “By golly, this is an opportunity where we can come together for the children of our state,” Gilmore said, citing a 40 percent jobless rate in agricultural parts of his district that have been hit severely by drought. “Get over to my district and look at some of those people standing in line waiting for food.” With passage of AB1422, and the governor’s signature, MRMIB is spared from having to drastically scale back the program -- for this year at least. The children’s health insurance program also is benefiting from a generous boost by the First Five Commission, which committed $81.4 million to cover 200,000 of the kids in Healthy Families, aged 0-5 for one year. Meanwhile, the demand for Healthy Families coverage has never been higher, with the economic downturn lingering throughout California , and more than 70,000 families placing their children’s names on a waiting list for enrollment. On average, about 3,000 children per work day have been added to the list since MRMIB started taking names instead of enrolling more children in the health insurance program. Also passing the Legislature on Thursday was AB119 by Assembly Health Committee Chair Dave Jones (D), which prohibits gender discrimination in pricing health care insurance. Labels: Bass, Budget, Legislation, SCHIPHealthyFamilies, Updates
posted by Anthony Wright |
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2:31 PM
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Healthy Families: a resurrection
Thursday, September 03, 2009
In what one assemblyman called “our finest moment,” the Assembly on Thursday overcame its partisan differences long enough to pass a bill allowing 600,000 California children to keep their low-cost Healthy Families insurance coverage. Healthy Families seemed destined for the chopping block before a bi-partisan, two-thirds Assembly majority rescued the program by voting 58-0 for a new tax that everyone -- even those being taxed -- agreed was worth bridging the ideological gulf. Children’s advocates were relieved at the reprieve that was negotiated for Healthy Families. "The parents of the nearly 1 million children enrolled in the program can sleep better tonight knowing that their kids will have health coverage as the school year starts," said Children Now's Tim Morrison. A number of Republicans stood up on the Assembly floor to deliver a series of dramatic, last-minute statements of support for AB 1422 (Bass-D), throwing their backing to the measure estimated to generate $97 million. They spoke passionately of the need to preserve the Healthy Families program, the struggles with poverty they see in their districts and the need to provide health care to children vulnerable to the swine flu, already making its rounds through California schools. The result was surprising, breaking up the partisan iceberg that froze out several proposed budget solutions in the Legislature in the past year. Not a single Republican voted against the measure (although many declined to cast a vote). In the Senate, the measure had passed 27-8 on Wednesday, with somewhat less bi-partisan backing. After the vote, Speaker Karen Bass (D), declared, “This is a memorable day when we can cross party lines in California and preserve health care for 600,000 children statewide.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose severe budget cuts contributed to a $194 million shortfall in the Healthy Families program, reportedly said he looked forward to signing the bill. Three key factors in the AB 1422 deal were instrumental in attracting Republican support: First, the new 2.35 percent tax that AB 1422 imposes is but half the 5.5 percent fee that health plans contracted by the state to manage Medi-Cal and Healthy Families coverage were previously paying. Second: The health plans did not object to paying the new tax, if it drew down federal funding that went back to them to keep Healthy Families going. Third: A component of the deal was that low to middle-income families enrolling in Healthy Families share some of the cost burden, allowing a good fit with the Republican tenet of personal responsibility. Families will be charged higher fees for premiums, ranging from $4 to $7 per child, with the lowest-income families exempt from the increase. And, they will pay $5 to $15 dollars more for medical services. “This is a high-quality program,” Assemblyman Roger Niello (R) said of Healthy Families, California’s version of the national children’s insurance program known as SCHIP. “The tax is supported by the industry. I think we can all agree this is a good thing.” Assemblyman Michael Villines (R) noted that the tax is a temporary fix-it, in place until 2010, to keep Healthy Families in operation, and it ends when enhanced federal funds are no longer available. Part of the purpose of the funds generated by the tax is to secure the increased federal matching funds announced by President Obama last spring -- $2 for every $1 the state spends on Healthy Families . Republican Assemblyman Danny Gilmore said he hoped the floor vote would be 80-0 (which would have required participation by all Republicans). “By golly, this is an opportunity where we can come together for the children of our state,” Gilmore said, citing a 40 percent jobless rate in agricultural parts of his district that have been hit severely by drought. “Get over to my district and look at some of those people standing in line waiting for food.” With passage of AB1422, and the governor’s signature, the state’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board plan to disenroll children from Healthy Families coverage now appears moot – for this year at least. The children’s health insurance program also is benefiting from a generous boost by the First Five Commission, which committed $81.4 million to cover 200,000 of the kids in Healthy Families, aged 0-5 for one year. Meanwhile, the demand for Healthy Families coverage has never been higher, with the economic downturn lingering throughout California, and more than 70,000 families placing their children’s names on a waiting list for enrollment. Labels: Bass, Budget, Legislation, SCHIPHealthyFamilies
posted by Cynthia Craft |
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6:23 PM
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Bass on the budget...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Here's Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, with emphasis added by us: “It’s a shame Governor Schwarzenegger is so eager to tear down the safety net that he appears willing to break the law to do it. I am asking Legislative Counsel for a definitive opinion on the legality of the governor’s actions.""The cuts the governor made today will have catastrophic effects on children, domestic abuse victims, and seniors. The cuts the governor made today have broken the lifeline to the state’s most vulnerable and underserved. We sent the governor budget solutions that solved the deficit. He knows that. He knows we pledged to work with him on building up the reserve in August. He knows all that and still chose to take punitive measures against children and AIDS patients. It wasn’t too long ago when a 24 year old woman born with HIV pleaded with Legislators not to adopt the Governor’s proposal to eliminate the program that provides the drugs that keep her alive. It wasn’t too long ago when a disabled woman, needing both the assistance of a wheel chair and oxygen, pleaded to stay out of a nursing facility in the event her in-home assistance would be eliminated by the Governor.
“Throughout the past several months, Democrats in the Legislature worked to spare these vital services from elimination. The governor’s actions today have not just caused harm; his actions today put lives in jeopardy. He is cutting funding for the Black Infant Health Program at a time when African American babies have a mortality rate three times higher than white babies. The governor is choosing to make devastating cuts to child welfare services, leaving children and foster kids vulnerable. Earlier in the budget process the governor threatened to veto bills that charged oil companies the same fair share severance tax they pay in other states and to levy tobacco products for the harm they inflict on the health care system and the state’s general fund. Had the governor not stood up for big oil and big tobacco, these devastating cuts also could have been avoided.
“The governor said he wanted to take on waste, fraud, and abuse but that appears to have meant taking on victims of domestic abuse. That’s shameful, but not totally unexpected from an administration that has been historically hostile to safety net programs. His Republican colleagues in the legislature blew up their deal and the governor takes it out on the sick, the young, the elderly and battered women—all cuts he has been dying to make since his May budget revisions. For our part, my colleagues and I will move forward to restore any of these unnecessary cuts that are found to be legal and build a responsible reserve to accompany the full deficit solution we sent the governor last week.
“I do also have to say this kind of game playing by the governor doesn’t bode well for success in terms of water, corrections, pensions or any of the other items the he is looking to in order to build some kind of real legacy. He and his staff may be lighting cigars to celebrate these cuts, but they should also be concerned about the devastating harm they are causing—and about burning their bridges.” Labels: Bass, Budget
posted by Anthony Wright |
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3:44 PM
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Introducing your Assembly committees...
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has announced the rosters of Assembly Committees. Here's the members of the health-related committees: Assembly Health CommitteeAssemblymember Dave Jones (D), Chair Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher (R), Vice Chair Assemblymember Anthony Adams (R) Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D) Assemblymember Marty Block (D) Assemblymember Wilmer Carter (D) Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (D) Assemblymember Bill Emmerson (R) Assemblymember Ted Gaines (R) Assemblymember Isadore Hall (D) Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (D) Assemblymember Ed Hernandez (D) Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D) Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D) Assemblymember V. Manuel Pérez (D) Assemblymember Mary Salas (D) Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R) Assembly Budget Subcommittee #1 - Health and Human ServicesAssemblymember Jerry Hill (D), Chair Assemblymember Jim Beall Jr. (D) Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (D) Assemblymember Bill Emmerson (R) Assemblymember Ed Hernandez (D) Assemblymember Brian Nestande (R) With the announcement of the Senate Committees last week, the cast of characters has been largely set for the next two years, in the various debates about health policy. Labels: Bass
posted by Anthony Wright |
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8:37 PM
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Assembly chairs...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass just announced chairs of committees, both policy committees (which we largely knew) and budget subcommittees (which we didn't). We are still awaiting the membership rosters, to see how hard it will be to pass legislation this year. The biggest news is that first-term Assemblymember Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), Chair will chair Budget Subcommittee #1 for Health and Human Services. He was a former San Mateo County Supervisor, which did some innovative work on expanding health coverage and providing health services, and so should come with real-world knowledge about the impacts of the health and human services cuts that he will be reviewing. Here's the chairs and vice-chairs of other committees of interest to health consumer advocates: Health:Assm. Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, chair Assm. Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, vice chair Accountability and Administrative Review:Assm. Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, chair Assm. Audra Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, vice chair Appropriations:Assm. Kevin De León, D-Los Angeles, chair Assm. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, vice chair Budget:Assm. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, chair Assm. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, vice chair Revenue and Taxation:Assm. Charles Calderon, D-Montebello, Chair Assm. Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, Vice Chair Rules:Assm. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, Chair Assm. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, Vice Chair Labels: Bass, Budget, Sacramento
posted by Anthony Wright |
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6:25 PM
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The budget battle gets bitter
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
HEALTH ACCESS UPDATETuesday, December 16th, 2008 ASSEMBLY AGONIZES OVER BUDGET
* Assembly Budget Committee vets Republican Budget Proposal
* Full body debates, but fails to pass, $19 billion package of cuts and revenues
* Assembly to vote on Republican proposal Wednesday
* Also: Healthy Families to avoid waiting list for children's coverage, for now
* ALERT: Join Budget Actions This Friday, in Bay Area, Fresno, and Los Angeles
New on the Health Access WeBlog: Assembly Angst, More Updates and Links; Stay of Execution for Healthy Families, New Republican Budget; Cuts vs. Revenues
The state Assembly on Tuesday started early in the morning and went late into the night in an attempt – a week before Christmas – to shore up the state’s rapidly deteriorating budget -- which is estimated to have a deficit of $42 billion from now through June 2010. By the end of the day, lawmakers had vetted two proposals, one by Republicans that would cut services by $15.6 billion (on top of over $10 billion in cuts already enacted this year), and one proposed by Democrats which contained $7 billion in cuts and $11.3 billion in new revenues. Neither of the proposals was new. The Republican proposal repeated many of the severe cuts that the Legislature has previously rejected. The Democrats combined revenues proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and some of the cuts proposed in November. What was marked about the day, though, was the tone. Democrats hit a high note of exasperation. In most speeches, Democratic lawmakers noted how the combination of cuts and taxes was a bitter pill for them to swallow and that Republicans needed to give on the issue of taxes. All but three Republicans have signed a Grover Norquist no-tax-increase pledge from the Americans for Tax Reform group in Washington, DC. “This is not fun for any one of us,'' said Assembly Budget Chairwoman Noreen Evans. "We are talking about cutting programs that we came here to protect …and yet here I am asking you to cut those very programs.’’ And finally, said Jared Huffman: “We ask you to elevate the people of this state above Grover Norquist, and we ask you to elevate your oath of office above the pledge to Grover Norquist.’’ Republicans, however, seemed impervious to the pleas and continued to hammer away away on their position that taxes would harm the economy, even though Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor has said that both cuts and taxes would cause significant harm similarly, but that the state had no choice but to do both. THE REPUBLICAN PROPOSAL
A Republican budget proposal, which repeats and combines many of the same severe cuts that the Legislature has previously rejected, received a full airing in the Assembly on Tuesday. Assemblymember Roger Niello, vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, presented the minority party’s proposal, which stayed loyal to the party’s view that Republicans would not raise any new revenues, no matter the cost to children, aged, blind, disabled and others who rely on state services. The Republicans proposed $15.6 billion in cuts (on top of $10 billion already enacted this year), including more than $10 billion to K-14 education. In health care, advocates will see a familiar list, which was largely vetted last week in the Senate Budget Subcommittee: * Deny Medi-Cal coverage nearly a half-million working parents who are under the poverty level; * Eliminate Medi-Cal benefits, such as dental, podiatry, incontinence creams and washes, and optometry for 2.5 million parents, seniors, and people with disabilities; * Require seniors earning around $900 a month to pay one-third of their income on health care before benefitting from Medi-Cal; * Postpone pilot projects under SB 437, which would streamline enrollment for eligible children into Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, and ensure children stay healthy, productive and don’t contract expensive illnesses; * Reduce rates for family planning services, for which California receives $9 from the federal government for every $1 the state invests; * Siphon funding from public hospitals on which we all rely; and * Impose a waitlist for Healthy Families, closing the door to coverage for over 160,000 kids. [The last item, closing enrollment in Healthy Families, has acually already been under consideration by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board that runs the program, set to make a decision this Wednesday. But earlier this week, the First Five Commission voted to offer $16 million to MRMIB to prevent the waiting list from being imposed through June. However, just as that action was announced, the Republicans has embraced the waiting list as a proposal of their own.] Overall, the Republican strategy, Niello explained, was to target the areas of the budget that were fastest growing. The areas targeted – health and human services – are growing at a rapid pace because the state’s senior population is growing and needs such services. Health services are now growing, as expected, due to the increased need from the economic downturn. THE DEBATE
The discussion centered around what type of action would actually stimulate the economy – and whether simply holding the line on taxes would accomplish the type of stimulus that would resuscitate the state’s finances. Cuts – particularly in programs for low-income recipients – also hurt the economy. Many economists would argue that cuts to services may have the biggest negative economic impact, given that those benefits are directly spent in the state's economy. In health care especially, the state would forgo valuable federal matching dollars, and curtail investment in the health sector, which tends to have higher wage jobs, as an earlier Health Access report shows. Assemblyman Ira Ruskin cited other economic studies that “have shown untargeted cuts have done more to harm the economy than well-targeted taxes’’ because, he said, the cuts would be taken out of the pockets of the people who live on such thin margins, that they would need to spend it. Niello said that Republicans simply disagree that the public sector can provide a larger multiplier effect on the economy than the private sector. Assemblyman Wes Chesbro asked about how the Republican proposal balanced increased need for services – due to increases in an elderly population and a downturn in the economy – against cuts. “We need to control costs in all areas of government,’’ Niello said succinctly. But Assemblywoman Ana Caballero pointed out that policymakers needed to make a choice: pay now, or pay later. “The reason these safety nets are in place is so that we can get resources to people. The question is not polemic,’’ she said. Children need to stay healthy. People need workers to care for them in their home so they are not checked-in to more costly nursing home facilities later. Democrats also tried to push Republicans on how flexible they would be on the tax issue -- an area where Niello repeated the no-tax mantra. On the floor, the Democrats' pleas became increasingly desperate. “We’ve heard it from every angle of the English language possible: we’re broke,’’ said Mike Davis. “And it’s only a matter of time before the rubber hits the road.” “We don’t have a choice. We’ve moved to a position of great danger for our state,’’ said Wes Chesbro. “We ask our colleagues not to let it get worse.” “We need to take one step backwards so that in the future, we can take two steps forward,’’ said Warren Furutani. WHAT'S NEXTBoth the Democratic measures put up on Tuesday failed, with 0 or 1 vote. The Assembly will reconvene on Wednesday at noon to review and vote on the Republican "all cuts" measure. Health Access will continue to monitor the Legislature and budget. For more information, contact the author of this report, Hanh Kim Quach, at hquach@health-access.org. ANTI-BUDGET CUT ACTIONS THIS FRIDAYHealth and human services advocates continue to organize around the state in opposition to deeper cuts and to demand a shared solution that includes taxes and revenues to prevent further cuts to health, human services and schools. Bay Area: The Bay Area Budget Coalition is sending teams to nine legislators’ offices in the East Bay with the message, “Be our Holiday Hero, take bold action to protect and invest in California ’s people!” Carolers will sing customized holiday carolers to highlight the need for new revenues to prevent further cuts, present legislators with holiday cards, and invite legislators to be a Holiday Hero. More carolers are needed at all offices. For more information or to RSVP: Jessica Rothhaar, jessicar@health-access.org or 510-873-8787 ext. 107. Here's the schedule: 10am: Group A: 2694 Bishop Dr, San Ramon (Asm. Buchanan) Group B: 2801 Concord Blvd , Concord (Sen. DeSaulnier) 11am: Group A: 39510 Paseo Padre Pkwy, Ste 280 , Fremont (Asm. Torrico) Group B: 815 Estudillo, Martinez (Asm. Torlakson) 12noon: Group A: 22320 Foothill Boulevard, Suite 540 , Hayward (Asm. Hayashi) 1:00pm: Group A: 1057 MacArthur Blvd. Suite 206 , San Leandro (Sen. Corbett) 2:00pm: Groups A + B: 1515 Clay Street , Oakland (Asm. Swanson & Sen. Hancock) Fresno: The California Partnership is organizing a delegation to visit Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines’ Fresno district office at 1pm on Friday 12/19, to deliver hundreds of empty boxes signifying what many families will get for Christmas. Advocates are including personal messages telling Villines what the holidays look like for low-income families who are already suffering from the severe cuts made to health and other vital services. Their message to the Republican leader is, “In the spirit of the season of giving, it’s time for the Republicans to give a little in the budget negotiating process, instead of just taking away from low-income families.” Health and human services advocates in Fresno are welcome to participate. For more information or to RSVP: Nancy Berlin, nberlin@communitychange.org or (213) 385-8010. Los Angeles : The LA Stop the Cuts Coalition is supporting Friday’s Villines action by mailing empty boxes and unpaid bills to Villines district office at 6245 N. Fresno Street, #106 , Fresno , CA 93710 To be added to the list for updates on either the Bay Area or Los Angeles budget coalitions, contact Jessica Rothhaar (Bay Area) at jessicar@health-access.org or Nancy Gomez (Los Angeles) at ngomez@health-access.org. Labels: Bass, Budget, MediCal, SCHIPHealthyFamilies, Updates
posted by Anthony Wright |
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1:52 AM
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Some legislators "in denial"
Monday, December 08, 2008
Speaker Karen Bass just had a press conference to lay out what her house would be doing the next few weeks of the emergency fiscal session, which will end in mid-January. First off, she wants her colleagues to snap out of and realize that the state *really is* in trouble. “I think some of my colleagues, on both sides, are in denial,'’ she said. Hence the need for the "joint convention'' (happening right this minute) to ensure all 120 lawmakers hear the same thing from the Department of Finance, Treasurer, Controller and Legislative Analyst. “For new members – they need to hear the reality. For returning members – they need to hear how serious this has gotten,’’ she said. Other things she said: - That the December package of solutions will look more like $24-$25 billion (higher than the $17 billion -- half cuts, half revenues) from last month.
- That the revenue package would likely look different, but we have no idea how, yet.
- That the entire Budget Committee will hold a hearing on Education on Thursday (Dec. 11th) and one on Transportation the following week.
Labels: Bass, Budget
posted by Hanh Kim Quach |
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2:43 PM
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What was that for?
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
To add insult to injury, the Governor also eliminated funding for the UC Berkeley Labor Center. It was the only line item veto in the UC budget. The Governor did this even though his Administration relied on the work of the Labor Center in doing health reform in 2007. The UC Labor Center did numerous publications on health care which all of us who struggled with health reform rely upon, publications on the impact of an employer mandate and important work done jointly with UCLA on affordability for individuals that separated out those who are in the individual market from those who are employees. (No surprise: those who are in the individual market suffer from lack of affordability much more than those who get coverage on the job.) You can find these publications at www.laborcenter.berkeley.edu. I guess we should not be surprised: a Governor who would once again delay funding for one of his own signature programs, the prescription drug discount program for the uninsured, and who would toss a quarter million kids or more off Medi-Cal, is the kind of Governor who would single out a research effort that had worked with his Administration on health reform. Of course, he did not veto funding for any of the business schools on the various UC campuses. Speaker Bass in her media release said it well: “The Governor has also broken his promise, again, to fund the Miguel Contreras
Labor Institute. I am deeply disappointed in his actions today, and they set the
stage for yet another difficult budget in the year ahead.” Labels: Bass, Budget, Research, Schwarzenegger
posted by Beth Capell |
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7:27 AM
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Jones to be chair of Health Committee...
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Speaker Bass has announced that Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) will be the new chair of Assembly Health Committee. Here's health-specific excerpts from the report by Shane Goldmacher at the Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert:
Jones, a Sacramento Democrat, is currently chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. The new chairmanship is considered higher on the Capitol pecking order, as many influential bills pass through the health panel, particularly as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said reforming the state's health system remains a top priority.
The current chairman, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, is termed out this year...
None of the changes are effective immediately. The new chairs will take over the committees in December.
Here's a recap of... the committee chair and leadership moves Bass has made since her selection as speaker:
Majority leader: Alberto Torrico
Assistant speaker pro tem: Lori Saldaña
Appropriations: Kevin De Leon
Budget: Noreen Evans
Rules: Ted Lieu
Health: Dave Jones
Labels: Bass, Legislation, Sacramento
posted by Anthony Wright |
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5:52 PM
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Bass on the budget...
Speaker Karen Bass made some budget announcements today, mostly pulling together the budget as a whole, and what the Assembly Budget Subcommittees have done in terms of rejecting cuts, and indicating the need for revenues to prevent those cuts to education, health care and other vital services. Some excerpts from the press release about the need for revenues to prevent cuts: The Assembly Democrats’ plan will require some cuts and some new revenues and relies on the Legislative Analysts Office’s revenue and property tax assumptions.
How these goals will be achieved:
* Assembly Democrats have said all along that we would not accept a cuts-only budget. We were encouraged that the Governor agreed with us.
* Assembly Democrats have also said that everything has to be on the table, and
we’ve proposed several ways to increase revenues.
Speaker Bass continued: “The four legislative leaders have already begun meeting to talk about how we get to where we need to be to balance this budget with revenues. And I believe we need to start with closing loopholes and restoring the tax giveaways of past budgets, particularly for corporations and the richest of the rich Californians. That’s where the discussion will start, and I look forward to
more of the productive discussions I’ve had during the past few weeks.”
“Our plan will be our starting point in the Budget Conference Committee, which will begin meeting mid-to-late next week. We will miss the June 15th deadline because of the complexity of the proposals and size of the deficit, but we are on target to vote before the fiscal year with a proposal that is not just a ‘drill,’” Speaker Bass concluded. Labels: Bass, Budget
posted by Anthony Wright |
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5:45 PM
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Bass fishing...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
 It was a moving ceremony today to install the new Speaker of the Assembly, Karen Bass.Some common points were made in the various speeches and comments: her position is historic, as the first African-American female to lead a legislative body in the U.S.; her background in community organizing; her courage in the face of a recent tragedy of losing her daughter; and her personal interest in and advocacy for foster care children. She gave a beautiful speech as well. Through the day, the topic that loomed was, predictably, the state budget. It's the task at hand, and one that will impact everyone in California, and every issue. And especially health care, given that health care is second only to education in its claim on the state budget. Jon Myers at KQED Capitol Notes has an interview and asked about the future of health reform. While the new Speaker made clear that the budget was (appropriately) the first, second and third priority, she said, in reponse to Myers' questions, "I don't think it is dead at all... I absolutely want to get back to health care reform, but we have to deal with the budget first.... There will be time left in the legislative year to address health care reform.... No, I don't think it was too much bitten off.... I would very much like to tackle the whole issue." Important signal. Shoring up the budget is an important foundation for health reform, but we have a Speaker that is willing to move forward this year and next, in order to win elements of a comprehensive reform package. And so congratulations to Speaker Bass: she also now gets her own label on this blog, so that people can click on her below, and get most of this blog's posts related to her and health care. Labels: Bass, Budget, YearOfReform
posted by Anthony Wright |
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10:45 PM
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