Leland Yee
Things are not looking very good for the prospect of health care reform in California at the moment. The bill AB 1x1 is going to come up in the health care committee tomorrow. Sen. Kuehl, the chair of the committee already indicated she would not support it. That meant if only one other Democratic Senator on the committee pulled their support the bill would not be able to advance on a straight vote. CapAlert has the goods.
On the eve of a hearing for landmark health legislation, a spokesman for Sen. Leland Yee said the San Francisco Democrat will oppose the health care measure. The move throws into limbo whether the legislation has the necessary votes to move forward.
“The costs are a big concern for him,” said Adam Keigwin, a spokesman for Yee, regarding the $14 billion health care price tag that coincides with a projected $14.5 billion budget hole.
We have not yet see the report from the Legislative Analyst that Perata requested. This seems to be an early indication that the report was not particularly favorable.
Meanwhile the It's Our Health Care coalition just sent out an email encouraging their members to contact their Senators.
If the Senate doesn't pass AB x1 1 this week -- first out of the Health Committee tomorrow, then, if it passes there, on the Senate floor shortly afterwards, health care reform in California will be dead for the year.
A golden opportunity will be wasted. Health care reform here in California and at the national level will be dealt a body blow. And millions of Californians who could have been helped will be left to suffer the consequences of a deteriorating and dysfunctional health care status quo.
If you want to change the status quo and support reform this year, call your Senator now!
Click here to look up your Senator's phone number and call them today!
Senate process allows for Perata to request that Kuehl pass the bill on without voting. However, it is unclear if he is interested in having her do that. Perata does also have the power to pull Lee from the committee and replace him with someone who will vote for the bill. However, Perata has been throwing considerable cold water on the whole thing and it does not seem like he is inclined to force the issue.
It is a real shame to see so much time and effort come down to this. California had a real shot at passing significant, historic health care reform. The odds have always been stacked against it, just like they are right now. Ever the eternal optimist, I still believe they could get this thing done. It is really up to Perata.
It has come down to this: will any Democratic Senator on the health care committee vote against the proposal besides Sen. Shelia Kuehl? The Capitol Weekly has all of the wonky details:
The Senate Health Committee is chaired by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, who is openly opposing the bill. Kuehl’s opposition gives the bill’s supporters a single-vote margin on the 11-member health committee.
That means that any Democrat on the committee could single-handedly sink the proposal. And not all of the committee members are sure they’re going to vote for the bill. Kuehl, who has promised an exhaustive examination of the proposal, delayed the first hearing by a week.
“The issue I have is that we have a $14 billion shortfall,” said Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco. “We are cutting services like you cannot believe. So how can we pay for a new health care plan?”
The Senate, in particular this committee is moving slowly on this proposal to examine all of the details. This will not be a repeat of the rapid fire passage of the energy deal during the Enron crisis. AB 1x1 is a major piece of legislation that should impact just about every single Californian. I for one am glad that it is being gone over with a fine tooth comb.
