Showdown Brewing In Sacramento Over What To Do With Tobacco Tax Money
The governor wants it to go toward boosting Medi-Cal spending, but medical lobbies want higher reimbursement rates.
Los Angeles Times:
Dispute Over Tobacco Tax Money Sparks A Budget Brawl Between The Governor And Medical Groups
California voters decisively settled the battle over the tobacco tax at the ballot box last November, overwhelmingly approving a tax hike on cigarettes in order to increase spending on healthcare. But despite that victory, the initiative, Proposition 56, has set off another skirmish — this time in the state budget — over how Gov. Jerry Brown wants to spend an estimated $1.2 billion generated by the tax. (Mason, 3/16)
In other news —
Los Angeles Times:
Having Unprotected Sex Without Telling A Partner About HIV-Positive Status Would No Longer Be A Felony Under New Bill
In a test of shifting attitudes about HIV, a group of state lawmakers has proposed that it no longer be a felony for someone to knowingly expose others to the disease by engaging in unprotected sex and not telling the partner about the infection. The measure by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and others would make such acts a misdemeanor, a proposal that has sparked opposition from Republican lawmakers. (McGreevy, 3/17)