Appropriations Panels OK About Half of Bills Under Consideration

On Thursday, Senate and Assembly appropriations committees shelved a large number of bills that would have added costs to the state general fund, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The committees approved about half of the bills before them.  If all of the legislation the committees approved becomes law, the measures would cost the state general fund about $9.3 million annually.

By comparison, in each of the past 10 years, the Senate and Assembly appropriations committees on average have approved bills that would have cost the general fund $644 million annually if they all had become law.

Health Care-Related Measures

The committees rejected SB 810, which would have created a state-run, single-payer health insurance plan, and AB 1000, which would have required employers to provide paid sick leave for workers.

The committees also rejected legislation that would have:

• Required health insurance policies to offer coverage to dependents up to age 27; and
• Expanded a state presumption that peace officers' and firefighters' cancers are job-related.

The bills likely will be reconsidered next year, according to the Bee.

However, the appropriations panels did approve AB 98, a bill that would require health plans to cover maternity services.  The bill now proceeds to a vote before the full Assembly (Sanders, Sacramento Bee, 5/29).