Budget Delay Could Strain Health Care Reform Efforts
"One of the long-term casualties of the budget impasse in Sacramento could be health care reform," a San Francisco Chronicle editorial states.
Without a "budget breakthrough in the next few weeks," California legislators will return from summer recess and have to resume negotiations on the state spending plan, according to the Chronicle. The Legislature "would have a mere three weeks to nail down the most comprehensive health care reform package attempted in any state," the editorial states.
Moreover, "the bitter antagonisms" raised in the budget debate will not encourage negotiations on a health care reform package, the editorial warns.
According to the Chronicle, it would be "tragic if the obdurate behavior of a few Republicans in the state Senate were to destroy the best chance California has had in years by running out the legislative calendar with this inexcusable budget stalemate." The editorial concludes, "The stakes are too high to allow that to happen" (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/8).