Health Policy
SB 162 by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) was amended to specify July 1, 2007, as the date that the bill would take effect. The bill would create a Department of Public Health and transfer certain programs from DHS. Under the legislation, the governor would be required to appoint a state health officer, to be confirmed by the Senate, who would oversee the agency. The bill also was amended to remove a provision that would have required either health department to convene a working group to make recommendations on the long-term strategy of the public health department (Bill text, 6/12). The bill was rereferred to the Senate Health Committee and a hearing was scheduled for June 20 (Bill status, 6/13).
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