Leadership Change at Union Could Affect Health Care Reform

Sal Roselli's recent withdrawal of his nomination to remain leader of the Service Employees International Union California State Council could have implications for the outcome of health care reform negotiations in Sacramento, the Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert" reports.

In a letter on Sunday announcing his withdrawal, Roselli wrote, "I do not want any contest for this office ... to hinder in any way our joint effort to win real health care reform now."

The council was scheduled to vote on a new leader as early as Monday. With Roselli's withdrawal, there is only one remaining candidate, according to "Capitol Alert" (Goldmacher, Sacramento Bee, "Capitol Alert," 12/3).

Roselli opposes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) proposal to require all residents to obtain health care coverage because of concerns over affordability for middle-income families (California Healthline, 11/30).

In his withdrawal letter, Roselli contended that the union is "close to achieving our goal of real health care reform as long as we have the courage to continue to stand up for our principles and advocate for the issues that are not successfully addressed by [Schwarzenegger's] health care proposal" (Sacramento Bee, "Capitol Alert," 12/3).

A new leader of the union, however, is expected to be more likely to seek a compromise on health care reform with the governor, who currently is negotiating an overhaul plan with Democratic legislative leaders (California Healthline, 11/30).