Los Angeles Times Rounds Up Legislative Action, Examines Political Climate

State legislators "are embracing nonconfrontational, incremental changes that tinker around the edges of California's biggest problems" in part because of the likelihood of a November special election and political tension between Democratic legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), the Los Angeles Times reports.

Friday was the deadline for legislators to move bills from their chamber of origin, and lawmakers approved "some substantial measures," according to the Times. However, the proposals -- including several health-related measures -- likely will be rejected by Schwarzenegger, the Times reports.

The Times notes that, with the June 30 budget deadline approaching, "the fight between Schwarzenegger and lawmakers is now going to shift to spending," but lawmakers say the discussion likely will be "overshadowed" by the expected special election.

Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California-Berkeley, said, "It's hard to come up with something that the Democrats want that won't get vetoed by Arnold and vice versa."

Bills that passed their chamber of origin and now move to the Assembly or Senate for consideration include:

• AB 21, by Assembly member Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), and SB 644, by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), which would allow pharmacists to decline to fill prescriptions because of personal objections;
  
  
• AB 73, by Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer (D-Glendale), which would establish a state-run Web site to direct residents to pharmacies in Canada, Ireland and Britain for lower-cost prescription drugs;
  
  
• AB 75, by Frommer, which would ban drug companies that do not offer prescription drug discounts to some state residents from participating in Medi-Cal;
  
  
• AB 228, by Assembly member Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), which would prevent health insurers from denying coverage for organ or tissue transplants on the basis of the patient's HIV status;
  
  
• AB 657, by Assembly member Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach), which would require pharmacists to ask customers if they want a description of symptoms a drug is intended to treat included on the medication's label;
  
  
• AB 696, by Assembly member Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), which would automatically qualify Medi-Cal beneficiaries for the federal food stamp program;
  
  
• AB 775, by Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), which would not allow hospitals to use children younger than 15 years old to serve as interpreters for their families;
  
  
• AB 1230, by Assembly member Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), which would allow Los Angeles County Supervisors to contract with an inspector general to audit and investigate the county's health care system;
  
  
• SB 12, by Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Norwalk), which would require all food sold in elementary schools to meet fat and sugar content standards;
  
  
• SB 840, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles), which would replace private health insurance in the state with a government agency that negotiates benefits for all residents; and
  
  
• SB 965, by Escutia, which would require at least half of drinks sold in high schools to be either water, milk, or fruit- or vegetable-based without additional sweeteners.

Some health-related bills were not approved in the Senate or Assembly but could be added as amendments to other bills. According to the Times, such bills include those listed below.

• AB 387, by Assembly member Juan Arambula (D-Fresno), which would require California school districts to estimate their retiree benefit liabilities, including the cost of providing retiree health insurance;
  
  
• AB 654, by Assembly member Patty Berg (D-Santa Rosa), which would legalize physician-assisted suicide in some circumstances;
  
  
• AB 908, by Chu, which would ban two types of phthalates from cosmetics and personal care products;
  
  
• AB 1670, by Assembly member Joe Nation (D-San Rafael), which would require all state residents to have health insurance; and
  
  
• SB 19, by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), which would encourage pharmaceutical companies to provide voluntary discounts on prescription drugs for some state residents (Rau/Vogel, Los Angeles Times, 6/6).

In related news, KPBS' "KPBS News" on Monday reported on the state Assembly's approval of a bill that would limit the amount hospitals are permitted to charge patients who lack health insurance. The segment includes comments from Assembly member Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) (Goldberg, "KPBS News," KPBS, 6/6). The complete transcript is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.