Senate, Assembly Committees Vote Against Health-Related Bills
Senate and Assembly committees last week voted to defeat two health-related bills. Summaries of the bills are provided below.
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AB 216: Sponsored by Assembly member Wilma Chan (D-Oakland), the bill would have required makers of beer and distilled spirits to pay a fee, based on estimates of underage consumption of their products, to fund community-based alcohol recovery centers for teenagers. The bill would have generated an estimated $100 million the first year and as much as $600 million in subsequent years for the new teen alcohol recovery centers. The Assembly Health Committee voted 9-9 to defeat the bill; seven committee members did not vote. The bill required a majority vote for approval of the bill. Committee members who voted against the bill cited state budget constraints as the reason for their opposition to the bill (Fitzenberger, Fresno Bee, 1/14).
- SB 38: Sponsored by Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Merced), the bill would have let potential organ donors choose to prohibit their organs from being donated to people incarcerated in state prisons or county jails when registering as organ donors at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 6-1 to defeat the bill. Committee members who voted against the bill said that it was "discriminatory," the Modesto Bee reports (Stern, Modesto Bee, 1/15).