Latest News On California Legislature

Latest California Healthline Stories

Confronting Our ‘Frailties’: California’s Assembly Leader Reflects on a Year of Covid

California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon says covid exposed long-standing health care inequities that must be addressed. He told KHN he wants to get more people insured, boost broadband access so more patients can use telehealth and increase funding to local health departments.

Another Soda Tax Bill Dies. Another Win for Big Soda.

A bill that would have allowed California cities and counties to once again pursue taxes on sugary drinks was just shelved in the legislature without a hearing. Public health advocates blame the political — and financial — clout of the soft drink industry.

New Single-Payer Bill Intensifies Newsom’s Political Peril

With the introduction of a single-payer bill Friday, a group of California Democratic lawmakers set the terms of the health care debate in the Capitol this year. The move puts Gov. Gavin Newsom in a delicate political position, threatening to alienate voters as he faces a likely recall election.

California Lawmakers to Newsom: Give All Immigrants Health Coverage

Given the pandemic’s disproportionate hit on minority communities, two Democratic lawmakers are pushing Newsom to agree to offer health care to all unauthorized immigrants. They planned to unveil legislation Monday — and a new strategy to make it happen.

New State Law Banning Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetics Will Transform Industry

The law will ban the manufacture and sale in California of personal care products that contain 24 toxics, including asbestos, formaldehyde and lead, and is expected to fill a gap in federal regulation as companies sell the new formulations nationwide.

New Laws Keep Pandemic-Weary California at Forefront of Health Policy Innovation

Gov. Gavin Newsom approved many consequential health care bills by his bill-signing deadline Wednesday, including a ban on the sale of menthol and other flavored tobacco products, the creation of a state generic drug label and better coverage for mental health disorders.

‘Terrible Role-Modeling’: California Lawmakers Flout Pandemic Etiquette

As California workers and schoolchildren struggled to work from home, state lawmakers met in person. And as their legislative session came to a close in late August, they broke COVID rules: They huddled, let their masks slip below their noses, removed their masks to drink coffee — and required a new mom to vote in person while toting her hungry newborn.