by Marian Shostrom and Pat Snyder, LWVDV Health Care Issue Co-Chairs

The LWV Healthcare Interest Group has been meeting monthly since July 2021. Members from more than 20 different Leagues from around the state have attended meetings. LWVDV members Janet Hoy, Mary Schreiber, Marian Shostrom, Pat Snyder, Joanne Supersad, and Janet Thomas have taken active leadership roles in the group, meeting League members from around the state who hope to achieve healthcare equity in California in the context of League positions.

AB 1400, Guaranteed Health Care for All (Kalra), originally introduced in February 2021, was revised by the authors and reintroduced. It passed the Assembly Health Committee on January 11, 2022. It passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee on January 20, 2022. On January 24, the bill was read a second time and amended. The amendment was significant, because it added funding language to the bill. It was read a second time on January 25, and ordered a third reading. The bill was scheduled for an Assembly Floor Vote on January 31, 2022. Late in the afternoon, Assembly Member Kalra pulled the bill.

The Office of Legislative Counsel is a nonpartisan public agency that drafts legislative proposals, prepares legal opinions, and provides other confidential legal services to the Legislature. A Legislative Counsel staff attorney, analyzing a bill, provides arguments in support of, and opposition to, a bill–as the League does with its “pros and cons.” To see a legislative Counsel analysis of any bill that interests you, click on the link to Bill Search and search for a bill. Then Click on the Bill Analysis Tab. Here is a link to an example.