Governor’s Health Proposal Discussed at Senate Hearing
At a hearing of the Senate Health Committee on Thursday, Democrats, led by Chairman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), questioned Gov. Schwarzenegger’s health care reform proposal saying that it could drive up insurance premiums.  Warning of possible exploitation by “pirates” in the insurance industry, akin to energy companies who used deregulation to game the state’s electricity market in 2000 and 2001, Kuehl argued that the plan was incomplete and would ask too much from the uninsured without providing a meaningful benefit.  Fiscal concerns also arose as the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) warned that the plan could be underfunded by nearly $3.2 billion, and that the deficit would continue to grow in the future due to medical inflation.  Specifically the LAO suggested that funds from the federal government and local counties assumed in the plan were questionable.

Campaign to Revamp Term Limits Moving Forward
An initiative launched Thursday would reduce the total years California lawmakers may serve in the Legislature, but would allow current chamber leaders to remain in their leadership positions.  Current law permits lawmakers three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate, for a potential total of 14 years.  The new proposal would cap service at 12 years, no matter whether in the Assembly, the Senate or a combination of both.  Assembly Leader Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) would be eligible to continue in their respective positions until they reached the threshold.  Gov. Schwarzenegger underscored his position that any change to term limits must be accompanied by a change in how the state’s legislative districts are drawn, shifting power from the legislature to an independent commission.  If the proposals gain the appropriate number of public signatures they would likely appear on the proposed primary election ballot in February 2008.  The measure to move California’s Presidential Primary Election forward from the traditional June election date recently passed the Senate and is expected to pass the Assembly and go to the governor in the next few weeks.

Appeals Court Hears Stem Cell Institute Case
On Wednesday, Feb. 14, the California Court of Appeals in San Francisco heard oral arguments in the two-year-old dispute that has kept the state’s voter-created stem cell institute from issuing any of the $3 billion in bonds approved in 2004 under Proposition 71.  Attorneys for the plaintiffs are appealing a decision by the Alameda County Superior Court, claiming that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is unconstitutional because it created a taxpayer-funded entity that is not under the direct management and control of the state.  The three-judge panel has 90 days to rule but is expected to do so quickly.  Both sides have announced their intent to appeal to the California Supreme Court.