Senate Republicans Elect Next Leader
Republicans in the state Senate chose their new leader on Wednesday, electing Modesto’s Dave Cogdill. He will assume the post on April 15 from Irvine’s Dick Ackerman. Joining his Assembly counterpart, Mike Villines (Clovis), Cogdill gives the San Joaquin Valley a monopoly on GOP power in the Legislature and signifies the continuing shift of the Republican Party to inland California. Cogdill, whose term limit does not expire until 2014, will play a key role in assembling the Republican caucus as it addresses the state’s growing fiscal crisis. His path to power was all but confirmed last week when Lancaster’s George Runner withdrew his name after his wife, Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, revealed she is suffering from a rare lung disease.
Governor Addresses Budget Crisis as Analyst Releases an Alternative Proposal
On Saturday, Feb. 16, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a package of bills, passed through the Legislature late last week, aimed at preventing a cash shortage this spring due to the state’s deteriorating fiscal situation. The budget trimming bills target certain education and healthcare programs. The governor urged the Legislature to continue its work on the budget so that cuts to programs could take place quickly, improving the fiscal outlook. Schwarzenegger followed up with an executive order on Tuesday requiring state agencies to make additional spending cuts totaling $100 million to “non-essential and non-mission-critical activities.”
News on the budget did not get any better on Wednesday as state Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill announced that the state had lost an additional $1.5 billion in revenues since the governor released his spending plan last month, pushing the deficit closer to $16 billion. However, Hill noted that recent moves to sell bonds, delay debt payments and make cuts in education and healthcare will reduce the overall deficit to around $8 billion. Based on her view that the governor’s budget contains serious flaws, Hill proposed an alternative budget plan that relies on cutting non-essential services and raising certain taxes to generate $2.7 billion for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Two elements of her plan -- limiting the research and development tax credit and reducing net-operating loss deductions for corporations -- would have a detrimental impact on the life sciences community in California.
Legislation on Electronic Pedigree Introduced as Bill Deadline Passes
Two bills were introduced this week pertaining to the implementation of a state law that would require all prescription drugs sold in California to be uniquely serialized at the unit of use level by Jan. 1, 2009. Over the past few months, CHI has been engaged with the Board of Pharmacy and other stakeholders, outlining concerns with the law as currently written, and the preparedness of the supply chain as a whole, to implement a system that will effectively protect patients in the state. Senator Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) has introduced a spot bill, SB 1270, on behalf of industry stakeholders. (A spot bill is a placeholder that enables its author to meet a statutory deadline and add details later.) The Board of Pharmacy has also placed a spot bill, SB 1307, authored by Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles). It is likely that both bills will remain spot bills until after the next Board of Pharmacy meeting on March 25, in San Diego where it is anticipated that the Board will make a determination whether to exercise their authority to grant an extension until 2011. For more information please contact Sandra Pizarro, CHI vice president-state government affairs at 916.233.3497 or pizarro@chi.org.