Assembly Passes State Spending Plan; Debate Moves to Senate
Following weeks of negotiations and a marathon floor session, the California State Assembly approved SB 77, a $103 billion state spending plan by a vote of 56-23 early this morning. Democrats agreed to shift more than $1 billion from local transit agencies for other purposes and approve a handful of business tax credits. Tax provisions include a shift to a hyper-weighted sales factor, which would change the apportionment factors for corporate taxation, providing incentives for companies to expand operations in the state, and a strengthened research and development tax credit. CHI has strongly supported these measures. However, the tax credits were contained in a separate bill, SB 98 (approved 51-19), which was not attached to the budget legislation. This allows the Senate to approve a budget without approving the tax credits. The debate today moves to the Senate. Senate Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) expressed outrage at the Assembly passed budget and his party members for giving “Hollywood movie moguls” and “multi-national corporations” millions in exemptions while surrendering teacher tax credits.
Author to Amend Scope of Chemical Regulation Legislation
Assemblywoman Sally Leiber (D-Mountain View) has indicated that she may amend AB 515 to limit its scope to 38 chemicals listed on the www.worksafe.org website. The measure would require new permissible exposure limits (PEL) to be determined for chemicals used in the workplace and would additionally require the PEL standards to be set as recommended by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). CHI will continue our opposition to the legislation as the bill's fundamental presumption that industry is not safely handling chemicals used in the workplace is false. Additionally, even if the measure is limited in scope, we believe the reliance only on OEHHA recommendations for setting PELS, without industry input, is a wrong approach for the state to take.
New Speakers Announced for California Healthcare Policy Forum August 2
CHI has assembled an impressive group of speakers to discuss how healthcare reform will reshape the market for medical innovation and patient access to new therapies and medical technologies at the CHI California Healthcare Policy Forum on Aug. 2 at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, including:
- Irwin Jacobs, Sc.D., Chairman of the Board, QUALCOMM
- Adrian Thomas, M.D., Vice President, Benefit-Risk Management, Johnson & Johnson Research & Development
- Scott Gottlieb, M.D., Former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Medical & Scientific Affairs; Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
- Henry Nordhoff, CHI Chairman; Chairman, President & CEO, Gen-Probe Incorporated
- Steve Usdin, Senior Editor-Washington D.C., BioCentury Publications
- Bill Bernstein, Chairman-Healthcare Division, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
- Jeffrey Rideout, M.D., Vice President, Internet Business Solutions Group, and Medical Director, Health Policy and Benefits, Cisco Systems
- Lonny Reisman, M.D., President & CEO, ActiveHealthManagement
The forum will be held at the Salk Institute in La Jolla. Register online or contact Callie Robbins (robbins@chi.org or 858-551-6677) for more information.