Chemical Exposure Legislation Moves to Senate Floor
On Thursday, Aug. 30, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation that would require the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to recreate standards for permissible exposure limits (PELs) to many chemicals used in the workplace. AB 515, authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View), will now go to the Senate Floor before the Sept. 14 legislative recess. CHI opposes the legislation because it is duplicative and unnecessary. There are current standards in place at the federal and state levels for setting PELs, which incorporate input from labor organizations, industry, and nationally recognized experts in occupational health. In addition, PEL changes to chemicals used in the life sciences industry have the potential to alter research and manufacturing processes, resulting in significant cost increases. For more information contact burt@chi.org.

Healthcare Reform: Negotiations Continue
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) backed away from a potential showdown with the administration on Thursday by canceling a scheduled vote on the governor’s healthcare reform proposal. The plan, which was expected to garner no support from Republicans or Democrats, mandates that all Californians carry coverage, requires employers to spend at least 4 percent of payroll on healthcare insurance, and would impose a controversial 4 percent fee on hospitals and a 2 percent fee on doctors’ services. Nunez and Senate Pro Tem Don Perata (D-East Bay) have been pushing their own health proposal, which the governor has announced he would veto because it places the economic burden solely on employers. As negotiations continue between the governor and legislative leaders, outside stakeholders continue to offer their ideas on how to cover the 6.7 million Californians without insurance. The California Retailers Association announced this week that it is joining with the California Restaurant Association and the California Small Business Association behind a proposed ballot initiative that would create a 1-cent sales tax to fund healthcare reform.

As the legislative session winds down, some Democrats are changing their focus to ensuring that all children have coverage. Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) both have legislation moving through the legislature that would expand the state’s Healthy Families Program by increasing the income limit to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. However, funding for such programs is contingent on the reauthorization on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that is currently working its way through Congress.

Term-Limit and Redistricting Ballot Measures Still Up in the Air
Efforts to put a term-limit measure on the February ballot may be running into problems as the Los Angeles County Registrars Office announced that a low percentage of signature verification threatens to derail the measure. Should the measure fail to meet the verification percentages by the Sept. 27 deadline, it would be ineligible for the February ballot. It could still be revived for the next statewide ballot in June, but by that time incumbents would miss out on a possible term extension. Assembly Speaker Nunez has been pushing hard for the measure that would alter term limits to allow elected officials to serve a total of 12 years in one or both chambers. He continues to try to engage the governor, who is sticking to his pledge not to support changing term limits unless redistricting is also on the same ballot. Nunez’s interest in extending term limits may increase his willingness to consider a redistricting proposal. He recently observed that ”there’s an inherent conflict of interest with legislators drawing their districts and choosing their voters rather than having it the other way around.”