• Noreen's View: Closer to Health Care Reform
• Help Noreen Fight for Your Budget Priorities
• Noreen Honors Vintners for Inspiring Legislation to Help Non-Profits
• Apply Now for an Assembly Fellowship
• An Eye on the Governor

NOREEN'S VIEW: CLOSER TO HEALTH CARE REFORM

Access to health care is an enduring inequity in our society. The Legislature has sent health care reform legislation to the Governor for the past two years only to have it vetoed. The good news is that our luck could soon change.

On December 17, 2007, the Assembly passed Assembly Bill X1 1 on a party-line vote of 46-31. It now awaits action by the Senate. If the Senate approves this legislation, the Governor has said he will sign it.

ABX1 1 will bring health care coverage to approximately 70 percent of California's 5.1 million uninsured, including 800,000 children.

Everyone has a role to play to make sure that this reform succeeds. This comprehensive legislation includes the following requirements.

• Californians must have and maintain health care coverage. A combination of public program expansions, subsidies, tax credits and other tax breaks will help make coverage affordable. Subsidies will be available for lower income individuals. A pool will be established for negotiating coverage and premium costs.
  
  
• All employers must spend 1 to 6.5 percent of their payroll on health care for their workers. Those employers who choose not to provide health care for their workers must pay this amount into a state-administered program which will provide health care to those workers who aren't covered through their jobs.
  
  
• Every health insurer must accept all applicants for coverage. No individual can be denied health insurance coverage. Insurers are also required to spend at least 85 cents of every premium dollar on providing health care services and benefits - this limits administrative costs to 15 percent. Minimum standards of coverage will be mandated.
  
  
• According to the Department of Finance, these reforms are expected to have no impact on California's General Fund. They will be financed through a combination of employer fees, hospital fees, doctor fees, additional federal revenues, premiums, and a tax on tobacco products.

Voters have a significant role to play in determining the success of these historic reforms. This legislation will take effect in 2010, but only if voters adopt a ballot initiative in November 2008. The initiative will assess tobacco products to provide funding for health care. These reforms will not go into effect unless that initiative is passed.

Critics of this plan say it is the wrong prescription for California's troubled finances. But the Governor's Department of Finance has concluded that this health care reform plan is cost neutral to our state's General Fund. The financing package for this legislation includes employer and employee contributions, an across the board fee on hospital services, increased tobacco taxes, additional federal funds, and revenues returned to the state by counties for those low-income persons newly enrolled in coverage and no longer in need of county funded health care services.

We are so close to making real health care reform for the people who need it. It is a very exciting time! Now, the Senate must do its part to give us the opportunity.

HELP NOREEN FIGHT FOR YOUR BUDGET PRIORITIES

The Governor has announced that we will have an estimated $14 billion budget deficit going into the new fiscal year. This severely affects the state's ability to continue funding public education, environmental protection, public safety services, and life saving services for the elderly, blind and disabled.

Many unpleasant choices are ahead of us. And, there are no simple fixes.

Increasing taxes and closing tax loopholes to help close the gap will require a 2/3 vote of the Legislature. But Republicans continue to oppose any and all tax increases and even oppose closing tax loopholes for the wealthy. Borrowing the money to help close the gap will be challenging since we have already done so through bonds adopted by the voters in 2004. Now, a large percentage of our annual budget is devoted to interest on that debt. Cutting state programs to help close the gap will also be difficult since much of our state's finances are already committed by voter initiative to funding education, local government, and transportation. Thus, most of the cuts anticipated would have to come from public safety, environmental protection or human services.

The Legislature and Governor will begin working together to close the gap this month. The Governor has stated he will declare a fiscal emergency on January 10th. Difficult decisions will be required to balance the budget while holding true to California's values.

I want to hear from you about what you value the most from your state government and how you think we should respond to this budget crisis. I have compiled a brief questionnaire and posted it on my website at http://www.assembly.ca.gov/evans. Your answers will help me determine the best solutions to provide a safe and healthy environment where families can live, learn, and prosper.

Thank you for participating. It helps me fight for you!

NOREEN HONORS VINTNERS FOR INSPIRING LEGISLATION TO HELP NON-PROFITS

Noreen honors Bill Wolf (left), Claudia Sansone (middle) and Ken Nerlove (right) in at the Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in St. Helena.

The good news is that I was able to fix the problem by authoring Assembly Bill 323 last year. Its passage into law last July inspired me to honor those who courageously brought the issue forward.

Last November, I worked with the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone to honor Bill Wolf of Eagle Eye Wines, Ken Nerlove of Elkhorn Peak Cellars, and Claudia Sansone of StoneFly Vineyard. I gave each of them a copy of the bill signed by the Governor. It truly is a badge of honor!

AB 323 enables grape growers and negotiants who sell wine under the license combination "17" (beer and wine wholesaler) and "20" (off-sale beer and wine retailer) to donate and pour their wines alongside wineries at charitable fundraisers. Prior to my legislation, 17/20 vintners could donate their wines to some charitable fundraising events but couldn't pour their wines at any of them.

There was a lot of confusion about the law. After Bill, Ken and Claudia got in trouble, many important fundraisers which constitute a financial lifeline for non-profits were cancelled out of fear. My bill levels the playing field and ends the confusion. Now, all vintners can donate and pour their wares for a good cause.

Further information about AB 323 is available at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.

APPLY NOW FOR AN ASSEMBLY FELLOWSHIP

The Assembly Fellows Program is a nationally recognized public policy fellowship offering college graduates mentoring and a year-long, full-time position in California's State Assembly. The application deadline for 2008-09 fellows is February 27, 2008.

I encourage college students and mid-career professionals who are interested in this opportunity to apply for this program. It provides 18 Assembly Fellows an outstanding opportunity to serve the public and prepare for future careers, while actively contributing to public policy in California. The ranks of former fellows and associates include a Justice of the California Supreme Court, members of the United States Congress and the State Legislature, corporate executives, and local government and community leaders.

Fellows earn 12 graduate course credits through Sacramento State University for two graduate seminars and receive a stipend of $1,972 per month, plus comprehensive health benefits. For more information, please visit http://www.csus.edu/calst/programs/.

AN EYE ON THE GOVERNOR

Activities:

On December 17th, the Governor joined members of the State Assembly to applaud the Assembly's passage of comprehensive health care reform through sending AB X1 1 to the Senate for further action.

On December 4th, the Governor honored 31 public servants with the State Employee Medal of Valor. Recipients from our community included David Shew, of St. Helena, who stopped a suicidal man from jumping off a freeway overpass in April. Philip Scott Nixon, of Napa, was also honored for stopping a carjacking and robbery in January. All were honored at the 76th Annual State Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony with an ornament hung on the tree.

For further information about the Governor, please visit www.governor.ca.gov.