In Other Action

last updated: October 01, 2008 04:27:17 AM

Also Tuesday, Gov. Schwarzenegger:

• Signed Assembly Bill 31, by Assemblyman Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, which would prioritize $400 million of Proposition 84 park funds, the largest investment in local parks in the nation, to underserved and park-poor communities throughout California. The bill includes $3 million for Tuolumne River Regional Park in Modesto.
• Signed legislation that attempts to limit greenhouse gases by curbing urban sprawl. Senate Bill 375, by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat, creates incentives for local governments to rein in sprawl by funding transportation projects that are designed to reduce commutes. Supporters say the bill is needed to help implement the landmark global warming bill Schwarzenegger signed in 2006. That measure requires the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The Steinberg bill requires the California Air Resources Board to set targets for reducing auto emissions for 17 regional planning agencies. Cities and counties would not be required to implement those goals when they plan for new development but could lose transportation funding if they don't.
• Vetoed a bill that would have made it tougher for health insurance companies to drop enrollees in the event of illness. The bipartisan legislation would have established an independent review process for insurers that wanted to rescind coverage. The bill also would have raised the standard in existing law so that health care coverage could be rescinded only if a consumer willfully misrepresented their health history when signing up for a policy. But the governor said Assembly Bill 1945, Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, would increase health career costs. "This bill was written by attorneys that stand to benefit from its provisions," he said. The veto Tuesday drew criticism from health advocates and medical trade groups, who called the veto a flip-flop of the governor's position. Schwarzenegger voiced strong opposition to the practice of dropping sick enrollees, known as rescission, in this year's state of the state address.
• Vetoed legislation that would have established a government-run universal health care system. Senate Bill 840, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, would have set up a single-payer system in which the state would assume the role that private insurance companies now play. In his veto message, the governor said he could not support "a bill that places an annual shortfall of over $40 billion to our state's economy. ... According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, the bill is estimated to cost $210 billion in its first full year of implementation and cause annual shortfalls of $42 billion," Schwarzenegger said. The veto came nine months after Kuehl, the chair of the Senate Health Committee, and other Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the governor's health care expansion program, which would have required most employees and employers to contribute to the cost of their health care.

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