Legislature Gets to Work
This week the Legislature convened a myriad of policy committees in each house to consider bills introduced last year (two-year bills). The deadline to pass all two-year bills is January 31st. While most policy committees met this week, their agendas were relatively short.
The Senate Education Committee heard SB 673, authored by Senator Mike Morrell, to amend the California Healthy Youth Act to require active parental consent (“opt-in”) with a signature for sexual health and HIV prevention education in grades lower than 7, to specifically require local educational agencies to make written and audio visual materials available for inspection before the date of instruction on the local educational agency’s Internet website, and to require those material to be translated. Despite a large contingent of advocacy groups and private citizens supporting the bill, SB 673 failed on a 2-5 vote.
Our CHEAC Weekly Bill Chart is available here.
Health Coverage/Health Care Reform
SB 175 (Pan) – SUPPORT
Senator Pan’s recently amended SB 175, which codifies in California statute the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibition on health insurance lifetime or annual limits, was heard in the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday. The bill ensures that despite threats to the Affordable Care Act at the federal level, California would continue to prohibit health insurers from instituting annual or lifetime limits on insurance benefits. CHEAC joined various health advocates in supporting the bill that was passed out of the committee on a 7-0 vote. It now moves on to the Senate Appropriations Committee.