[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Art Pulaski
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
California Labor Federation

No one likes going to work sick, but nearly six million working Californians – that’s 40 percent of all workers in the state -- do not get any paid sick days from their employers. For these workers, staying home sick could mean losing a day’s wages, or even their jobs.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Art Pulaski
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
California Labor Federation

The California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, is strongly committed to achieving real health care reform this year. We have worked throughout the year with the Legislature and the Administration to tackle the real and challenging issues of expanding health care coverage, containing costs, and ensuring affordability for working families. It is in this spirit of cooperation and commitment to reform that we can, on behalf of the more than two million members we represent, support ABx1 1 if it is amended to address several outstanding concerns.

ABx1 1 includes many important provisions that will help California’s working families.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Emily Clayton

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

The big news out of Sacramento this week, aside from the worsening budget situation, is movement on health care reform. As was liveblogged here yesterday, Sheila Kuehl's Senate subcommittee held a public hearing and vote on AB 8, the less ambitious effort to reform health care by bringing more people into private insurance. As that hearing revealed, one of the most common statements from groups offering conditional support was that cost containment was a necessity - without it the bill was worthless, and many of the groups present would come out in opposition to it.

Cost containment is the key to AB 8. It's the devil that lurks in the details. It's worth a further look, if we are to believe that AB 8 is something that we who support real health care reform should help with our time and effort.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

As if we don't have enough problems with access to health care, but across the nation we are dealing with problems of degrading quality.  And that's not even relative quality to other nations.  I mean just absolute drop in quality.  Exhibit A: King Harbor Hospital:

California regulators moved Thursday to revoke the license of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, an action that, if not reversed, would force its closure. The move, the boldest thus far by the state, follows recent findings by the federal government that patients at the public hospital are in immediate jeopardy of harm or death despite years of reform efforts. (LA Times 6/22/2007)

If you're so incline, you can click on over to that LA Times link and see the local news story, which, ahem, is a local news story.  Follow me over the flip...

by Guest Author [courtesy of Party Line]

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (San Francisco) When Democrats have a town hall meeting it's unscripted and informative. That's why I am so pleased Speaker Fabian Núñez came to my district to discuss the best way to deliver health care to all...