SB 840 Moves to the Assembly Floor for a Vote

Sam Smith
CAHU VP, Public Affairs

In the last week, Senator Sheila Kuehl’s Single Payer SB840 was voted out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is currently on its way to the Assembly floor for a final vote. If the bill passes in the Assembly, SB840 returns to the Senate floor for concurrence and then it goes to the Governor’s desk for signature or veto.

SB840 is expected to be voted on in the Assembly in the next few days. Of the 80 members in the Assembly, 48 are Democrats. 33 members of the Assembly are Co-Authors of SB840. Sen. Kuehl needs 41 Ayes to pass the measure back to the Senate which will require 8 additional Ayes from the non-sponsors in the Assembly. The current vote looks like they have 7 that they are confident in and need one more vote to pass.

Potential NO votes:
Carter, Wilmer Amina
Dem - 62 (916) 319-2062
Fuentes, Felipe
Dem - 39 (916) 319-2039
Galgiani, Cathleen
Dem - 17 (916) 319-2017
Mendoza, Tony
Dem - 56 (916) 319-2056
Parra, Nicole
Dem - 30 (916) 319-2030
Portantino, Anthony J.
Dem - 44 (916) 319-2044
Price, Curren D. Jr.
Dem - 51 (916) 319-2051
Salas, Mary
Dem - 79 (916) 319-2079

Likely YES votes:

Arambula, Juan
Dem - 31 (916) 319-2031
Previous Yes
Calderon, Charles
Dem - 58 (916) 319-2058
Previous Yes
De La Torre, Hector
Dem - 50 (916) 319-2050
Previous Yes
Hernandez, Edward P.
Dem - 57 (916) 319-2057
Previous Yes
Saldaña, Lori
Dem - 76 (916) 319-2076
Previous Yes
Soto, Nell
Dem - 61 (916) 319-2061
Previous Yes
Wolk, Lois
Dem - 8 (916) 319-2008
Previous Yes

There is no question that it is an uphill battle to stop SB840 on the floor of the Assembly. The Democrats are looking to make this a campaign issue and will do everything necessary to send this to the Governor’s desk to force his hand. We should be no less vigilant in trying to get these Assemblymembers to do what is right. No matter what their motive is, bad legislation is still just that….a bad idea.

If you have a moment, make a phone call for the future of health care in California!