Session looms

California lawmakers are poised to begin approving legislation that will put into effect the sweeping changes of the new federal health care law, the Affordable Care Act.

From the Chronicle's Wyatt Buchanan: "These are the bills that make these reforms real," said Anthony  Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a health care  advocacy organization. "In order for these consumer protections to be enforced  by our regulators, they need to be in state law. In order for coverage expansion  to happen, we need to put these changes to Medicaid in state law."

"Lawmakers will meet in a special session of the Legislature, which means  whatever bills they pass will take effect 90 days after they are signed into law  by Gov. Jerry Brown instead of  at the start of the next year. Hearings will start Feb. 19, and the bills are  expected to move rapidly through the Legislature."

"Many of the details are technical, and lawmakers and officials in Brown's  administration are moving quickly to ensure that rules are in place for two big  deadlines: the beginning of open enrollment for those who will be newly eligible  for Medi-Cal and those who will buy health insurance through the new state  exchange, and for the Jan. 1, 2014, start date for the health care law."

One issue in the new health care landscape is the number of doctors: Legislators are taking a new look at so-called "scope-of-practice" legislation to see if they can ease the shortage of physicians.

From Michael Mishak in the LAT: "They are working on proposals that would allow physician assistants to treat more patients and nurse practitioners to set up independent practices. Pharmacists and optometrists could act as primary care providers, diagnosing and managing some chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and high-blood pressure."

"We're going to be mandating that every single person in this state have insurance," said state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), chairman of the Senate Health Committee and leader of the effort to expand professional boundaries. "What good is it if they are going to have a health insurance card but no access to doctors?"

"Hernandez's proposed changes, which would dramatically shake up the medical establishment in California, have set off a turf war with physicians that could contribute to the success or failure of the federal Affordable Care Act in California."

The state's unexpected revenue surge in January was good news, but it also offers a cautionary tale: The boom-or-bust nature of California's dependency on the taxes paid by its wealthiest citizens.

From HealthyCal's Daniel Weintraub: "No matter how that issue plays out, though, the spike is another reminder of how volatile California’s revenue system is, and how much the state depends on taxes paid by its wealthiest residents to provide the services the rest of us need and desire. Because the income of high-end investors swings wildly from year to year, every time the economy grows, tax revenues grow like mad, and every time it slows, revenues stall or crash."

"Reformers have argued for years that the state needs some kind of law to control the impulses of lawmakers and governors in times like this.  The idea would be to automatically set aside money in good times so that the state would have a reserve to cushion the blow when the economy slowed again."

"This was a pet cause of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He won voter approval for one ballot measure in 2004 that he said would force the state to build a reserve, but it lacked the teeth to get the job done. He tried stronger versions in 2005 and 2009, but both voters rejected both after divisive campaigns that focused on other issues. Finally, as part of his last budget deal in 2010, Schwarzenegger persuaded legislators to place another budget control measure on the ballot in 2012, but it was later removed from the ballot and now sits in political limbo."

One favorite activity of the Legislature is the so-called "hijack" or "gut-and-amend" bill, in which a measure is rewritten at the last minute without benefit of hearings or analyses. But two lawmakers hope to change that.

From the AP's Don Thompson: "The identical bills by Democratic Sen. Lois Wolk of Davis and Republican Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen of Modesto would require all legislation to be in print and online 72 hours before it comes to a vote. Both bills would be constitutional amendments and would have to be approved by the voters."

"To get on the ballot, SCA10 or ACA4 need a two-thirds vote in the Legislature. "When bills are introduced at the last minute and voted on minutes or hours later, that's just bad public policy," Olsen said."

"Nevertheless, the practice has a long history. Some of the highest-priority bills in recent years have been entirely rewritten within three days of the Legislature's adjournment, using a maneuver bluntly known as gut-and-amend."

The controversial hunting contest for coyotes is under way in remote Modoc County, and the action -- which is legal -- is capturing attention across the state.

From the AP's John Marshall: "Backers of the event say it benefits ranchers, because coyotes kill about $4 million worth of livestock every year."

"The California Cattlemen's Association did not immediately provide comment Sunday, but the group has said in the past that the ability to hunt predators was important to ranchers. One longtime resident of the area, and an opponent of the contest, Roger Hopping, said he had once stumbled onto the carcasses left by a winning team during a previous hunt."

"I'm opposed to a killing contest, I'm not anti-hunting," Hopping said. "I used to hunt ducks in the Bay Area," the former Alameda, Calif., resident said.