Update to the Field – April 15, 2005 In this email: 1. Thousands Turn Out in Support of Children’s Health Insurance 2. Legislative Authors Brief the Press 3. Senate Health Committee Passes SB 437 4. AB 772 Hearing Scheduled for April 26th 5. Your Support for Legislation (SB 437/AB 772) is Still Needed! 6. Learn more about Californians for Healthy Kids Dear children's health supporters, Our effort to provide health coverage to all children in California is off to a powerful start. On April 13th, over 4,200 Californians showed their support for expanding children’s health insurance by participating in a town hall event sponsored by PICO California and the 100% Campaign. The momentum is clearly building statewide, with more than 200 organizations now signed on to the Californians for Healthy Kids goals. On the legislative front, SB 437 and AB 772 are moving quickly this month, with hearings in both the Senate and Assembly Health Committees. Read more below about the success of this week’s Town Hall, Press Conference, and Senate Health Committee Hearing. Also, find out how you can help move SB 437 and AB 772 forward. Our collective success in securing health insurance for all children in California depends on the involvement of everyone who cares about children’s health. Speak up for California’s kids so they have the opportunity to grow up healthy and strong! Your support at this time is critical to our goal of insuring all children in California. Please visit the websites of our founding organizations (contact information listed at the bottom of this email) to learn more and show your support. 1. Thousands Turn Out in Support of Children’s Health Insurance On April 13th, 4,200 people from PICO affiliates throughout the state packed the Sacramento Convention Center for an event jointly sponsored by PICO and the 100% Campaign to call for health coverage for all children in California. Throughout the day, members of PICO organizations from as far south as San Diego and as far north as Colusa held press conferences in their local communities announcing this initiative and then climbed on buses and planes to travel to Sacramento. Speakers at the town hall included Cheyanne Cook from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Scott Hauge from Small Business California, Bishop Richard Garcia from the Diocese of Sacramento, John Monahan for Teachers for Healthy Kids, Dr. Bob Ross from The California Endowment, and Leona Butler from the Santa Clara Family Health Plan. Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nuñez, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, and Secretary for Health and Human Services Kim Belshé all made public commitments to pursuing the goal of insuring all children. Twenty state legislators attended, participated and listened to parents and youth talk about how the lack of health insurance has impacted their lives. Assembly members in attendance included: Speaker Fabian Nuñez, Asm. Chan, Asm. Daucher, Asm. De La Torre, Asm. Ruskin, Asm. Bass, Asm. Lieber, Asm. Aghazarian, Asm. Coto, Asm. Shirley Horton, and Asm. Jerome Horton. Senators in attendance included: President pro Tempore Don Perata, Sen. Escutia, Sen. Alquist, Sen. Cedillo, Sen. Ducheny, Sen. Ortiz, and Sen. Figueroa. The PICO members present left the Convention Center eager to increase their organizing efforts back home in support of children's health care. Next week, on April 20th, PICO is co-sponsoring a Children's March to the State Capitol with Bishop Beverly Shamana and the United Methodist Cal Nevada Conference. 2. Legislative Authors Brief the Press In a joint effort to launch legislative bills AB 772 (Chan/Frommer) and SB 437 (Escutia/Alquist) to cover all children in California, AB 772 author Assemblymember Chan and SB 437 co-author Senator Alquist briefed the press on April 13th. Representatives from the staffs of SB 437 author Senator Escutia and AB 772 co-author Assemblymember Frommer were also present. The event was packed with press and supporters interested in the innovative plan to cover all kids. Assemblymember Chan called for support for AB 772/SB 437 as a “common-sense approach to cover all children.” Asm. Chan outlined the bills’ provisions to build upon the current Healthy Families and Medi-cal programs, streamline the application process, and expand coverage to uninsured children. Senator Alquist, principal co-author of SB 437, continued the call to action by noting that “providing all children with health insurance is the least we can do in a civilized society.” Sen. Alquist highlighted the unique opportunity to build upon successful local Children’s Health Initiative programs. Cheyanne Cook, from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, reinforced this point by saying that the L.A. Chamber has worked closely with the L.A. Children’s Health Initiative because “covering children leads to a stronger economy and a more productive workforce.” Scott Hauge of Small Business California concurred that “business knows that this is the right thing to do for kids and that it makes good business sense.” Alicia Lozano, joined by fellow PICO representative Lucretia Hopkins, stated that “as people of faith, we need to look after the most vulnerable members of our society, the children.” Nancy Marquez, a 19 year-old college student, spoke powerfully about her own personal experience living without insurance in California. She described the worry of knowing she couldn’t afford to get sick, and the pain of going without needed care. Living under the grace of God, she said, is not sufficient insurance for 800,000 California children. Ted Lempert, President of Children Now and representative of the 100% Campaign, closed the conference by offering that “insuring all children is a common goal in California which can be achieved legislatively this year.” * Press coverage of April 13th events: http://www.100percentcampaign.org/priorities/healthy-kids-main.htm 3. Senate Health Committee Passes SB 437 On April 13th, SB 437 (Escutia) passed out of the Senate Health Committee by a vote of 7 to 1. Legislators in support included: Ortiz (Chair, D-Sacramento) Alquist (D-Santa Clara), Chesbro (D-Arcata), Figueroa (D-Sunol), Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), and Romero (D-Los Angeles). Senator Runner (R-Antelope Valley) voted to oppose. Senators not present for the vote included: Aanestad, Cox, and Vincent. Senator Escutia, author of the bill, presented SB 437 with witnesses Cheyanne Cook from the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, college student Nancy Marquez from PICO California, and representatives of the 100% Campaign. The co-sponsors were joined by over 25 supporters of SB 437 including health plans, businesses, unions, providers, Latino coalitions, consumer groups and faith-based organizations. PICO affiliates from across the state registered support on behalf of their congregations and families. SB 437 will be heard next by the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee Wednesday, April 20th at 1:30pm, State Capitol Room 112. Please send an organizational letter of support this week. Even if your organization sent a letter to the Senate Health Committee, the BFI committee needs to receive its own letter for your organization to be listed in the Committee’s analysis (see #5, below, for instructions). * Information on SB 437 (Escutia) on the California Legislative Information site: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi- bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_437&sess=CUR&house=B&author=escutia 4. AB 772 Hearing Scheduled for April 26th Legislative action on AB 772 (Chan) begins April 26th with a hearing before the Assembly Health Committee: Tuesday, April 26th, 1:30pm, Room 4202. Please submit an organizational letter of support for AB 772 by Tuesday April 19 if you have not already (see #5, below, for instructions). * Information on AB 772 (Chan) on the California Legislative Information site: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi- bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_772&sess=CUR&house=B&author=chan 5. Your Support for Legislation (SB 437/AB 772) is Still Needed! HELP MOVE THESE BILLS ALONG by letting your legislators know that providing health coverage to all children is a top priority: * Write an organizational letter of support! Policymakers in Sacramento need to see the breadth and depth of support for this issue from people all over the state to demonstrate that our shared goal should be a priority for them. If you have already sent an organizational letter of support, thank you. Senate Bill 437 will be heard in the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee on April 20th. Please send a letter of support for SB 437 as soon as possible to Senator Jackie Speier, Chair of the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee, and cc: Senator Martha Escutia, the bill author: Senator Jackie Speier Chair, Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee State Capitol, Room 2032 Sacramento, CA 95814 FAX: 916-327-2186 Senator Martha Escutia State Capitol, Room 5080 Sacramento, CA 95814 FAX: 916-327-8755 Assembly Bill 772 will be heard in the Assembly Health Committee on April 26th. Please send a letter of support for AB 772 by April 19 to Assemblymember Wilma Chan, Assembly Health Committee Chair: Assemblymember Wilma Chan Chair, Assembly Health Committee State Capitol, Room 6005 Sacramento, CA 94249-0016 FAX: 916-319-2116 * See the SAMPLE support letters posted on the 100% Campaign website at: http://www.100percentcampaign.org/priorities/healthy-kids-main.htm * Detailed summary of SB 437 and AB 772: http://www.100percentcampaign.org/resources/publications/fs-healthy-families- 050330.htm * Please email a copy of your letters to Catherine Teare of the 100% Campaign: cteare@childrennow.org. If you have questions about support letters, please contact Catherine by email or phone 510-763-2444. Visit www.100percentcampaign.org for additional information about children’s health insurance, Californians for Healthy Kids, and the bills. * Ask your legislators to officially co-author SB 437 or AB 772! This week all legislators received an official invitation to co-author a bill from either Senator Escutia or Assemblymember Chan. Please encourage them to support this important effort. * Locate your legislators: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html 6. Learn more about Californians for Healthy Kids * Please visit our website at: www.100percentcampaign.org – or call 510-763-2444 ext.122 – for more information on Californians for Healthy Kids and the 100% Campaign. * For more information on the PICO California Project, visit www.picocalifornia.org . * Join a growing list of Californians for Healthy Kids supporters (see the email attachment) by signing on in support of our goals at: http://www.100percentcampaign.org/priorities/healthy-kids-signup.htm