SACRAMENTO — Deviating from this year's political emphasis on finding common ground with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democratic legislators Monday began a largely symbolic effort to provide state-run healthcare for all Californians and driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.
The measures are sure to be vetoed by Schwarzenegger should they pass the full Legislature as expected. But they are just a few of the proposals the Democratic-led Legislature is acting on in the final days of a session that has been focused on reaching deals with Schwarzenegger to raise the minimum wage, cut prescription drug prices and spend billions to improve the state's roads, levees and school buildings.
By the time the session ends Thursday, the Legislature is likely to send to the Republican governor several additional bills that he is expected to reject. They would make it harder for companies such as Wal-Mart to open superstores, allow illegal immigrants to obtain financial aid for state colleges and universities, and ban school textbooks and curricula from including negative comments about homosexuals. Schwarzenegger either vetoed previous years' versions of these bills or has given indications that he will veto them.
Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University, said such bills are particularly important for Democrats in this election year to appeal to their voters.
"Everybody is playing both sides at the same time," Gerston said. "The [health insurance] bill is one of the few opportunities for the Democrats to distinguish themselves from the Republicans. But there aren't many, because they've reached so many compromises in so many areas."
The immigration and health insurance bills have been the projects of passion for two rank-and-file Democrats in the Legislature, and are strongly supported by two key party constituencies: liberals and Latinos.
For years, Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) has been pushing for a state-run universal healthcare program to replace the network of private insurers. But funding the project would require the support of two-thirds of the Legislature, something that has not been possible because of the unvarying opposition of Republicans.
So Kuehl's bill sidestepped that fight by leaving out the funding issue. Her bill simply lays the groundwork -- both bureaucratic and political -- for a universal healthcare system should future California lawmakers choose to adopt it.
