We "don't think funding expanding programs with a declining revenue source makes sense," said David Sutton, a spokesman for Philip Morris USA in Richmond, Va.
Perata also expressed major reservations about the tobacco tax, and said that provisions being insisted upon by the tobacco industry, including immunity from civil and criminal lawsuits, would doom the deal.
The California Nurses Assn., which has favored replacing private insurers with a state-run provider of medical coverage, said the bill was being pushed through the Legislature. "Just as with the energy deregulation fiasco, legislators are being rushed into voting in the dark on a sweeping bill with massive loopholes and serious financial ramifications that no one has adequately reviewed," said Donna Gerber, the union's chief lobbyist.
Even some supporters of lawmakers' efforts were worried that the broader political climate would be insurmountable.
Bob Ross, president of the California Endowment, a Los Angeles-based foundation that favors expanded healthcare, cited as obstacles the state's weakening economy, the budget gap and the continued standoff between President Bush and the Democratic-led Congress about expanding federal health insurance for children.
"When you do the math on that set of realities, it doesn't bode well," Ross said. "So it comes as welcome news that the governor and the speaker are fighting and trying to get something done."
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jordan.rau@latimes.com
Times staff writer Nancy Vogel contributed to this report.
