When Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez postponed a floor session on health care until early December, he rescheduled the vote for the day the Assembly Republican caucus is slated to be in San Diego for its annual policy retreat.
But despite the GOP lawmakers’ plans to be hundreds of miles away, Nunez’s office says the speaker won’t reschedule the vote.
“The dates are driven by the secretary of state’s deadline for putting a measure on the November 2008 ballot,” said Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Núñez. “We don’t have much of a choice. Deadlines are deadlines.”
Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines says he has spoken with Núñez, who told Villines he would “try to accommodate” but didn’t promise to push back session from Dec. 5, when both the Senate and Assembly GOP caucus will be in San Diego.
“I don’t see any obvious reason that we need to keep a floor session (scheduled then),” Villines told Capitol Alert.
If the speaker holds a health care vote while Republicans are huddled in San Diego, Villines said they will return to the Capitol en masse, almost assuredly to oppose the health plan.
“We will be on the floor and we will be there to do the people’s business,” he said.
The would-be floor session is predicated on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Núñez, and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata coming to an agreement on health care. The governor’s plan has gone nowhere in the Legislature, while the Democrats’ plan was vetoed by the governor.
Democrats recently introduced a second proposal – which adopted some elements of the governor’s plan – but have added new elements as well, most notably a $2 per pack tax on cigarettes.
If and when a health deal is struck, it would have to pass through the Legislature, while a campaign organizes to gather signatures to qualify the funding portion – the hospital tax, employer mandate and, potentially, tobacco tax – for the ballot.
Between submitting a measure, receiving a title and summary and gathering signatures, proponents must start the qualification process nearly a year in advance.
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