December 28, 2007

Schwarzenegger, Núñez file health initiative

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez jointly filed a measure to fund the proposed overhaul of health care in California late Friday.

The Democratic legislative leadership and GOP governor were unable to pass the funding provisions through the Legislature, as the plan includes tax increases that Republican lawmakers have steadfastly opposed.

Filing the initiative with the attorney general is critical to begin the process of qualifying the measure for the November 2008 ballot. The office of the attorney general now has as many as seven weeks to write a title and summary for the initiative before proponents begin gathering the estimated more than 1 million signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

One of the remaining funding questions for the plan -- how big the cigarette tax would be -- is answered in the 41-page document. The speaker and governor settled on 8.75 cents per cigarette, which works out to $1.75 per pack.

See the full initiative here.

Posted by Shane Goldmacher on December 28, 2007 3:59 PM