This past legislative session was one of the toughest in recent years due to the large budget deficit facing California. Consequently, any bills with significant budgetary impact were held in either the Senate or Assembly appropriations committees. In light of this, three UNAC/UHCP priority bills survived the appropriations committee review process.
Unfortunately, on October 11th Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) chose to veto both AB 513 and AB 657. However, the Governor did sign AB 1295 into law. We are grateful the Governor sees AB 1295 as beneficial for streamlining the transfer of nursing students from the Community Colleges to the California State University system, and look forward to the next legislative session.
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AB 1295 (Fuller) Postsecondary Education, Nursing Programs
SIGNED
Requires CSUs to implement a nursing degree transfer pathway from the community colleges by the 2012-13 academic year.
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AB 513 (De Leon) Health Care Coverage: Breast-feeding
VETOED
Would have required insurers to increase access to breast-feeding resources for mothers.
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AB 657 (Hernandez) Health Professions Workforce: Master Plan
VETOED
Sought to establish a Health Professions Workforce task force to develop a strategic plan to determine statewide health care workforce needs.
At 2:45AM Friday, May 11, UNAC/UHCP and the Coalition of Unions reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser covering 95,000 Kaiser employees across the country. Details to come.
Beverly RNs voted by 96% to approve a first contract on May 2, 2012 after a year long battle to secure wage increases, grievance and arbitration, and a voice in patient care.
“SB 1246 will help Registered Nurses provide safe patient care without worrying about hospitals cutting corners and jeopardizing the health of a patient,” said Barbara Blake, RN, State Secretary/Treasurer of UNAC/UHCP.
