Rural Health Advocacy Alert

CSRHA Set to Sponsor Legislative Informational Hearing in Partnerhsip with California Legislature Rural Caucus

CSRHA is gearing up to sponsor a Legislative Informational Hearing on rural health issues, tentatively scheduld for February 16, 2010 at the State Capitol. The informational rural health hearing will be hosted by the California Legislative Rural Caucus and its Chair, Assemblymember Connie Conway (R-Visalia) with endorsement from the Senate Health Committee and possibly the Assembly Health Committee as well.

The informational rural health hearing will provide policymakers with a broad overview of rural California and its role in the statewide economic and healthcare delivery infrastructure, and key policy issues that need to be addressed to ensure the viability and sustainability of our rural communities. The objectives of the hearing inlcude:

Increase Legislator's and legislative staff's knowledge of health and access to care issues and challenges in California's rural areas
Increase legislator's knowledge of the opportunities on the horizon to address identified issues, and how we make take advantage of these opportunites through policymaking and other mechanisms

Topics currently under consideration for discussion at the hearing include:

General profile of rural California, its geography, econoomy, demographics and what rural means for the rest of the State
Health status and access to care issues facing rural residents and its statewide impact
Healthcare financing challenges unique to rural providers
HIT issues and opportunities
Rural health workforce recruitment retention challenges and opportunities

Logistics and final agenda, including presenters and hearing room number will be forthcoming. Stay tuned!

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Join CSRHA at the NRHA's Rural Health Policy Institute

CSRHA Leaders and staff are preparing to attend the 2010 Rural Health Policy Institute, hosted by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), scheduled on January 25-27, 2010. Members are strongly encouraged to join CSRHA at this event, as this is an important opportunity to meet with key congressional members, members of the Obama Administration, and national health care experts to share your message and advocate for support of California's rural communities at the national level. Click here for more details.

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Assembly Speaker Election Battle

Assembly Speaker election could iImpact the legislative landscape, prevent a peaceful transition of power and add one more very contentious issue to an already beleaguered Legislative agenda for 2010.

The Assembly Speaker is essentially the "boss" of the California State Assembly. Due to the size of our state and our economy, this position is one of the most powerful political positions not only in California, but also in the nation.

In the last decade, the choosing of and transition of one Speaker to the next has been relatively civil and smooth. That reality may be about to change. The current Speaker election is reminiscent of one of the most monumental Speaker elections of the past. Speaker Willie Brown, who served in that post for 15 years, came to power in 1980 when two political titans Howard Berman and Leo McCarthy clashed over the Assembly Speakership, leaving Brown to negotiate a bipartisan settlement, with him as the winner.

Currently two lead candidates to succeed the current Speaker Assembly Speaker Karen Bass have lined up enough votes in the Democrat Caucus to prevent either one from winning outright, without crossing the political party divide.

Assemblymembers John Perez (D- 46th District - LA) and Kevin de Leon (D - 45th District - LA) are apparently locked in a tight battle. A protracted Speaker election or balance of power fight may impact the viability of the Legislature to deal with other issues in the months to come.

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State Budget Trouble

California's staggering budget crisis continues to get bleaker. The independent Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) estimates the 2009-10 and 2010-11 combined deficit to be around $21 billion. The Governor and State Legislature has tried every program change and majority-vote revenue gimmick they could think of, but so far their efforts have fallen short of solving the State's budget illness.

Alternative solutions to further cuts to health and human services will inevitabley involve addressing revenue enhancement strategies. The California Tax Reform Association has provided an overview of some revenue options that should be considered in a recent report titled "Low Hanging Fruit in the Tax System: 10 Policies for $20billion." However, the two-thirds vote requirement, and the fact we are approaching an election year makes the proposed revenue options politically unlikely.

The Legislature began addressing State budget issues in early December, and has set up a budget sub-committee to begin addressing the issue. Some insiders believe the Legislature and Governor will move on the budget early in the new year to reduce the impact of the cuts they will likely make later in the year.

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Healthy People 2020 Proposed Objectives Available for Public Comment

Healthy People is a set of national public objectives developed through the collaborative effort of public agencies, researchers, community-based organizations and individual community members. Comments on proposed objectives and proposals for new objectives are being accepted until December 31, 2009. Many of the the 560 plus goals address issues important to rural health. Click here to view proposed Healthy People 2020 objectives and submit comments.

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