California Conservative

When it comes to doing the right thing for small business owners struggling to stay afloat in California’s toxic business environment, the “right thing” often takes a back seat to political gamesmanship for the Democrats in the State Assembly. What for most business owners could mean the difference between survival, and going under, is for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez simply a petty bargaining chip to use in his ongoing crusade against Governor Schwarzenegger.

When Nuñez, a former Los Angeles County union leader, stood on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall this past Labor Day to rally his “brother and sisters” in organized labor to support his campaign to derail Governor Schwarzenegger’s reform initiatives, he also appeared to have successfully stalled a bill that would have closed a loophole in the state’s worker’s compensation laws that allows doctors to profit from big markups on prescription drugs they sell to their patients.

The measure, SB 292, was introduced by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and was supported by an unusual mix of bedfellows, including labor unions, the California Chamber of Commerce and major retailers. Members of the coalition supporting SB 292 agreed that that the estimated $260 million spent annually on reimbursing doctors for high-priced medicines — some sold at markups exceeding $500 for a single bottle of pills — could be better used to lower workers’ compensation insurance premiums or increase benefits for workers.

With such broad-ranging support, the measure breezed through the Senate with a 40-0 vote, and seemed likely to be passed before the end of the current legislative session.

But rather than allow the Assembly to vote on a bill that could save businesses millions and boost benefits for workers, Nuñez said last week that he wanted to hold the bill, along with all other workers’ compensation bills, until next year so that he could have more leverage to pressure the Governor and California employers to completely overhaul the state’s worker’s compensation system.

Even organized labor representatives were shocked by this move, and some wondered why they did not get a hearing on a bill that stops doctors from profiting at the expense of injured workers.

As with all else in the world of Democrat quid pro quo politics, the answer to this question lies at the bottom line, with special interest groups once again dictating the pace of California law-making.

One of Nuñez’s closest allies in the Assembly is Ronald Calderon of Montebello, who took the seat vacated by his brother Tom Calderon, currently a consultant and legislative strategist for the Pharmacists & Physicians Alliance. The group represents clinics that prescribe drugs to injured workers, and who could thus take a hit to their pocket books if a law was created that limited what doctors can charge patients for prescriptions. Ronald Calderon has worked closely with Nuñez to elect Democrats to the Legislature and has received more than $46,000 in political contributions from doctors and medical groups since January 2003. He, in turn, has contributed about $44,000 to state Democratic Party groups and candidates in the same period.

In the case of SB 292, Nuñez has sacrificed the welfare of California’s workers and business owners for the sake of his own drive for power in state politics. Is this really the person who should be speaking for Californians in the Assembly?

– Written by Christine Hauser,
Marketing/Communications Director
WECA-IEC

RELATED:
L.A. Union Demands Pay Raise From Villaraigosa

Union Power: Is Gov. Schwarzenegger
Short-Circuiting Small Business?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 7th, 2005 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Arnold, California, Op-Ed, Sacramento. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.