2004- Governor Schwarzenegger campaigns to defeat Proposition 72, which would expand worker’s health coverage.
2005- Schwarzenegger vetoes a bill that would improve health care coverage for children (AB 772).
2006- The Governor vetoes SB 840, which would implement a single-payer health care system (where all parties share the financial responsibility and the government becomes the ‘single payer’, effectively eliminating for-profit insurance companies).
January, 2007- Governor Schwarzenegger announces the “Year of Health Care Reform,” and unveils his draft health care plan, which would shift the responsibility for health care costs onto already overburdened workers and their families.
Spring, 2007- The state Assembly and Senate draft their own health care reform proposals.
May, 2007- Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate Pro Tem Don Perata merge their separate proposals into the single piece of legislation, dubbed AB 8.
Summer, 2007- Union supporters and the “Its Our Healthcare” coalition work to incorporate provisions into AB 8 that would make it affordable, accessible and fair to California’s working families. The “Road to Reform” health care media tour helps educate and energize the public on the crucial issue of health care reform.
September, 2007- AB 8 passes through the Legislature with overwhelming support from labor, consumer and health care organizations.
October, 2007- Governor Schwarzenegger vetoes AB 8, making it the fourth health care bill he has shot down in just as many years. He then presents his own health care proposal, which is nearly identical to the unaffordable plan he put forth in January.
October, 2007- The mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco send a letter to the Governor, asking him to incorporate affordability and cost containment provisions into his health care plan.
Fall, 2007- Unions, consumer, business and health care groups lash out against the Governor’s plan, which would require all Californians to have insurance, regardless of whether they can afford it. Vigils are held outside of the Governor’s six offices across the state to protest his health care plan.
November, 2007- Governor Schwarzenegger and Speaker Nunez team up to revise the Governor’s health care bill. They incorporate some of the favorable aspects from AB 8, but the bill still fails to address some serious affordability concerns that would negatively impact California’s working families.
December, 2007- The Assembly passes the Nunez-Schwarzenegger revised bill, entitled AB X 1 1.
January, 2008- The non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office finds that within five years of implementation, the health care plan would exceed projected revenues by anywhere from $300 million up to $1.5 billion, further contributing to the state’s $14 billion deficit.
January, 2008- The Senate Health Committee holds a ten-hour hearing exclusively focused on AB X 1 1. The bill fails to garner enough support in committee.