Single-Payer Health Insurance Bill Fails In Liberal California

SAN LEANDRO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 08: California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a No on the Recall campaign event with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at IBEW-NECA Joint Apprenticeship Training Center on September 08, 2021 in San Leandro, California. With six days to go until the California recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom was joined by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris as he continues to campaign throughout the state. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

In Sacramento, the collapse of California’s single-payer health care legislation without a vote has left many liberals despondent.

This loss has lowered progressive morale and showed the limits of their influence in the state of California where Democrats have super-majority power.

Gov, Gavin Newsom (D-California) ran on single-payer health care in his 2018 gubernatorial campaign but has taken a pass on the latest bill and avoided talking about it when asked about it last month. In 2019, Newsom seemed to have taken his time trying to get the bill passed.

This defeat comes as another setback for the progressive movement in California since many elected officials from the west coast to the east coast have been rethinking police reform positions.

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The “defund the police” campaign has been losing steam in California and recently Newsom has been seeking more money for law enforcement. San Francisco Mayor London Breed has moved to broaden police surveillance powers in the city and crackdown on offenders.

Rifts within the Democrat party have deepened over oil production bans that threaten labor unions as well as land-use restrictions which deter the construction of housing. Progressive Democrats are getting drowned out by demands for more housing and jobs in California.

Ian Darville