Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The San Francisco Examiner - Tuesday, Oct. 14, 1997
Robert Salladay, Examiner Capitol Bureau
The veto angered AIDS activists and lawmakers, who viewed the bill as a good-government measure that might have saved the state money and kept patients working - and paying taxes - longer.
"It's a tragedy for our clients," said Paul Causey, executive director of AIDS Benefits Counselors in San Francisco, which has a caseload of about 2,500 people - 400 of whom he said might have been helped by the measure.
The bill, written by Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, sought to avoid a Catch-22 situation common with AIDS patients on Medi-Cal.
As many patients take advantage of new protease-inhibitor drugs, their health improves and they often want to return to work. But returning to work means losing Medi-Cal, the state-federal health insurance for the poor.
The Migden measure would have exempted up to $2,500 a month in income for disabled people, including those with HIV and AIDS, from the Medi-Cal income requirements. This six-month extension would have allowed patients to continue working while Medi-Cal helped pay for the expensive "AIDS cocktail" drugs, which can run up to $1,800 a month.
"Don't forget," Causey said. "when someone goes back to work, they are paying taxes, they are eating out, they are participating in the economy rather than getting paid out by the system."
Migden's bill passed the Assembly unanimously, garnering votes even from the most conservative Republicans. It had eight "no" votes in the Senate.
Migden said the bill would have helped move patients out of an endless disability system and given them self-esteem. "We are bitterly disappointed," she said. "This was a humane and appropriate measure to address a unique social and medical problem."
In his three-paragraph veto message, Wilson said the measure was not authorized by federal law and contains "significant ambiguities that would make it difficult to implement and subject to litigation."
And, the Republican governor said, "This bill would create a new entitlement program supported only by the state general fund." One Senate analysis said the changes could potentially cost the state $19 million a year; an Assembly analysis put the cost at $7.4 million.
Migden said she would return next session with another bill that addresses the governor's concerns. She said any problems with meeting federal Medicaid regulations could be worked out between bureaucrats in Washington and Sacramento.
"It takes a little bureaucratic maneuvering to make this thing work," Migden said. "We had heard a little bit about the governor's reservations. We regard them as subterfuge because these minor differences in terminology and regulatory scope could have been resolved."
In other action Monday, Wilson:
*Approved a bill to spend $250,000 for two laser tattoo removal machines. The Youth Authority will use the machines in Los Angeles and San Francisco to remove gang tattoos from teenagers who want to get jobs.
*Approved a measure requiring electrical wiring in older wimming pools to be retrofitted. The bill was spurred by the electrocution of Daly City teenager Jasmin Paleso, who died Aug. 22 in her apartment's swimming pool. Investigators found faulty wiring leading to the pool and no updated circuit breakers that might have saved her life.
*Vetoed a measure that would have allowed reporters greater access to prisoners. The bill, written by state Sen. Quentin Kopp, I-San Francisco, would have overturned regulations used by the Department of Corrections to refuse one-on-one interviews with prisoners.
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