Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
I recently read an article in your February 27, 2010 edition entitled “Legislation would put health reforms before California voters”.  The article describes a bill by State Senator Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, which would provide state voters the final say over any changes to their health coverage.  The sponsor of the current single-payer plan in the legislature, Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, is mentioned in the article as stating that Strickland’s bill is “anti-populist” and “....it tries to stand in the way of meaningful, much-needed reform.”  

Is the State Legislature so arrogant that they do not believe the voters should have a voice in something as far reaching as a conversion to a state-run health system which requires a tax on both the citizen as well as business? The legislature has made an attempt in the past to place a single-payer health plan before the voters and it has been defeated.  Consequently, the Legislature now wants to bypass the voters entirely and implement what they believe is necessary while the voters and businesses are responsible for the bill. I have read the bill and it appears to me that its intention is to cover anyone residing in the California, legal or illegal. Consequently, California will become a magnet for people requiring health coverage and, as a result, the taxes for health care imposed upon citizens and business will continue to rise. I believe that the health system requires reform but I do not believe a single-payer system is the solution.  Fortunately, Governor Schwarzenegger has said he will veto the bill if it arrives on his desk due to the cost to California during the current severe economic downturn.