If you want to cut to the chase:There is a health care rally at the State Capitol on July 7 that will take place rain or shine, veto or sign. Get details and RSVP by clicking here.
Things are moving quickly on health care in 2009 -- especially in Connecticut -- and so I have posted below an abbreviated timeline of events to show how far we've come since January:
The Universal Health Care Foundation's President Juan Figueroa said in a press release Wednesday that passage of both the pooling bill and SustiNet "reduce costs and increase choice."
He said the two bills complement each other and put Connecticut ahead of the pack in the race for federal resources.
"As we begin to craft a national health care reform bill, Connecticut's progress will provide real examples of how important reform is to our nation," US Rep. Chris Murphy said in a press release.
"Few elected leaders ever get such a perfect opportunity to enact major reform," Juan A. Figueroa, president of Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, said Saturday in a press release. "The House, the Senate, and the people of Connecticut have delivered one such defining moment to Governor Rell."
[Governor] Rell's spokesman Chris Cooper said Tuesday afternoon in a phone interview that the governor will review the bills in their final form before making a decision. He said Rell has expressed concern about the "hefty price tags" of these bills, but will review them like all legislation she receives.
He said she has 15 days to decide whether or not to sign them.
Lawmakers like Speaker of the House Chris Donovan and Sen. President Donald Williams said the state is already paying a hefty price for health insurance in the state and that these two proposals would help save the state money.
Today is the 10th day since the two health care bills have been delivered to Governor Rell's office. She has until the 15th day -- July 8 -- to do one of the following: (1) Sign SustiNet and/or the Healthcare Partnership Bill; (2) Veto SustiNet and/or the Healthcare Partnership Bill; or (3) take no action and let both SustiNet and the Healthcare Partnership Bill become law.
We have worked long and hard for quality, affordable health care we can all count on, and the clock is ticking for Governor Rell to do the right thing and sign SustiNet and the Healthcare Partnership into law. Join us at the Capitol on Tuesday July 7 to let Governor Rell know that we can't wait for health care reform!
There is still much work to do before we have quality, affordable health care for everyone, such as protecting the public option in national-level health care reform efforts, but your presence at the July 7 rally is critical because our efforts in Connecticut are being closely watched throughout the country. What happens here will have an impact on the national health care reform debate. SustiNet and the Health Care Partnership would put Connecticut in an excellent position relative to other states when it comes time to implement federal reforms.
Disclosure: I am the Online Organizer for Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG)
SustiNet has passed the state House and Senate and will arrive on the Governor's desk very soon. Please add your name to the call for Governor Rell to sign SustiNet into law.
We need your signature on the petition, but we also need you to reach out to your friends, family, and networks and ask them to sign it as well. Time is short -- we want to have all of our signatures ready by Monday, June 15.
Once Governor Rell has the bill, we will deliver your signatures to her office. Tell Governor Rell -- Connecticut needs health care we can all count on!
And this Thursday, June 11 at 9:00 AM, folks from the Universal Health Care Foundation will be on WNPR's Where We Live to discuss SustiNet. Listen live here.
Disclosure: I am the Online Organizer for Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG)
Governor Rell vetoed the health care partnership bill last year, but this year we want her to hear from us. The phone line at her office is only open between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM on weekdays, so let's light it up!
Call Governor Rell and Tell Her to Sign the SustiNet and Healthcare Partnership Bills into Law!
Call (860) 566-4840 or (800) 406-1527 between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM
After you've called Governor Rell and told her to sign SustiNet and the Healthcare Partnership bills into law, please help us spread the word by...
...recommending this diary.
...sharing this action alert with your family, friends and neighbors.
The people of Connecticut are ready for quality, affordable, accessible health care. Let's make sure that Governor Jodi Rell hears from us -- call now!
Tell Rell to Sign the SustiNet and Healthcare Partnership Bills into Law!
Call (860) 566-4840 or (800) 406-1527 between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM
I've posted our latest action alert below the fold. Be sure to leave a comment after you've made your call, and thanks for doing your part to get health care that we can all count on.
(Throughout the discussion regarding the abolishing of the death penalty, the media focuses family members of horrific crimes that are on one side of the issue. On Friday, State Rep Gary Holder-Winfield held a press conference and allowed family victims of murder who support abolishing the death penalty a chance to be heard.
I've added my photos and video from Friday's presser to Rep. Holder-Winfield's post: ctblogger)
Family members of murdered victims spoke in support of abolishing of the death penalty.
Pictured: Cindy Siclari at podium. (From left to right) Gail Canzano, Elizabeth Brancato, State Representative Gary Holder-Winfield, Rev. Walter Everett, Anne and Brett Stone
On Friday May 22 I held a press conference with family members of victims of murder who do not agree with Governor Rell's position on the death penalty. If the Governor is going to continue speaking about the feelings of those who have lost someone to one of these heinous crimes I believe it is incumbent upon her to meet with these individuals.
Opening remarks by Rep. Holder-Winfield and comments from Walter Everett:
As it stands, there is not a lot of competition in the health care marketplace: non-profits, small businesses, and municipalities do not have bargaining power on their own to negotiate lower rates, and no one entity among them represents a large enough group for insurers to vie for their business. These small unaffiliated groups are forced to pay higher rates than they would as members of a larger pool. By signing HB 5536, Governor Rell will increase competition in the health care marketplace because all of the state's major insurers will be able to bargain for the contract to cover what seems to me would be the second largest insurance pool in Connecticut.
Governor Rell has declared that she wants to implement a "total reorganization" of the Department of Transportation in response to the multimillion-dollar I-84 debacle. While I applaud the Governor's belated efforts, the real problem is not the highway mess but the archaic mission the DOT continues to perpetuate. The Governor's call for change is a golden opportunity to update the mission of the DOT so it can play a vital role in implementing much needed growth management policies throughout the state of Connecticut. If, indeed, this becomes the new mission of the Connecticut DOT, which it should, then the following fundamental structural and cultural changes need to be made within the department as soon as possible.
The press conference by Rep. Lawlor yesterday was incredibly powerful. I was so pleased to see Democrats like Lawlor (who was joined by Reps. Denise Merrill and Chris Caruso) treat this incident with the seriousness and gravity it deserves. Lawlor also had some very complimentary things to say about the CT blogging community and our growing power as citizen watchdogs.
But that's not all! We're at the start of a new legislative session, about which BranfordBoy writes:
Much has been (and will be) made of the so-called "veto-proof majority" enjoyed by Democrats, which strikes me as a real knee-slapper. I certainly don't expect anything much in the way of a Democratic agenda and unified Dem support for any measure, except the most non-controversial, is probably a will o' the wisp. When even the Dem Speaker of the House can't be counted on to support the Party's nominee for U.S. Senate, what sort of firm leadership can we reasonably expect? And what moral authority will Amann have to enforce Party discipline, assuming he even wants to?
Roll call votes will, I suspect, reveal not how strong the "veto-proof" Dems are but how weak, with those voting against their Party providing a useful who's who of DINOs for future reference.
So before I open this thing up to questions and discussion about the Krayeske arrest and the 2007 legislative session...
This is the first time we've had an online discussion with a state legislator here at My Left Nutmeg, and I want to thank Representative Lawlor for spending time here tonight engaging his fellow progressives. Please give him a warm My Left Nutmeg welcome.
Rep. Mike Lawlor (D-East Haven) is here to chat with 
MLN is powered by