No politician is perfect. Of that much I am painfully aware. But I like to think that Democrats will stand up for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Well, I was proved wrong about that when Lou Correa and Ron Calderon blocked committee approval of SB 275, the ban on hospital dumping.  Eventually, it was passed by removing the two Senators, who apparently value and/or fear the AHA (the American Hospitals Association-a corporate lobby group) more than they care about the true toll this takes on real human beings.

You know hospital dumping as the practice featured in SiCKO.  Michael Moore talks about it in this video clip from his premiere for SiCKO at Skid Row.

So, SB 275 attempts to deal with this problem.  Under the bill, as passed by the Senate, the transportation of patients against their will was a crime, not just a finable offense, but a real misdemeanor.  Real people could get real convictions for this deplorable practice.  The prospect of criminal charges meant that this law would have teeth.  Well, the AHA decided that they totally didn’t dig on the idea of having their staff arrested for doing what the CEO demanded. So, the Assembly accepted a hostile amendment to neuter the law by removing criminal penalties until the third offense, as if the first two homeless people don’t matter.  Flip…

The author, proud progressive, and my personal-favorite senator, Gilbert Cedillo spoke against the hostile amendment.

” Our offices have been committed to a thoughtful process on this issue.  We do not want to do something that is not significant,” said Cedillo.

How many times must a corporation determine that it is worthwhile to dump somebody before they actually get caught by the authorities?  And now they think they need to freebies?  Is anybody else disgusted by this?

Unfortunately the hostile amendment was agreed to by the Democratic Assemblymen on the Assembly Health Cmte. Here’s the [vote record and full bill record. The votes went like this:

AYES
  ****

Dymally	Price	Berg	De La Torre
De Leon	Hancock	Hernandez	Jones
Lieber	Ma	Salas

  NOES
  ****

Nakanishi Emmerson Gaines Huff
Strickland

  ABSENT, ABSTAINING, OR NOT VOTING
  *********************************

Hayashi

I really don’t like calling some of these members out at all. Like Lori Hancock, a statewide leader on clean money, or Fiona Ma, a leader on high speed rail issues.  But just the facts, here.  This committee bent to the will of the AHA.  If any of these Assemblyman represent you, let them hear it. This bill needs to be stronger.

After all, what is more important than the sanctity of human dignity? The practice of hospitals dumping patients on Skid Row must stop, not eventually, but now.  And Senator Cedillo’s bill, without these very hostile amendments, is the best way to end this affront to human dignity.