California Democrats have the numbers to pass CalCare, but they repeatedly block it because they’re beholden to their corporate donors.

“A universal, single-payer health care system” is on the official California Democratic Party Platform and 85% of Democratic voters support Medicare for All as of July 2025. Gavin Newsom campaigned on support for California single-payer. State Democrats have a SUPERMAJORITY: they hold 62 out of 80 seats in the state assembly and 32 out of 40 in the state senate, meaning they don’t need a single Republican vote to pass bills in either house. 

And it’s not new! Democrats introduced single-payer health care bills in the California state legislature in 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2017 & 2022. Democrats even PASSED the policy through the Assembly and Senate in 2006 and 2008, knowing it would be vetoed by Governor Schwartzenegger. Our representatives know what CalCare is and they know Californians want it. But they are beholden to the trillion-dollar insurance industry and the powerful Chamber of Commerce, who know that tying health care to employment serves the ruling class by making workers dependent on their bosses for their basic human needs.

Since the pandemic, Democrats have escalated their obstruction tactics to keep CalCare from getting to Gavin Newsom's desk.

The 2024 CalCare bill was AB 2200. AB 2200 passed the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024 with 9 out of 16 votes. 

Then the bill went to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it needed 8 out of 15 to pass.

Assembly Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks, backed by Governor Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, held CalCare AB 2200 in suspense, blocking it from a vote on the Assembly floor the following week, where 80 Assembly members would have been forced to vote on CalCare for the first time. 

Adding insult to injury, Buffy Wicks COAUTHORED the 2022 CalCare bill AB 1400, and in 2021 promised single-payer activist Ady Barkan she would pass the policy if ever given the opportunity.

Buffy Wicks killing CalCare in the Appropriations Committee was a profoundly undemocratic act of governance not based on actual policy. Wicks used the budget deficit as an excuse, but AB 2200 would not have affected the 2024-2025 budget. CalCare is a single-payer health care policy bill that does not include a financing mechanism, and it would not be implemented until it the legislature votes on how to fund it.

But the Democrats don’t care! They use the Nurses to get elected and then avoid accountability by kicking the can down the road every. single. time. They’ve been able to do this because so far, the CalCare Coalition has not been strong enough to hold them accountable.

250 organizations endorsed AB 2200 in 2024, including labor allies such as the California Labor Federation AFL-CIO, the California Teachers Association (CTA), UAW Region 6, the California School Employees Association (CSEA), UNITE HERE Local 11, the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), California Faculty Association (CFA), and IATSE Local 705 and 871. Unions directly endorsing CalCare represent over one million workers.

For a full list of CalCare-endorsing unions, organizations, and businesses, scroll to the bottom of this page.

This is why the CalCare Coalition needs Hollywood Labor. As just demonstrated by the Entertainment Union Coalition and StayInLA, Hollywood has the power to force Democrats to act.