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Nurses Endorse Measures for Gun Safety, Death Penalty Repeal, Lower Drug Prices

Published

9 years ago

October 11, 2016

The California Nurses Association (CAN) /National Nurses United has announced support for several initiatives on the California November ballot, including Proposition 63, to strengthen gun safety, and Proposition 62, the latest bid to repeal the death penalty in California. CNA, the major nurses’ organization in California, is also stepping up efforts to pass Prop. 61, the initiative to rein in the pharmaceutical industry’s predatory pricing practices.

Nurses endorsed Prop. 61 in April and have begun joining a bus tour across the state launched by the Yes on 61 campaign.

Prop. 63, initiated by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, is intended to reduce gun violence by strengthening state restrictions on the possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines and the requirement for background checks for individuals to purchase ammunition.

“Reducing the plague of gun violence is, first and foremost, a health and safety issue. Nurses commend Lt. Gov. Newsom for pressing this issue to increase protection for Californians,” said CNA Co-President Malinda Markowitz.

Prop. 62 would repeal California’s death penalty replacing it with life imprisonment without parole as the maximum penalty for what are now death penalty convictions

CNA has supported prior efforts to end the use of the death penalty in California, including Prop. 34, which narrowly failed in 2012. Worldwide 140 countries have now abolished the death penalty entirely.
Concurrently, CNA will oppose Prop. 66, which is intended to hasten death penalty executions in California.

Meanwhile, CNA members are increasing their support for passage of Prop. 61 to protect California patients and families by directing the state to negotiate with drug companies to pay no more for prescription drugs than is paid for those same medications by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, producing huge savings for Californians as the VA pays up to 40 percent below what other public agencies pay.

Last week, CNA members joined the Los Angeles kickoff of a Yes on 61 campaign bus tour across California. The Yes on 61 bus, which has also made stops in Orange County and Bakersfield, is headed for stops in the coming days in Fresno, San Francisco, and other locations.

In a recent commentary in the San Diego Union Tribune, Markowitz and San Diego RN Dahlia Tayag wrote, “As nurses, we see families who can’t afford the medications they or their children need, or they have to give up other basic necessities. It’s heartbreaking and it’s unconscionable. Californians can take some control back by voting yes on Proposition 61.”

On other ballot measures, CNA also endorsed:

Yes on Prop. 58 – encourages bilingual education in California schools, reversing some of the more onerous restrictions imposed by the anti-immigrant Prop. 227 in 1998.

Yes on Prop. 57 – initiated by Gov. Brown, increases parole opportunities for felons convicted of nonviolent behavior to help reduce prison over crowding.

Yes on Prop. 59 – referendum to put California on record in favor of overturning the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which opened the floodgates for unchecked corporate spending in elections.

All CNA endorsements on state and local ballot measures and candidates may be viewed at http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/legislation/entry/ca-endorsements

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Related Topics:California Nurses Association Prop. 57 Prop. 58 Prop. 59 Proposition 63

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Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

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7 days ago

July 7, 2025

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Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

Published

1 week ago

July 3, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.

The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.

“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.

“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.