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State Attorney General Bonta a Leading Force in Fight That Saved Obamacare

“No one should live in fear of being denied the lifesaving care they are entitled to, especially as our nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bonta.

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MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 15: An Obamacare sign is seen on the UniVista Insurance company office on December 15, 2015 in Miami, Florida. Today, is the deadline to sign up for a plan under the Affordable Care Act for people that want to be insured on January 1, 2016. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of keeping the core of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, intact.

That June 17 decision resolved the Democrat vs. Republican legal tug-of-war about the federal government’s role in health care coverage that has lasted more than 10 years.

At the end of that grueling battle, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a former Assemblymember from Oakland, emerged a quiet victor.

In March, when Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Bonta California’s 34th Attorney General, he stepped into a respected and carefully built legacy of successful legal advocacy and litigation against conservative foes that his predecessor Xavier Becerra left behind. Pres. Biden appointed Becerra Health and Human Services Secretary.

Bonta said the Supreme Court’s decision, “affirms, once again and hopefully for the last time, that the ACA is the law of the land.”

“Americans know health coverage can mean the difference between life and death, so families across the country should rest easy tonight knowing their healthcare is safe,” said Bonta.

Bonta led a coalition of more than 20 states challenging Republican efforts to undo the Obama-era health care act. He was joined by the governor of Kentucky as well as the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

The coalition successfully pushed back a lawsuit spearheaded by more than a dozen Republican states led by Texas and upheld benefits of the ACA including patient protections, affordability measures, and coverage expansions.

In the court case California versus Texas, Republican attorney generals tried to overturn a monetary penalty for individuals who fail to obtain minimum health insurance. The ACA, enacted in 2010, required individuals to get minimum health essential health insurance coverage and individuals who failed to do so would have to pay a penalty.

However, the requirement was amended in 2017 to cost $0 which voided the penalty fee.

Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals claiming that the amendments were unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court’s decision upheld the ACA provisions after Republicans were unsuccessful in making their case.

“No one should live in fear of being denied the lifesaving care they are entitled to, especially as our nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bonta.

According to the California Health Care Foundation, 3.7 million out of the 12.5 million people covered by Medi-Cal have health insurance through the ACA.

Health Advocates from community-based organizations across California say they are relieved by the Supreme Court’s ruling to keep the ACA but say that there is still room to make the law better.

Leaders from the California Black Health Network (CBHN), urged the state to focus on equity in healthcare.

Rhonda Smith, the executive director of CBHN highlighted that the court’s ruling helps reduce the lack of access to health care now that people get to keep their health care.

“One of the reasons why we have health disparities is because of the lack of access to healthcare services,” said Smith.

“It definitely plays a key role in trying to minimize health disparities, especially the impact of COVID on black and brown communities,” she said.

California Black Media’s coverage of COVID-19 is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.

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Activism

After Two Decades, Oakland Unified Will Finally Regain Local Control

The decades of direct intervention by state officials, Alameda County education officials and a powerful, state-funded regulatory agency, the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT), will finally come to an end in July, according to the office of State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond.

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Oakland Unified School District’s Central Administrative Center and Board Room at the site of Cole School in West Oakland. Courtesy photo.
Oakland Unified School District’s Central Administrative Center and Board Room at the site of Cole School in West Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Ken Epstein

After 20 years under state control, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) will regain local authority over its budget and day-to-day decision-making, emerging from an era of austerity when the district was forced by state-appointed overseers to close more than 40 mostly flatland schools, eliminate educational programs, and cut millions of dollars in services for students and classrooms.

After making its final payment on a $100 million state loan at the end of June, the district in July will again be under the authority of the local school board, like other districts statewide.

The decades of direct intervention by state officials, Alameda County education officials and a powerful, state-funded regulatory agency, the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT), will finally come to an end in July, according to the office of State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond.

The official narrative of the state takeover is a simple one: the district overspent its budget, and the state altruistically stepped in to rescue it.

But the truth behind the takeover is far different. It’s a story of raw power, greed, and racism.

When the state declared the district insolvent in 2003, OUSD had a $39 million deficit, and funds in a reserve account sufficient to loan itself funds to cover the deficit, a practice that was common in other districts. However, the state would not allow Oakland to use its own money to cover the shortfall.

The state stepped in, fired Supt. Dennis Chaconas, eliminated the authority of the Board of Education, forced the district to take a $100 million loan that it neither needed nor requested, and appointed a receiver, Randolph Ward, who reported to the state schools’ superintendent, making all the decisions related to the operation of OUSD, including how to spend the $100 million loan.

Not only did the district have to repay the loan, it had to pay the salaries of the various overseers it was required to hire.

Involved in the drive to take control of the district and sell school properties was Oakland’s then powerful State Senator Don Perata, who had been pushing for several years to take control of the district, unsuccessfully attempting to sell the district’s Second Avenue headquarters to real estate developers.

Other local business and political leaders, including State Supt. of Schools Bill Honig, were determined to eliminate the power of the Black majority school board, which was seen as an impediment to the agenda for business as usual.

Among recent interventions by Oakland’s outside overseers was in 2021, when the district, with broad community support, was about to adopt a resolution for “Reparations for Black Students.” The outside trustee spoke at a school board meeting to block the passage of the measure until the board removed wording that would have protected predominantly Black schools from being closed.

In 2024, during district negotiations with administrators, the trustee did not allow the board to approve more money unless it agreed to guidelines to close and merge schools.

In a letter to the district, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Alysse Castro agreed that the district has done what is necessary to regain local control but that challenges remain.

“These improvements co-exist with ongoing concerns that OUSD must still confront its structural deficit and address the long-standing overinvestment in small schools,” she wrote.

“However, these are challenges of local policy and the domain of a locally elected board of education, not of mismanagement or financial misconduct,” Castro wrote.

“Continuing to require a trustee to backstop them risks continued delay in local ownership and accountability and reinforces a counterproductive narrative that feeds resistance and undermines the board’s willingness to engage their community in making necessary tradeoffs.”

Going forward, the district still faces financial difficulties. According to reports, the board must make $73 million in cuts to the 2025-2026 budget and an additional $17 million from the 2026-2027 budget.

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Activism

East Bay Community Foundation’s New Grants Give Oakland’s Small Businesses a Boost

Among the more than 140 grantees are (randomly selected): Elevate Golf Academy, Healthy Potter, International Coin Laundromat, Kinfolx, Mothers Touch, FlyLady Tee, High Street Hand Car Wash, Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, Hasta Muerte Coffee Cooperative, RBA Creative, This Is Baba’s House, Soulflow Enterprises, Sirius Creativity, Xin Da Di Salon and Marcus Books.

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The Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund was created by East Bay Community Foundation to support businesses in neighborhoods that have been historically impacted by disinvestment, violence and systemic inequities, particularly in Downtown Oakland, Eastlake, Fruitvale, and West Oakland. Photo courtesy of East Bay Community Foundation.
The Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund was created by East Bay Community Foundation to support businesses in neighborhoods that have been historically impacted by disinvestment, violence and systemic inequities, particularly in Downtown Oakland, Eastlake, Fruitvale, and West Oakland. Photo courtesy of East Bay Community Foundation

Special to The Post

The East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) announced the first round of grantees for the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund, an initiative supporting small businesses in Oakland’s most underserved neighborhoods.

The Fund is dedicated to helping businesses overcome the challenges of accessing capital, particularly those in communities historically impacted by disinvestment and community violence.

This year’s grantees represent neighborhoods like Downtown Oakland, East Oakland, Eastlake, Fruitvale, and West Oakland. Many grantee partners have been long-standing pillars in their communities, underscoring their resilience and ongoing impact.

  • 96% of grantees identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color; almost half identify as Black, African American, or African.
  • Over half of business owners identify as women, transgender, or non-binary/gender variant/non-conforming.
  • Over half of grantees have been operating in Oakland for 10 or more years, with 20% serving the community for over 20 years.

Among the more than 140 grantees are (randomly selected): Elevate Golf Academy, Healthy Potter, International Coin Laundromat, Kinfolx, Mothers Touch, FlyLady Tee, High Street Hand Car Wash, Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, Hasta Muerte Coffee Cooperative, RBA Creative, This Is Baba’s House, Soulflow Enterprises, Sirius Creativity, Xin Da Di Salon and Marcus Books.

These businesses are innovative and essential to the cultural and economic fabric of Oakland, EBCF said in their announcement. “We encourage you to learn more about their efforts and support their continued work in creating impactful change for their communities,” the statement says.

As part of EBCF’s commitment to shifting power in funding decision-making structures and sharing power with the community, it co-created and collaboratively implemented the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund with a diverse ecosystem of partners who are committed to supporting and uplifting Oakland’s beautiful small business community.

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Activism

New Oakland Moving Forward

This week, several socially enterprising members of this group visited Oakland to explore ways to collaborate with local stakeholders at Youth Empowerment Partnership, the Port of Oakland, Private Industry Council, Oakland, Mayor-elect Barbara Lee, the Oakland Ballers ownership group, and the oversight thought leaders in the Alameda County Probation Department.

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iStock.
iStock.

By Post Staff

Since the African American Sports and Entertainment Group purchased the City of Oakland’s share of the Alameda County Coliseum Complex, we have been documenting the positive outcomes that are starting to occur here in Oakland.

Some of the articles in the past have touched on actor Blair Underwood’s mission to breathe new energy into the social fabric of Oakland. He has joined the past efforts of Steph and Ayesha Curry, Mistah Fab, Green Day, Too Short, and the Oakland Ballers.

This week, several socially enterprising members of this group visited Oakland to explore ways to collaborate with local stakeholders at Youth Empowerment Partnership, the Port of Oakland, Private Industry Council, Oakland, Mayor-Elect Barbara Lee, the Oakland Ballers ownership group, and the oversight thought leaders in the Alameda County Probation Department.

These visits represent a healthy exchange of ideas and plans to resuscitate Oakland’s image. All parties felt that the potential to impact Oakland is right in front of us. Most recently, on the back side of these visits, the Oakland Ballers and Blair Underwood committed to a 10-year lease agreement to support community programs and a community build-out.

So, upward and onward with the movement of New Oakland.

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