Last June, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon unilaterally blocked public hearings, amendments and legislative votes on Senate Bill 562, a Medicare-for-all proposal that had passed the state Senate and that would guarantee health care for all Californians without ever-rising premiums, deductibles and other costs.

Now desperate for the appearance of action in an election year, Rendon is telling legislators to let a 1,000 ideas bloom. But in a telling admission, lobbyists for the California Medical Association characterized these bills as giving cover to Democrats not to support single payer as proposed by the California Nurses Association.

With some notable exceptions – expansion of Medi-Cal to cover undocumented people, which is not only humane but essential for public health, since communicable disease does not discriminate – several of these ideas will provide little relief.