California lawmakers debate universal health care proposal

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

63% : First, they want to pass a bill that creates a universal health care system and sets its rules.
59% : Asked if he had "given up" on a universal health care system in California, Newsom pointed to a commission he founded that is examining such a system and how much it would cost.
58% : Tuesday, the Assembly Health Committee is scheduled to debate the bill that would create the universal health care system.
56% : In 1994, voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative that would have created a universal health care system.
56% : Monday, Newsom reiterated his support for a universal health care system, but declined to say if he supported the plan in the Legislature because he said he had not read it.
54% : Questions about how to pay for a universal health care system have doomed previous plans.
53% : Frustrated with partisan stalemates in Washington, California's overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature on Tuesday will begin debating whether to create their own universal health care system -- a move that will test how far the state's progressive politicians are willing to go to fulfill their campaign promises.
50% : But it's not been easy to accomplish in the nation's most populous state, where nearly half of people pay for private health insurance through their jobs.
46% : The plan, which would require voter approval, would raise taxes on businesses and individuals who earn at least $149,509 per year.
40% : The California Taxpayers Association, which opposes the plan, estimates it would raise taxes by about $163 billion per year.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.