You’d be hard-pressed to find a better laboratory for progressive policy than California: Democrats wield two-thirds-plus margins in the Legislature and control every state office. The party’s hegemony here has allowed Sacramento to achieve a long series of liberal victories. But it’s been a different story for one health policy goal that has animated Democratic presidential campaigns and enthralled the progressive wings of both the California Democratic Party and its national counterpart.

This was supposed to be the year California progressives got closer. Assemblymember Ash Kalra spent months working with Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on crafting a viable bill and a companion funding measure that would have generated revenue with an array of tax increases. While finding the votes to pay for it looked untenable in an election year and the proposed tax hikes drew a barrage of Republican attacks, single-payer supporters felt confident that the policy vessel could at least clear the Assembly floor. Even with four Democratic seats vacant, Kalra could’ve lost 15 members and still have had enough to keep the bill moving. Link: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2022/02/01/kalras-single-payer-plan-flatlines-00004058

Lol, lmao, even capitalist reforms are off the table