California hospitals could get taxpayer-funded bailout

(The Center Square) – A small handful of nonprofit hospitals in California would get some or all of a proposed $25 million bailout debated by state lawmakers on Tuesday.

Hospitals will have a chance to apply for those funds, according to agency officials who testified Tuesday morning before the state Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. Legislators on both sides of the aisle voiced support for the funding bill, which the committee approved unanimously with an 18-0 vote. It now goes to the Senate floor.

“I know that both sides have spoken up about hoping we address distressed hospitals in some way with the budget that starts July 1,” Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, the committee chair, said at the outset of the meeting.

Lawmakers on the committee spoke about the urgency of passing a funding measure that would provide hospitals some relief, expressing concern that some hospitals woul...