SACRAMENTO - California would become the only state to offer all its residents government-operated health care under a bill sent Thursday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, although it's unlikely the governor will sign it.

Under the amended bill, California residents essentially would pay their health insurance premiums, copays and deductibles into a state-funded health insurance program. Money the state spends on health care also would go into the new system.

Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, modeled her bill on a private study that found billing each resident and business an annual premium based on income would be enough to pay for universal health care.

Kuehl said her bill guarantees that patients can choose their own doctors and would allow the state to cut prescription drug costs by negotiating bulk purchases. It also would help cut health care costs through increased efficiencies and reduced administrative costs, she said.

The measure, SB 815, over three years, would double the number of weeks that workers could collect benefits to compensate them for disabling injuries suffered starting in 2007.

By a 78-0 vote, the Assembly gave final approval to a bill by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, that would require state agencies to post on their Web sites information about how to access public records. That also would include a form to submit to obtain the records.

CABLE TV - Telephone companies that have promised to give Californians more television viewing choices could more easily get into the cable television business under a bill sent Thursday to the governor.

If enacted into law, the bill gives telephone companies entry into the California's $5.3 billion-a-year cable TV industry. It allows them to start making investments while they continue a national lobbying campaign for similar legislation in Congress.

The legislation directs the California Public Utilities Commission to set up a state franchise process for cable licenses. That will remove authority from individual communities, which now control the franchises. The bill passed with a 64-5 vote, with no lawmakers speaking in opposition.

BIOMONITORING - California would create the nation's first biomonitoring program to measure chemical contamination in the general public under a bill sent to Schwarzenegger on a 24-14 Senate vote.

MINIMUM WAGE - The Assembly gave final legislative approval to a bill boosting the state's minimum wage from $6.75 to $8 an hour over two years.

The legislation would give more than 1.4 million minimum-wage earners an increase of 75 cents an hour in January and another 50 cents the following year.

CELL PHONES - By a 21-15 vote, the Senate sent the governor a bill by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, that would prohibit motorists from using hand-held cell phones while driving.

The bill, SB 1613, would authorize a $20 fine for a first offense and $50 for subsequent violations. Calls made to 911 would not be covered by the bill.

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