Oregon Senate panel gets health care rights bill

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Senate’s health committee will assess a bill passed by the House that would enshrine a right to health care in the state Constitution.

Senate President Peter Courtney assigned the measure, which aims to put the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot for Oregon voters in the November election, on Wednesday, a day after the House approved it along party lines.

Such a constitutional amendment would be a first for any state in America, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Senate committee on health care has three Democrats and two Republicans, including a new member who’s already said he’s against the measure. The committee chairwoman, a Democrat, is a former nurse who is bullish on public health care.