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A Senate Republican on Tuesday proposed a wide-ranging health bill that includes allowing advanced-registered nurse practitioners to prescribe controlled substances. The bill (SB 210), filed by state Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, could help renew a long-running lobbying battle in which doctors have opposed expanded drug-prescribing powers for advanced-registered nurse practitioners. (9/2)

Illinois lawmakers set aside their bitter partisan bickering Wednesday to override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's partial veto of bill addressing the state's heroin crisis. Illinois has one of the highest rates of heroin overdose deaths in the country, and the Chicago area has led the nation in the number of emergency room visits related to heroin. And as we've recently reported, the heroin crisis has been growing worse as state funding for treatment programs has been cut. (Schaper, 9/2)

Two weeks after Democrats revived controversial right-to-die legislation in a special legislative session on health care funding, the measure on Tuesday won bipartisan support and easily cleared an Assembly committee on a 10-3 vote. The powerful California Medical Association's opposition to an amendment floated by the lower house's Committee on Public Health and Developmental Services threatened to torpedo the measure's momentum. But in the end, the bill advanced without major revisions, even winning yes votes from Republicans for the first time. (Calefati, 9/2)