The California Senate has approved creating a government-run health care system, ignoring a veto pledge from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Supporters say it is time for state legislatures to lead as the Obama administration's national health care proposal falters in Congress.
Thursday's move in the nation's most populous state comes after Massachusetts voters changed the calculus in Congress by electing a Republican to the Senate who opposes the pending plan.
Democrats are the majority in both houses of the California Legislature. The 40-member state Senate passed the single-payer plan on a 22-14 vote, sending it to the Assembly.
The Republican governor says he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk, as he has on two similar bills in the past.
