BILL ANALYSIS AB 1612 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1612 (Budget Committee) As Amended October 6, 2010 2/3 vote. Urgency ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: | |(April 22, |SENATE: |27-8 |(October 7, | | | |2010) | | |2010) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- (vote not relevant) Original Committee Reference: BUDGET SUMMARY : This is the Human Services Budget Trailer Bill. It contains provisions necessary to implement the 2010-11 budget. The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and instead: 1)Clarify that, upon request and for research purposes, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development can share confidential patient-level health information with only the University of California and similar non-profit education institutions. 2)Suspend, for one additional year, a prohibition on charging fingerprinting fees to applicants for licenses to operate facilities that provide non-medical board, room or day care to six or fewer children (Community Care Licensing). 3)Child Support Services a) Extend existing reporting and evaluation requirements related to revenue stabilization funding to any year for which such an appropriation is made. b) Authorize the State Registrar to disclose information regarding a mother's marital status to the Department of Child Support Services for the purposes of demographic and statistical analysis. Requires the Department of Child Support Services to keep that information confidential. 4)Child Welfare Services and Foster Care a) Delay, for one additional year to July 1, 2011, AB 1612 Page 2 implementation of provisions enacted by AB 2488 (Leno), Chapter 386, Statutes of 2006, related to disclosure of personal information between adoptees and their biological siblings. Establishes intent for implementation of those provisions to continue in the interim to the extent possible. b) To implement new federal requirements, include reasonable travel for a child to remain in the school in which he or she is enrolled at the time of placement within the definition of care and supervision under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care Program. Further, clarifies the circumstances and terms under which the state may enter into an agreement with an Indian tribe, consortium of tribes or tribal organization regarding the care and custody of, and jurisdiction over, Indian children. c) Require the Department of Social Services to establish a working group to develop recommended revisions to the existing system of establishing Rate Classification Levels (RCLs) for group homes. Additionally prohibits, for one year, the establishment of a rate for a new or reinstated group home program or provider or the increase of an existing provider's rate or capacity, with appropriate case-by-case exceptions. 5)CalWORKs a) Extend operative dates for provisions allocating funds received under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) from October 1, 2010, to the expiration of relevant federal authority. Correspondingly, extends suspension of provisions of AB 98 (Niello), Chapter 589, Statutes of 2007, until relevant provisions of ECF related to subsidized employment programs expire. Finally, amends state law to ensure that services supported by ECF funding may be provided to needy youth, as defined. b) Delay to April 1, 2012 (from April 1, 2010) the date by which the Work Incentive Nutritional Supplement (WINS) program shall be fully implemented. Delays to October 1, 2011 (from April 1, 2010) the date by which the Temporary Assistance Program (TAP) must begin. Further, delays AB 1612 Page 3 statewide implementation of a CalWORKs county peer review process to no later than July 1, 2011. 6)Food Stamps a) Require counties, no later than April 1 or July 1, 2011 (depending on whether a food stamp recipient also receives CalWORKs or Medi-Cal benefits), to begin using an inter-county eligibility transfer process. As a result, food stamp recipients would no longer need to reapply for the program solely because of a move between counties within California. b) Allow counties, during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 fiscal years, to receive full state funding for the administration of food stamps without paying a share of nonfederal costs above and beyond the applicable maintenance of effort requirement. 7)In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) a) Delay implementation, until July 1, 2012, of service reductions that were enacted by AB 4 X4 (Evans), Chapter 4, Statutes of 2009-10 Fourth Extraordinary Session, including the elimination of domestic and related services, subject to specified exemptions, provided to individuals with functional index rankings of less than four and the elimination of all services provided to individuals with functional index scores of less than two. These provisions have not taken effect as a result of pending litigation. Further, conditions implementation of these changes on issuance by a court of competent jurisdiction of a specified order upholding these reductions. Effective 90 days after enactment and until June 30, 2012, reduces by 3.6% the hours of authorized service, pursuant to their most recent assessment, provided to IHSS recipients. On July 1, 2012, the recipient's authorized service hours would be restored. Specifies that recipients may direct the manner in which the reduction is applied. Requires the Department of Social Service (DSS) to provide recipients with comprehensible notice of the reduction and its temporary nature. b) Extend a sales tax on providers of support services, AB 1612 Page 4 measured by gross receipts from the sale of those services. Requires the DSS and other specified persons or entities to collect, report, and pay, and the Board of Equalization to administer, the sales tax. Requires the Director of Health Care Services to seek federal Medicaid approval to draw down specified matching funds. c) Require the state to make a supplemental Medicaid payment to IHSS providers, measured by gross receipts paid to the provider and paid out of the In-Home Supportive Services Revenue Fund established by the bill. Repeals these provisions if relevant federal approval sought by the Director of Health Care Services is denied. d) Specify other criminal convictions, including convictions for certain violent and serious felonies, fraud in the obtaining of aid, and designated felony sex offenses, that would preclude specified provider applicants from becoming a provider of IHSS, in addition to the criminal convictions that exclude a person from providing or being paid to provide IHSS under existing law. Applies the new criminal conviction exclusions commencing 90 days following the effective date of the bill. Requires the provider enrollment form to be revised to include the excludable criminal convictions provided for by the bill. Authorize a recipient to employ a particular provider who has been convicted of an excludable offense identified in the bill by submitting an individual waiver to the county. Prescribes the county's duties with respect to processing these individual waivers. Authorizes a provider applicant with an excludable criminal conviction to seek a general exception, in order to provide services to the general recipient population, and prescribes the criteria to be used by the DSS in determining whether to grant the exception. Specifies applicable notice and administrative hearing requirements, and other duties of the department in connection with implementation. Require a nonprofit consortium, public authority, or county with criminal background check authority to secure a criminal background check clearance to accept a clearance for certain individuals who have been deemed eligible to receive payment under the IHSS program by another nonprofit consortium, public authority, or county with criminal AB 1612 Page 5 background check authority. e) Delay implementation, until July 1, 2012, of the provisions added by SB 6 (Ducheny), Chapter 13, Statutes of 2009 that reduce, to $9.50 per hour plus $.60 per hour for health benefits, the maximum level of IHSS provider wages in which the state will participate. Further, conditions implementation of this change on issuance by a court of competent jurisdiction of a specified order validating the wage and benefit reductions. These provisions are not in effect as a result of pending litigation. 8)Allow for emergency regulations or all-county letters to ensure timely implementation of certain provisions. Declares that this bill is to take effect immediately. 9)Urgency Clause. Declares this bill take effect immediately as an urgency statute. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was a vehicle for 2009 Budget legislation. Analysis Prepared by : Nicole Vazquez / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099 FN: 0007217