BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 112
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Date of Hearing: May 9, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUDGET
Bob Blumenfield, Chair
AB 112 (Budget Committee) - As Amended: May 7, 2013
SUBJECT : In-Home Supportive Services Program
SUMMARY : Codifies the terms of a settlement agreement reached
between the state and plaintiffs resolving outstanding lawsuits
affecting the In-Home Supportive Services program, replacing
previously enacted reductions with an across-the-board hours
reduction and an expected assessment on home care services to
offset that reduction. Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals provisions related to three budget reductions at issue
in the two lawsuits settled by the litigation agreement, Oster
v. Lightbourne, et al. (known as Oster I and Oster II) and
Dominguez v. Brown, et al, which had been enjoined before
taking effect, including the following:
a) Provisions that had required the State Department of
Social Services (DSS) to implement, under specified
circumstances, a 20 percent reduction in authorized hours
of service to each IHSS recipient, beginning January 1,
2012, except as specified.
b) Provisions that had reduced the state contribution to
IHSS provider wages and benefits from a maximum of $12.10
per hour to $10.10 per hour effective July 1, 2009.
c) Provisions that had established a stricter threshold of
need to receive IHSS hours based on a recipient's assessed
functional index score, requiring IHSS recipients to have
an overall functional index score equal to or greater than
2 on the 5-point scale in order to qualify for IHSS hours.
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d) Provisions that had established a stricter threshold of
need to receive domestic and related care services (such as
housework, meal preparation, and laundry), requiring a
functional index ranking greater than 4 for each domestic
and related care services activity in order to receive
service hours to assist with the task.
1)Requires DSS, from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, inclusive,
to implement an 8 percent reduction in authorized hours of
service to each IHSS recipient, as specified. The reduction
is timed to take effect to avoid a pause between the current
3.6 percent reduction, ending on July 1, 2013, and this
reduction, so that recipients will instead be impacted by an
additional 4.4 percent reduction effective July 1, 2013. As
part of this:
a) Authorizes a county to administratively deny a request
for reassessment based only on the reduction.
b) Requires a specified notice to be mailed to the
recipient at least 10 days before the additional reduction
goes into effect.
1)Require DSS, beginning July 1, 2014, to implement a 7 percent
reduction in authorized hours of service to each IHSS
recipient, as specified. As part of this:
a) Authorizes a county to administratively deny a request
for reassessment based only on the reduction.
b) Requires a specified notice to be mailed to the
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recipient at least 20 days before the reduced reduction, by
one percent, goes into effect.
1)Requires the Director of Finance, within 30 days after receipt
of specified certification from the State Department of Health
Care Services (DHCS), to, among other things, estimate the
total amount of additional funding that would be derived from
an unspecified assessment for the next fiscal year and
calculate, as a percentage, the amount by which the 7 percent
reduction in authorized hours of service for each IHSS
recipient is offset by General Fund savings from that
specified assessment. Requires DHCS to perform these
activities for the fiscal year that the funding is received
and the following fiscal year, and on or before May 14, prior
to the third fiscal year after the funding is received.
2)Creates the In-Home Supportive Services Reinvestment Fund, a
continuously appropriated fund, to receive moneys to the
extent that an unspecified assessment is implemented
retroactively, and use those moneys to provide goods or
services for one-time direct reinvestments benefiting IHSS
recipients, as prescribed. This bill would require the
Director of Finance to consult with specified plaintiffs to
develop a plan to reinvest those funds, and require that plan
to be submitted to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature. The bill requires the Director
of Finance to provide specified notice to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee at least 30 days prior to
allocating any of those funds, as prescribed.
3)Makes an appropriation and declares that the measure is to
take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations
related to the Budget Bill.
EXISTING LAW provides for the county-administered In-Home
Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged,
blind, and disabled persons are provided with services to permit
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them to remain in their own homes and avoid
institutionalization.
FISCAL EFFECT: DSS estimates that the 8 percent reduction would
save approximately $160 million General Fund in 2013-14 and that
the 7 percent reduction would save approximately $159 million
General Fund in 2014-15.
COMMENTS: In March 2013, DSS and DHCS reached a settlement
agreement with plaintiffs that would resolve the outstanding
lawsuits - Oster v. Lightbourne, et al. (known as Oster I and
Oster II) and Dominguez v. Brown, et al - by repealing the
enjoined reductions and implementing a new reduction plan
intended to realize General Fund savings while lessening the
magnitude of service cuts. The federal district court
tentatively approved the settlement agreement on April 4th and
the Legislature has been asked to enact legislation to
effectuate the terms of this agreement.
The Legislature, not a party to the settlement agreement, may
modify proposed language as it deems appropriate. This bill
reflects the proposed language of the settlement agreement, with
technical, non-substantive changes. Such changes include adding
a section declaring the Legislature's intent to enact
legislation in 2013 to authorize an assessment on home care
services, including but not limited to, home health care and
IHSS, consistent with the settlement agreement; and providing
for notification to the Legislature of the use of one-time
retroactive federal funds in the IHSS program. It is also
important to note that this bill does not preclude another
measure, mechanism, or option from being sought to offset or
eliminate the 7 percent reduction.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole Vazquez / BUDGET / (916)
319-2099