BILL ANALYSIS �
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 67 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee)
As Amended May 7, 2013
Majority vote. Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect
Immediately
SENATE VOTE :24-9
SUMMARY : Codifies the terms of a settlement agreement reached
between the state and plaintiffs resolving outstanding lawsuits
affecting the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) 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 provisions that had:
a) Required the State Department of Social Services (DSS)
to implement, under specified circumstances, a 20%
reduction in authorized hours of service to each IHSS
recipient, beginning January 1, 2012, except as specified.
b) 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) 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 two on the
five-point scale in order to qualify for IHSS hours.
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d) 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 four 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% 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%
reduction, ending on July 1, 2013, and this reduction, so that
recipients will instead be impacted by an additional 4.4%
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%
reduction in authorized hours of service to each IHSS
recipient, as specified. This 7% reduction is in place of the
8% reduction and not in addition to it. As part of this:
a) Authorizes a county to administratively deny a request
for reassessment based only on the reduction.
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b) Requires a specified notice to be mailed to the
recipient at least 20 days before the reduced reduction, by
1%, 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%
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 bill is to take
effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations
related to the Budget Bill.
EXISTING LAW provides for the county-administered IHSS Program,
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under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are
provided with services to permit them to remain in their own
homes and avoid institutionalization.
FISCAL EFFECT : DSS estimates that the 8% reduction would save
approximately $176 million General Fund in 2013-14 and that the
7% 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% reduction.
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole Vazquez / BUDGET / (916)
319-2099
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