BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 174 Page 1 Date of Hearing: March 25, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 174 (Gray) - As Amended February 9, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Higher Education |Vote:|12 - 1 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: SUMMARY: This bill: 1)Appropriates $1,855,000 from the General Fund annually, AB 174 Page 2 beginning in 2016-17, to the University of California (UC) to support the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME) at UC Merced and to expand enrollment to 12 students per year (48 students total across a four-year curriculum). 2)Appropriates $1 million from the General Fund to UC for 2016-17 to undertake planning for the establishment of a medical school at UC Merced. UC is to report its plan and funding requirements and development schedule for the medical school by March 1, 2019. FISCAL EFFECT: 1)One-time cost of $1 million and ongoing cost of $1,855,000 as specified in the bill. 2)Cost to develop and operate a new medical school would be several tens of millions of dollars one-time and low tens of millions of dollars ongoing. COMMENTS: 1)Background. UC operates 17 health professional schools and programs, enrolling over 14,000 students, at seven campuses, including six medical schools (Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and San Francisco). UC PRIME is a training program focused on meeting the needs of California's underserved populations in both rural communities and urban areas by combining specialized coursework, structured clinical experiences, advanced independent study and mentoring. Five of UC's medical schools operate PRIMEs. AB 174 Page 3 UC Merced currently offers degrees in fields that satisfy medical school preparatory requirements and is developing plans intended to lead to a School of Medicine. In 2010, UC Merced opened a PRIME in partnership with the UC Davis School of Medicine and UCSF focused the health needs of the San Joaquin Valley. 2)Purpose. The UC Merced PRIME to date has not received state funding. (In fact, UC indicates that only 78 of the 333 medical students statewide in PRIME are funded by the state.) This bill funds support for the existing program at UC Merced and expansion of enrollment from six to 12 students per year (48 students total), which would make the program comparable in size to the other PRIMEs. In addition, the bill provides funding to plan for a new medical school at UC Merced. According to the author, "despite its numerous benefits for the region PRIME lacks an ongoing source of funding for its current enrollment as well as the financial resources to expand capacity to meet the needs of the valley. Additionally, state support is vital to the continued expansion of the campus of UC Merced and to lay the foundation of a new UC Medical School." 3)PRIME Over-appropriated. For the UC Merced PRIME program to expand over four years, total program costs would be $1,225,000 in 2016-17 (for 30 students), $1,435,000 in 2017-18 (for 36 students), $1,645,000 in 2018-19 (for 42 students), and $1,855,000 in 2018-19 and each year thereafter (for 48 students). 4)Related Legislation. SB 131 (Cannella), pending in the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review, contains the same appropriation for UC Merced PRIME. 5)Prior Legislation. In 2014, AB 2232 (Gray), was substantially similar when it passed this committee. The bill, which was AB 174 Page 4 subsequently amended to delete the $1 million for planning, was held on Suspense in Senate Appropriations. The 2013 Budget Act included trailer bill language requiring UC to allocate $15 million for planning and startup costs associated with academic programs to be offered by the School of Medicine at UC Riverside. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081