BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 1149 (Wood) - Public health emergencies:  funding
          
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          |Version: February 27, 2015      |Policy Vote: HEALTH 9 - 0       |
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          |Urgency: Yes                    |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: June 22, 2015     |Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    |
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          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.




          


          Bill  
          Summary:  AB 1149 would add trade associations to the eligible  
          recipients of federal funding for bioterrorism preparedness and  
          emergency response.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  Minor cost pressures to provide funding to trade  
          associations, rather than to facilities directly (federal  
          funds). By authorizing trade associations to receive federal  
          funding (via the Department of Public Health), individual health  
          facilities may not receive funding directly. However, given the  
          very large number of health facilities in the state, it is not  
          practical for the Department to grant enough funds to individual  







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          facilities to have a practical benefit. Using trade associations  
          can be a cost-effective way to disseminate information and best  
          practices to individual facilities.


          Background:  Under current law, the Department of Public Health receives  
          federal funding for bioterrorism preparedness and emergency  
          response. Those funds are allocated to local governments and to  
          hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics, emergency medical  
          systems, and poison control centers. The Department of Public  
          Health had previously provided funding to trade associations  
          (particularly for the trade association representing long-term  
          care facilities) because it was not practical to provide funding  
          to each of the very large number of facilities in the state. A  
          recent legal opinion by Department staff indicates that  
          providing funds to trade associations is not authorized in law.


          Proposed Law:  
            AB 1149 would add trade associations to the eligible  
          recipients of federal funding for bioterrorism preparedness and  
          emergency response.
          This bill is an urgency measure.




          Related  
          Legislation:  AB 1793 (Yamada, Statutes of 2012) eliminated the  
          former sunset date on this program and added long-term health  
          care facilities to the eligible recipients (such facilities had  
          previously been provided funding, until a Department legal  
          opinion indicated they were not specifically eligible).


          Staff  
          Comments:  In the current fiscal year, $74 million in federal  
          funds has been appropriated for this program.


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