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
AB 1149 (Wood) Page 1 of
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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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