BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1930
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1930 (Lackey)
As Amended August 1, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 16, |
| | | | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY: Establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
Family Caregiver Benefits Advisory Committee for the purpose of
studying, and providing a report on, employment-based supports
and protections as they pertain to IHSS providers.
The Senate amendments:
1)Modify and clarify certain aspects of the advisory committee,
including the following: establishes the committee within the
Department of Social Services (DSS); states that it should
consider, alongside other employment-based supports and
protections, factors related to state unemployment insurance
benefits; and changes the required composition of the
committee by including nonprofit organizations related to
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IHSS, removing the Department of Finance and Legislative
Analyst's Office, and specifying that the labor organizations
to be included should be designated representatives of
providers of personal assistance services funded as IHSS, as
specified.
2)Change the bill's required size of the advisory committee from
not more than 15 individuals to no fewer than eight
individuals and not more than 11 individuals, and authorize
the Governor to appoint no more than nine individuals, and
require the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee
on Rules to each appoint one individual to the committee.
Further, require the Governor's appointees to include only
representatives of groups specified by the bill, but permit
the other two appointees to include representatives not from
these groups, and require all appointments to ensure that the
advisory committee includes representatives of all specified
groups.
3)Make technical changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the IHSS program to provide supportive services,
including domestic, protective supervision, personal care, and
paramedical services as specified, to individuals who are
aged, blind, or living with disabilities, and who are unable
to perform the services themselves or remain safely in their
homes without receiving these services. (Welfare and
Institutions Code Section (WIC) 12300 et seq.)
2)States those counties may choose to contract with a nonprofit
consortium or establish a public authority for the provision
of IHSS services. Requires nonprofit consortia and public
authorities to, among other things, establish a registry to
assist recipients in locating IHSS providers, and to
investigate the background and qualifications of potential
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providers, as specified. (WIC 12301.6)
3)Maintains an IHSS recipient's right to hire, fire, and
supervise the work of any IHSS provider, regardless of the
employer responsibilities of a public authority or nonprofit
consortium, as specified. (WIC 12301.6)
4)Requires the application for IHSS to contain a notice to the
recipient that his or her provider(s) will be given written
notice of the recipient's authorized services and allotted
hours and further requires the application to inform
recipients of specified Media-Cal contact information for
reporting fraud or abuse. (WIC 12301.15)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
on August 1, 2016, this bill may result in the following costs:
1)Estimated costs to DSS of $373,000 in fiscal year 2016-17 and
$331,000 in fiscal year for administrative costs to support
the advisory group, assuming the committee will meet
quarterly. This includes three new staffing positions to
assist in staffing the committee and to prepare the
peer-reviewed report. (General Fund)
2)Costs to DSS of $97,000 for fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017-18
for transportation and meeting expenses for committee members,
county representatives, IHSS providers, IHSS recipients and
their providers and for legal research and consultation.
(General Fund)
3)Significant cost to DSS of $250,000 for fiscal years 2016-17
and 2017-18 for an external contract with the University of
California to complete the study and peer-reviewed report.
(General Fund)
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4)Likely significant cost pressure to implement any
recommendations that the advisory committee produces.
COMMENTS:
In-Home Supportive Services: The IHSS program enables
low-income individuals who are at least 65 years old, living
with disabilities, or blind to remain in their own homes by
paying for care providers to assist with personal care services
(such as toileting, bathing, and grooming), domestic and related
services (meal preparation, housecleaning, and the like),
paramedical services, and protective supervision. Approximately
464,000 Californians receive IHSS, with approximately 99%
receiving it as a Medicaid benefit.
When an individual is determined eligible for IHSS services by a
county social worker, he or she is authorized for a certain
number of hours of care. IHSS recipients are responsible for
hiring, firing, directing, and supervising their IHSS workers.
These responsibilities include some administrative duties, such
as scheduling and signing timesheets; however, the state handles
payroll. There are currently about 433,400 IHSS providers in
the state; approximately 69% are relatives and an estimated 50%
are live-in. Providers must complete an enrollment process,
including submitting fingerprint images for a criminal
background check and participating in a provider orientation
prior to receiving payment for services.
Access to some employment-based benefits and protections may be
limited for certain IHSS providers, particularly if a provider
is related to the IHSS consumer. According to IHSS provider
training materials from DSS, "some family members, especially
spouses and parents of consumers, are not eligible to have
Social Security (FICA) funds withheld from paychecks," and
"Unemployment Insurance benefits may be available to you if you
are not the parent or spouse of your employer/recipient and
become unemployed, able and available to work and you meet
certain eligibility requirements."
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Need for this bill: According to the author, this bill "would
establish an advisory committee to study how this exclusion [of
certain relative IHSS providers from Social Security, state
unemployment insurance and other coverage] impacts the economic
security of individuals who provide these critical services and
their communities. This committee would include policy experts
as well as those directly impacted by the exclusion. The
committee would be tasked with drafting a report to the
Legislature with recommendations on steps the state can take to
ensure that all IHSS providers have access to social security,
Medicare, and unemployment insurance. Over several decades, the
fact that these workers cannot access Social Security, Medicare
or Unemployment Insurance benefits has resulted in terrible
economic hardship for tens of thousands of IHSS workers who are
at or near retirement age. It also results in indirect costs to
taxpayers as hard working seniors are forced into poverty and
reliance on state public assistance programs. It is worth
exploring why benefits that are provided to one category of
workers that are denied to another category of workers in the
same program."
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0004248