BILL NUMBER: AB 2048	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 16, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gray

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2016

   An act to amend Section 127940  of   of, and
to add Section 127945 to,  the Health and Safety Code, relating
to health professions  development. 
development, and making an appropriation therefor. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2048, as amended, Gray. National Health Service Corps State
Loan Repayment Program.
   Existing law provides that in administering the National Health
Service Corps State Loan Repayment Program in accordance with federal
law and regulations, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development is required to strive, whenever feasible, to equitably
distribute loan repayment awards between eligible urban and rural
program sites, after taking into account the availability of health
care services in the communities to be served and the number of
individuals to be served in each program site.
   This bill would  make technical, nonsubstantive changes to
that provision.   require the office to include all
federally qualified health centers located in California in the 
 program's certified eligible site list. The bill would require
the office to notify all certified eligible sites when the program
opens each application cycle and to strive, to the extent possible,
to maximize the number of applications received each cycle. The bill
would require the office to submit an annual report, as specified, to
the Senate and Assembly Committees on Health that includes, among
other things, the number of applications received during the annual
application cycle and the percentage of applicants who were awarded
funding.  
   This bill would continuously appropriate $1,000,000 from the
General Fund each fiscal year to the Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development for the purpose of providing state matching
funds to the National Health Service Corps State Loan Repayment
Program. The bill would prohibit the office from requiring program
applicants or participants to provide matching funds in years that
the office receives these matching funds. 
   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
 no   yes . Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 127940 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   127940.  (a) In administering the National Health Service Corps
State Loan Repayment Program in accordance with Section 254q-1 of
Title 42 of the United States Code and related federal regulations,
the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development shall strive,
whenever feasible, to equitably distribute loan repayment awards
between eligible urban and rural program sites, after taking into
account the availability of health care services in the communities
to be served and the number of individuals to be served in each
program site.
   (b)  The office shall set a reasonable deadline for when all
applications are required to be received.
   (c)  All eligible applications shall be given consideration before
any award is granted. 
   (d) The office shall include all federally qualified health
centers located in California in the program's certified eligible
site list.  
   (e) The office shall notify all certified eligible sites when the
program opens each application cycle and shall strive, to the extent
possible, to maximize the number of applications received each cycle.
 
   (f) The office shall not require program applicants and
participants to provide matching funds in years that the office
receives state matching funds pursuant to Section 127945.  
   (g) The office shall submit an annual report to the Senate and
Assembly Committees on Health that includes all of the following
information:  
   (1) The number of applications received during the annual
application cycle.  
   (2) The percentage of applicants who were awarded funding under
the program.  
   (3) The percentage of applicants who were not awarded funding
under the program.  
   (4) The percentage of funding that went to each geographic region
in the state.  
   (h) (1) The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to
subdivision (g) is inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.  
   (2) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (g) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

   SEC.   2.    Section 127945 is added to the
  Health and Safety Code   , to read:  
   127945.  Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the
sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) is hereby continuously
appropriated, from the General Fund in the State Treasury, without
regard to fiscal year, to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development for purposes of providing state matching funds for the
National Health Service Corps State Loan Repayment Program pursuant
to Section 127940.