BILL NUMBER: AB 2279 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cooley
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to amend Section 5899 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to mental health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2279, as amended, Cooley. Mental Health Services Act:
county-by-county spending reports.
Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), an initiative
measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2,
2004, statewide general election, establishes the Mental Health
Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. The act
Existing law requires the State Department of
Health Care Services, in consultation with the Mental Health Services
Oversight and Accountability Commission and the County Behavioral
Health Directors Association of California, to develop and administer
instructions for the Annual Mental Health Services Act Revenue and
Expenditure Report, which gathers specified information on mental
health spending as a result of the MHSA, including the expenditures
of funds distributed to each county.
This bill would require the department, based on the Annual Mental
Health Services Act Revenue and Expenditure Report, to compile
information , in total and by county on an annual
basis basis, that includes
includes, among other things, the total amount of MHSA
revenue, a county-by-county comparison of fund expenditure
plans and annual updates, and a county-by-county comparison of the
purposes for which MHSA funds were expended and to send that
information to the commission. The bill would require the commission
to make the information available to the public on the commission's
Internet Web site and to update the Internet Web site annually.
the amount of MHSA money received and expended for
each specified component of the MHSA program, and the amount of MHSA
money spent on program administration. The bill would require the
department to make the collected information available to the
Legislature and the public on its Internet Web site no later than
July 1, 2018, and annually thereafter.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5899 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code is amended to read:
5899. (a) The State Department of Health Care Services, in
consultation with the Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission and the County Behavioral Health Directors
Association of California, shall develop and administer instructions
for the Annual Mental Health Services Act Revenue and Expenditure
Report. This report shall be submitted electronically to the
department and to the Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission.
(b) The purpose of the Annual Mental Health Services Act Revenue
and Expenditure Report is as follows:
(1) Identify the expenditures of Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
funds that were distributed to each county.
(2) Quantify the amount of additional funds generated for the
mental health system as a result of the MHSA.
(3) Identify unexpended funds, and interest earned on MHSA funds.
(4) Determine reversion amounts, if applicable, from prior fiscal
year distributions.
(c) This report is intended to provide information that allows for
the evaluation of all of the following:
(1) Children's systems of care.
(2) Prevention and early intervention strategies.
(3) Innovative projects.
(4) Workforce education and training.
(5) Adults and older adults systems of care.
(6) Capital facilities and technology needs.
(d) Based on the report required pursuant to subdivision (a), the
State Department of Health Care Services, no later than nine months
after the end of each fiscal year, shall collect and publicly report
all of the following information, by statewide total and by
individual county:
(1) Total revenue received from the Mental Health Services Act
(MHSA).
(2) The amount of MHSA funds received by the counties for each of
the following components of the act:
(A) Community services and supports.
(B) Prevention and early intervention.
(C) Innovation.
(D) Housing that is not funded under subparagraph (A).
(E) Workforce education and training that is not funded under
subparagraph (A).
(F) Capital facilities and technological needs that are not funded
under subparagraph (A).
(G) Other mental health services not reflected in subparagraphs
(A) to (F), inclusive.
(3) MHSA revenues expended in the prior fiscal year.
(4) The amount of the MHSA funds expended by the counties for each
of the components listed in paragraph (2).
(5) Funds held in prudent reserve by each county.
(6) Distributions from the counties' prudent reserves.
(7) For the most recent fiscal year, the amount of unspent MHSA
funds for each component listed in paragraph (2).
(8) MHSA funds subject to reversion and funds that have reverted.
(e) The information required to be reported pursuant to
subdivision (d) shall be reported for each fiscal year and shall
include statewide totals. The information shall be updated annually,
including revisions when necessary. Revisions shall be identified as
figures that have been revised from prior year reports. Annual
reports shall include fiscal information for a period of not less
than 10 fiscal years and shall include information for the most
recent fiscal year.
(f) (1) In addition to the information required pursuant to
subdivision (d), the department shall publicly report annual county
program expenditures for each of the following:
(A) Program administration.
(B) Research and evaluation.
(C) Funds used to support joint powers authorities or other
statewide entities.
(2) A county that cannot supply some or all of the information
required by paragraph (1) shall provide an explanation as to why and
shall provide a timeframe for making the information available.
(3) The department shall work with counties and other local mental
health agencies to determine how best to make the information
required in paragraph (1) available, including estimates. Estimated
information shall be reported as an estimate.
(g) Counties may submit to the department information about
programs that address the following areas:
(1) Homelessness.
(2) Criminal justice diversion or related programs.
(3) Suicide prevention.
(4) School-based mental health programs designed to reduce school
failure.
(5) Employment or other programs intended to reduce unemployment.
(6) Programs intended to reduce or prevent involvement with the
child welfare system.
(7) Stigma reduction.
(8) Programs specifically designed to reduce racial and ethnic
disparities.
(9) Programs specifically designed to meet the needs of the
following populations:
(A) Veterans.
(B) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning
(LGBTQQ).
(C) Children.
(D) Transition-age youth.
(E) Adults.
(F) Older adults.
(h) The department shall compile the information in subdivisions
(d) to (g), inclusive, collected from counties or other local mental
health agencies to promote public understanding of MHSA funds that
are distributed statewide and for each county, as well as how those
funds are spent and what funds remain available for expenditure.
(i) The department shall consult with the Mental Health Services
Oversight and Accountability Commission, the State Controller's
Office, the Department of Finance, counties and other local mental
health agencies, and any other agency required to implement this
section.
(j) The department shall consolidate reporting requirements when
feasible and shall propose to the appropriate policy committees of
the Legislature strategies to refine and consolidate reporting
requirements to meet the goals of this section.
(k) The department shall make the information required by this
section available to the Legislature and the public on its Internet
Web site no later than July 1, 2018, and annually thereafter.
SECTION 1. Section 5899 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
5899. (a) The State Department of Health Care Services, in
consultation with the Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission and the County Behavioral Health Directors
Association of California, shall develop and administer instructions
for the Annual Mental Health Services Act Revenue and Expenditure
Report. This report shall be submitted electronically to the
department and to the Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission.
(b) The purpose of the Annual Mental Health Services Act Revenue
and Expenditure Report is as follows:
(1) Identify the expenditures of Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
funds that were distributed to each county.
(2) Quantify the amount of additional funds generated for the
mental health system as a result of the MHSA.
(3) Identify unexpended funds, and interest earned on MHSA funds.
(4) Determine reversion amounts, if applicable, from prior fiscal
year distributions.
(c) This report is intended to provide information that allows for
the evaluation of all of the following:
(1) Children's systems of care.
(2) Prevention and early intervention strategies.
(3) Innovative projects.
(4) Workforce education and training.
(5) Adults and older adults systems of care.
(6) Capital facilities and technology needs.
(d) Based on the report required in subdivision (a), the State
Department of Health Care Services shall compile information on an
annual basis that includes the total amount of MHSA revenue, a
county-by-county comparison of fund expenditure plans and annual
updates, and a county-by-county comparison of the purposes for which
MHSA funds were expended.
(e) The State Department of Health Care Services annually shall
provide the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability
Commission with the information compiled pursuant to subdivision (d).
The commission shall make the information available to the public on
the commission's Internet Web site, which shall be updated annually.