BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          6Date of Hearing:  May 18, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          AB  
          2346 (Baker) - As Amended March 31, 2016


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:  This bill requires specified position statements  
          related to state hearings to be made available electronically no  
          less than two days prior to the date of a hearing.   
          Specifically, this bill: 


          1)Requires a public or private agency to make its position  
            statement available through electronic means.


          2)Requires the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)  
            to make its position statement available to the applicant, or  
            recipient, and the Department of Social Services (DSS) through  
            electronic means not less than two business days before the  
            scheduled hearing.








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          3)Exempts a public or private agency from making a copy of its  
            position statement available to an applicant or recipient  
            through electronic means if the agency submits a report by  
            December 31 of each year to DSS that includes agency-  
            identified barriers to doing so and the steps the agency has  
            taken to address these barriers.)



          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Unknown, but potential costs to counties, not reimbursable, to  
            make position statements available electronically or to write  
            a report and submit it to DSS as to why they cannot.


          2)Minor and absorbable costs to DSS to annually review any  
            reports sent by public or private agencies explaining why they  
            can't make position statements available electronically.


          3)No fiscal impact to DSS regarding the development of the  
            Appeals Case Management System (ACMS) project.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose. According to the author, "Current law limits the  
            availability of State hearing documents because the documents  
            can only be picked up at the county welfare department.  The  
            inability to access hearing documents electronically imposes  
            additional transportation costs on low-income persons,  








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            especially those living in rural areas."  


            While hearings are no longer conducted exclusively in person  
            and may occur over the phone in some rural counties,  
            applicants for, or recipients of, public social services must  
            still drive to the county welfare office to obtain hearing  
            materials.  This bill seeks to address this issue by requiring  
            public and private agencies to make hearing materials  
            available electronically to recipients.


          2)Background. Existing law allows an applicant or recipient of  
            public social services to request a state hearing to contest  
            an action taken by the county that the applicant or recipient  
            believes is unjust or inappropriate, such as a recipient's  
            denial of benefits, aid, or services, or denial of an  
            applicant's program eligibility.  Current law and regulations  
            set forth timeframes for requesting a state hearing and  
            adjudication of the complaint, in addition to county  
            requirements to send notices pertaining to the hearing.


            DSS annually holds about 100,000 human services hearings  
            regarding DSS services to claimants. About 10% or 10,000 cases  
            are held in rural counties. Most rural county hearings are  
            scheduled as telephone hearings to save DSS money by not  
            requiring judges to drive to remote areas. While judges are  
            not required to travel, claimants in these state hearings are  
            required to go to their county department of social services  
            in person to get a copy of the County's Statement of Position  
            in preparation for a hearing.


          3)The Appeals Case Management System (ACMS) Project. The ACMS  
            for state fair hearings is being developed by OSI and  
            scheduled to be implemented in 2018. The system will integrate  
            intake, scheduling and reporting of cases. The ACMS will allow  
            claimants and their authorized representatives, counties,  








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            departments, respondents to hearings to securely upload and  
            download documents, such as the Statement of Position. It will  
            include a portal for individuals to request hearings, check  
            their hearing/case status and access case information.  



            The total budget of the project is $18.9 million  
            (approximately $9.8 million GF) for FY 2014-15 through 1 year  
            after implementation, FY 2019-20.  The cost is allocated  
            across programs for which DSS holds hearings by share of  
            workload.  Staff notes that when up and running, this system  
            will be available to individuals to obtain hearing  
            information, including obtaining electronically, the  
            information required in this bill. The system will be  
            available to counties, but they will not be required to use  
            it.





          4)County Options. In the meanwhile, to meet the requirements of  
            this bill, an agency can implement its own electronic system  
            using, for example, secure email or a secure website. Or, if  
            an agency prefers to wait for ACMS, or is not equipped to  
            implement a secure system, an agency can submit a report to  
            DSS explaining why it is not able to provide documents  
            electronically. There is no limit in the bill as to the number  
            of years an agency may submit a report to DSS. It is unknown  
            what option any particular public agency will choose and it  
            will likely vary be county.


          


          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081








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