BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 118
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 118
(Liu) - As Amended August 17, 2015
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| |Education | |7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill modifies an existing unfunded grant program
administered by the California Department of Public Health
(CDPH) to provide grants to schools. Specifically, this bill:
SB 118
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1)Adds substance abuse as an allowable service, updates terms,
and modifies grant amounts.
2)Changes the purposes of "sustainability grants" from operating
expenses to development of sustainable funding models.
3)Creates a new "population health grant" category to fund
obesity prevention, asthma programs, and similar public health
topics.
It also contains chaptering amendments for AB 766
(Ridley-Thomas), which amends the same code section.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown cost pressure, exceeding $150,000 GF or other unknown
fund source, to fund designated grants. The bill authorizes a
new category of grants. The current program has been authorized
in statute for eight years, but was never funded.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill intends to update existing program
parameters and definitions of an authorized grant program,
creating a stronger framework upon which schools may expand
and seek additional resources to fund their school-based
health centers.
2)School-based Health Centers (SBHCs). There are approximately
200 SBHCs in California, many of them operating in schools
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with a high share of low-income students. SBHCs are
administered by a variety of organizations, including school
districts, community clinics, counties, hospitals, and private
physician groups. They are financed through school funding;
grants from state, local, and private sources; as well as
reimbursements from public programs and some private
insurance. An existing partnership between the California
Department of Education and CDPH related to school-based
health, of which the unfunded grant program was a component,
was also suspended in 2013 due to loss of funding.
3)Related Legislation. AB 766 (Ridley-Thomas) expands the
characteristics of schools that receive preference in the
awarding of grant funds from the program that is the subject
of this bill. That bill is pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081