BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          Date of Hearing:  August 3, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          SB 1139  
          (Lara) - As Amended August 1, 2016


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill prohibits denying admission to several types of health  
          professions programs based on an applicants' citizenship or  
          immigration status.  Specifically, this bill:


          1)Prohibits specified health care workforce grant, loan  
            forgiveness, and scholarship programs administered by the  
            Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD)  
            from denying an application based on an applicants'  
            citizenship or immigration status.


          2)Specifies applicants to medical programs at any public or  
            private postsecondary educational institution may not be  






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            denied admission on the basis of citizenship status or  
            immigrant status.


          3)Specifies healing arts residency training program applicant  
            may not be denied admission on the basis of citizenship status  
            or immigrant status, if the program's participants are unpaid.  



          4)Provides that (2) and (3) do not apply to certain nonimmigrant  
            individuals. 


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Administrative costs to OSHPD to modify regulations for health  
          care workforce grant, loan forgiveness, and scholarship programs  
          in the range of $60,000 (Health Professions Education Fund,  
          funded by various fees, grants, and private donations), as well  
          as potential minor costs to review additional applications. 


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose. This bill intends to reduce barriers to undocumented  
            individuals to access health care workforce programs, while  
            also addressing service gaps that are desperately needed in  
            immigrant communities.  The author also explains that  
            undocumented students face challenges when applying to medical  
            schools and medical residency training programs due to their  
            citizenship or immigration status.  This bill would clarify  
            the eligibility of undocumented individuals who meet the  
            requirements to apply to medical schools and certain  
            healthcare residency training programs.



          2)Background.  OSHPD administers several healthcare workforce  






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            programs, which generally provide a financial benefit to  
            practitioners who agree to practice in federally designated  
            medically underserved areas.  These programs can help offset  
            the large expense incurred while pursuing a medical education,  
            while enhancing access to care in disadvantaged communities.  






            According to the Immigrant Policy Center, there are roughly  
            1.4 million immigrants who may qualify for "deferred action"  
            on immigration enforcement for youth and young adults who were  
            brought to the United States as children, including 412,000 in  
            California. For these young people, a career in the medical  
            profession can prove difficult based on various barriers to  
            entry, which this bill attempts to address.





          3)Recent Amendments. A prior version of this bill prohibited  
            denial of admission to medical residency programs based on  
            citizenship or immigration status.  Because residency programs  
            are generally administered as employment relationships and  
            persons without satisfactory immigration status are not  
            legally authorized to work pursuant to federal law, this  
            provision was recently removed from the bill.  The bill  
            currently prohibits denying admission to such programs on the  
            basis of citizenship status or immigrant status if the  
            program's participants are unpaid.

          Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081











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