BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1212 (Hueso) - "2-1-1" information and referral network
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|Version: May 3, 2016 |Policy Vote: E., U., & C. 10 - |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 16, 2016 |Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1212 authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to expend up to $1.5 million from the California
Teleconnect Fund Administrative Committee Fund to help close
2-1-1 service gaps in counties lacking access to disaster
preparedness, response, and recovery information and referral
services, where technically feasible, through available 2-1-1
service. Specifies that the subdivision sunsets on January 1,
2023.
Fiscal
Impact: Up to $1.5 million (California Teleconnect Fund
Administrative Committee Fund) to potentially fund the following
implementation activities (See staff comments):
One-time costs of approximately $350,000 to activate and
program the 2-1-1 services in the expanded territories.
One-time costs of approximately $1 million to develop a
publicly owned database.
Unknown, but potentially significant costs, to maintain the
database.
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Approximately $131,000 annually to cover staff costs for
implementation and program administration.
Background:
2-1-1 services. 2-1-1 is the free telephone number by which
Californians can obtain information and referral to health and
human service programs. Generally, 2-1-1 provides telephone and
web services that promote public safety during non-emergency
situations. During emergency or disaster situations, 2-1-1
provides critical public information, such as information on
shelters, food distribution, evacuations, road closures and
transportation issues, utility outages, school closures, medical
and housing assistance, government aid, mitigation and repairs,
such as sand bags, emergency alerts, such as riots and looting,
as well as public health warnings.
Additionally, 2-1-1 service providers offer contact information
and access to many local, state and national hotlines, including
poison control, suicide, child abuse, adult abuse, teen
bullying/cyber-bullying and other crises, domestic violence,
veteran issues, immediate shelter, food and health needs, and
many other social services that are not currently addressed by
either 9-1-1 or 3-1-1 services.
2-1-1 use in California. In 2014, over 1.7 million Californians
called 2-1-1 for help finding needed community services such as
rent and mortgage assistance, food and shelter, healthcare, job
training, transportation, childcare, and senior care. For
example, 2-1-1 services have been important gateways for
enrolling low- and moderate-income families in health insurance
programs, including Healthy Families and county-based Children's
Health Initiatives. In the same year, over 1 million unique
hits were tracked on 211 websites across the state. 2-1-1 also
plays a critical role in providing information and support in
times of disaster, such as evacuation, shelter, food, medical
and recovery information, and providing public officials with
feedback from callers about changing conditions. For example,
in 2007 during the San Diego wild fires local 2-1-1s handled
130,000 calls in five days.
CPUC role. The CPUC authorizes one qualifying local agency in a
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county the use of the 2-1-1 dial code. This designation allows
the lead agency to provide the 2-1-1 referral services for the
county. Information and referral centers seeking to utilize the
2-1-1 dial code must apply directly to the CPUC for rights to
use this special three digit dialing code. The CPUC has
approved 2-1-1 services in 37 counties serving approximately 95
percent of California's population. Most of these counties have
funded their 2-1-1 services via partnerships between local
health and human services agencies and nonprofits. For example,
Sacramento County notes its program is funded by First 5
Sacramento Commission, Sacramento County Office of Emergency
Services, Agency on Aging, Goodwill Industries of Sacramento
Valley & Northern Nevada, Sacramento Superior Court, Kaiser and
contributions from the community.
Some counties are left out. While most counties have 2-1-1
information and referral providers, 21 counties currently lack
the service. Specifically, the following 10 counties are
currently developing their 2-1-1 service: Colusa, El Dorado,
Glenn, Lassen, Mono, Plumas, Placer, Siskiyou, Sutter, and Yuba.
Another 11 counties lack the service and do not have programs in
development: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Del Norte, Inyo, Lake,
Madera, Modoc, Sierra, Trinity, and Tuolumne.
Proposed Law:
This bill:
1)States the intent of the Legislature to facilitate the
expansion of 2-1-1 telephone services into those counties in
California where they are lacking and to support a
comprehensive statewide database that will connect all callers
to the information and referrals they need.
2)States the intent of the Legislature to facilitate access to
disaster preparedness, response, and recovery information, and
referral services, uniformly in the state, especially in
hard-to-serve rural areas, though a universally available
2-1-1 telephone service.
3)Authorizes the CPUC to expend up to $1,500,000 from the
California Teleconnect Fund Administrative Committee Fund to
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help close 2-1-1 service gaps in counties lacking access to
disaster preparedness, response, and recovery information and
referral services, where technically feasible, through
available 2-1-1 service.
4)Specifies that one-time costs may include implementation of a
coordinated publicly owned database to provide referrals to
help with nonemergency aspects of disaster planning, recovery,
and response.
5)Sunsets the subdivision on January 1, 2023.
Staff comments:
According to the CPUC, implementation of this bill will require
a new position to oversee contracting for the database and to
implement and conduct ongoing administration activities. It
will also require funds to be allocated to activate and program
switches required to direct 2-1-1 calls to the appropriate 800#.
These costs are estimated to be approximately $350,000 (based
on AT&T's rate, through rates vary by carrier).
The CPUC also notes costs to develop a publicly owned database
(approximately $1 million, but potentially more based on
functionality), and potentially significant ongoing costs to
update and host the database. The CPUC notes that "in previous
2-1-1 requests, the 2-1-1 service provider assumes the
responsibility of updating the 2-1-1 referral database as
needed. Absent a 2-1-1 service provider taking on that
responsibility, the CPUC will need to assume the responsibility
and that will generate ongoing costs-either through employee
costs or contractor costs."
This bill may require a small increase in the California
Teleconnect Fund line item. This could result in a minor
increase in costs to the state as a ratepayer. Also, the PUC
notes that the line item and required appropriation require that
bill implementation be delayed until 2018.
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The sponsor notes that SB 1212 will result in less fiscal
pressure to the 911 system, will leverage existing state and
local resources, and will act as a "force multiplier" for local
first responders that conserves scarce resources. The sponsor
further notes that SB 1212 is permissive and does not mandate
any higher level of spending. It simply authorizes the PUC to
use the Teleconnect Fund to address the service gaps in the
system.
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