BILL ANALYSIS
AB 41
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Date of Hearing: March 18, 2003
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGING AND LONG TERM CARE
Lynn M. Daucher, Chair
AB 41 (Daucher) - As Amended: January 16, 2003
SUBJECT : Area Agencies on Aging: funding
SUMMARY : Creates a Senior Citizens Interim Payment Fund in the
State Treasury that may be used to pay providers when the annual
Budget Act is not enacted by June 30 of any year. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Creates in the State Treasury the Senior Citizens Services
Interim Payment Fund.
2)Provides that the fund would be continuously appropriated to
CDA, into which a sum not to exceed $22,000,000 would be
transferred from the Federal Trust Fund during any year in
which a budget is not enacted by July 1.
3)Provides that moneys in this interim fund would be used to
make payments to AAAs and providers of specified services to
the elderly, for services provided on or after July 1 of the
fiscal year for which no budget has been enacted and before
September 1 of that year.
4)Provides that payments shall be made if both of the following
conditions have been met:
a) An invoice has been submitted for the services; and,
b) Payment for the services is due and payable and CDA
determines that payment would be valid.
5)Provides that upon the enactment of the annual Budget Act in
any fiscal year in which the loan was utilized, the amount of
any payments made from the Senior Citizens Services Interim
Payment Fund shall be debited from the appropriate Budget Act
item in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the
Department of Finance.
6)Is an urgency measure.
EXISTING LAW
AB 41
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1)Establishes the CDA as the state agency that administers a
broad range of home- and community-based services throughout
California.
2)Establishes the AAAs as the local entities that provide for
and/or deliver services at the local level. The 33 AAAs
administer these programs in compliance with the Older
Americans Act, the Older Californians Act and other applicable
regulations.
3)Establishes the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund to
continuously appropriate funds to Medi-Cal providers, the AIDS
drug assistance programs and developmental services programs
in the event the budget is not passed on time. The Controller
is authorized to loan up to $2 billion to the fund to cover
the cost of these claims when the budget is stalled.
FISCAL EFFECT : Not known.
COMMENTS : This bill provides that in the absence of the
enactment of the annual budget act by June 30, the Controller
shall transfer an amount not to exceed $22 million dollars from
the Federal Trust Fund to the Senior Citizens Interim Payment
Fund for the purpose of continuing payment to the local AAAs.
Ninety percent of the funding distributed by the CDA for the 33
AAAs is received from the federal government. The remaining ten
percent is appropriated from the General Fund.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL: The bill would ensure continued funding of
services to the elderly in the event of a budget delay. Under
current law, CDA cannot allocate the federal funds to local
agencies to continue services. It is difficult for local AAAs
to borrow funds to temporarily continue services and the payment
of interest is not an allowable federal expenditure.
RELATED LEGISLATION: Previous measures, similar to this bill
have been held in Appropriations Committees. In 1999, SB 657
(Ortiz) was held in Senate Appropriations Committee and in 2001,
AB 2552 (Daucher) was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
These bills allowed for a continuous appropriation from the
Federal Trust fund in the event the budget was not enacted on
time. AB 1, introduced this year, mirrors previously introduced
legislation.
AB 41
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AB 41 (Daucher) mirrors previously enacted legislation, AB 561
(Scott, Chapter 993, Statutes of 1998) which creates a funding
mechanism to protect MediCal providers, developmental
disabilities providers and the AIDS drug assistance program in
the event of a budget delay. The chaptered measure provides for
a loan of up to one billion in state general funds and up to one
billion in federal funds to the Medical Providers Interim
Payment in order to continue making payments to specified
providers in the event the budget was not signed by June 30 of
any year.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Adult and Aging Commission
Area 4 Agency on Aging
California Association of Area Agencies on Aging
California Association of Senior Service Corps
California Commission on Aging
California Senior Legislature
Evercare
Fresno-Madera Agency on Aging
Gray Panthers
Lake and Mendocino Counties Council on Aging
Legal Center for the Elderly and Disabled
Merced County Human Services Agency
Nevada County Adult Services Council
Older Women's League of California
On Lok Senior Services
Sutter County Commission on Aging (9 Members)
TACC - Triple-A Council of California
Yolo County Commission on Aging (5 Members)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Bonnie Darwin / AGING & L.T.C. / (916)
319-3946