BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                    Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
          
                                           366 (Mullin)
          
          Hearing Date:  8/28/03          Amended: 8/18/03 and  
          proposed to
                                                                       
                   be amended                 
          Consultant:  Lisa Matocq            Policy Vote: H & HS  
          11-0          
          ____________________________________________________________ 
          ___
          BILL SUMMARY:  AB 366, an urgency bill, requires, rather  
          than authorizes, the Department of Social Services (DSS) to  
          operate, until January 1, 2007, the substitute employee  
          registry (SER) for child care workers, and authorizes DSS  
          to operate it after that. 
                 
                              Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
           Major Provisions                 2003-04           2004-05              
           2005-06               Fund  
          SER program                 $133*+ annually, potentially offset by  
          fee          General
                                revenues                                        
            
          DOJ                   Unknown, potentially $765 in 2003-04 and        
           Special**
                                $938 in outyears, offset by fee revenues

          *Included in the 2003 Budget Act. 
          **Fingerprint Fees Account/Child Abuse Fund
          
          STAFF COMMENTS:   SUSPENSE FILE.  Current law authorizes  
          DSS to operate the SER pilot program, in order to make  
          available to child care providers lists of cleared  
          substitute child care staff.   DSS may charge participants  
          an administrative fee, and may limit the pilot to 11  
          counties. The program was terminated in 2002 due to lack of  
          state-funded staffing. The 2003 Budget Act contains  
          $133,000 in General Funds for two new limited-term  
          positions to continue the program.  Budget control language  
          provides that expenditures by DSS for this purpose shall  
          not exceed the amount of fee revenues collected. This bill  
          also allows DSS to limit the number of participating  
          counties to seven; and provides that the DSS may charge a  
          reasonable administrative fee. 











          If the program were expanded statewide in future years,  
          increased costs to DSS would be about $300,000 annually,  
          offset to some extent by fee revenues.  Increased costs to  
          the Department of Justice assume 20% of the estimated  
          66,067 child care staff would require substitutes annually,  
          and are offset by fee revenues. 

          Proposed author amendments would reduce costs by deleting  
          the $145,000 reappropriation of federal funds, narrowing  
          the fee limitation, and striking the legislative intent  
          that the program be expanded statewide.