BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 392
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 29, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                     AB 392 (Feuer) - As Amended:  April 22, 2009

          Policy Committee:                              Health Vote:13-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill appropriates $1.6 million from the Federal Health  
          Facilities Citation Penalties Account (account) to support local  
          long-term care (LTC) ombudsman programs administered by the  
          California Department of Aging (CDA). 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          A one-time $1.6 million (federal) appropriation to CDA to  
          partially backfill a $3.6 million line-item veto enacted in the  
          2008-09 Budget Act. This bill makes funds available for  
          expenditure through 2009-10. Any unspent funds at the end of the  
          2009-10 revert to the original federal account. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill is sponsored by Bet Tzedek Legal  
            Services, a legal advocacy agency in the Los Angeles area  
            serving low-income residents. Several other stakeholder groups  
            supporting aging Californians also support the restoration of  
            this funding. This bill partially reverses a line-item veto by  
            the governor of funding for the long term care (LTC) ombudsman  
            program. Many local programs were devastated by the $3.8  
            million (GF) funding reduction in 2008. Services were reduced  
            and staff was laid-off. This bill uses a citation account that  
            is funded by penalties paid by nursing homes for infractions  
            of federal law. There is another account supported by  
            penalties for infractions of state law. These funds are used,  
            upon appropriation, to support activities protecting the  
            health and safety of residents in LTC facilities.

           2)Proposed Amendments  add an urgency clause to this bill to  
            allow funds to be available upon enactment.  

           3)The LTC Ombudsman Program  supports some of California's most  





                                                                  AB 392
                                                                  Page  2

            at-risk and vulnerable elderly who live in residential care  
            facilities for the elderly and nursing homes. The local  
            programs are supported by a combination of volunteer and paid  
            staff. The LTC ombudsman programs investigate complaints made  
            by and on behalf of nursing home residents. Local program  
            staff makes unannounced visits to residential facilities to  
            investigate complaints. 
           
          4)Related Legislation  . SB 1397 (Soto), Chapter 545, Statutes of  
            2007, requires DPH to post data related to the  
            DPH-administered account addressed in this bill on the  
            internet. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081