BILL ANALYSIS
AB 861
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 861 (Ruskin) - As Amended: May 5, 2009
Policy Committee: Health Vote:18-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Public Health
(DPH) to develop consolidated contracts between DPH and county
health departments administering programs under the DPH Center
for Infectious Diseases (CID) and Center for Family Health
(CFH). This bill requires CID and CFH to develop a model
contract with specified characteristics by July 1, 2011.
FISCAL EFFECT
Unknown one-time GF costs of less than $50,000 more than offset
by on-going reductions in accounting, reporting, and contracting
costs, according to the LAO Analysis of the 2008-09 Budget Bill.
The LAO made recommendations for broad DPH consolidation of
contracting. This bill addresses a narrower subset of
consolidated contracting.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is based on recent recommendations
contained in the LAO's Analysis of the 2008-09 Budget Bill.
The LAO recommended the consolidation of certain public health
programs into a block grant and legislation directing DPH to
develop a model consolidated contract for public health
programs. This bill requires consolidated contracting for two
of the DPH five programmatic centers, CID and CFH.
Consolidated contracting will provide local jurisdictions with
greater program flexibility to meet local needs.
The CID addresses infectious disease prevention and assists
those living with an infectious disease in accessing
healthcare, medications, and associated support services.
AB 861
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The CFH divisions include the Genetic Disease Screening
Program, the Office of Family Planning, the Maternal, Child
and Adolescent Health Program, and the Women, Infants and
Children Supplemental Nutrition Program.
2)Background . The state provides state and federal funds to
local health jurisdictions (LHJs), including 58 counties and
three city health departments, with over 30 categorical
programs. The LAO indicates these programs are typically
targeted to specific populations with particular health needs,
giving LHJs little discretion over how the categorical funds
can be used. The LHJs receiving these funds must comply with
numerous and varied administrative requirements. For example,
some programs require annual status reports, while others must
submit data on a monthly basis.
3)Related Legislation . AB 1881 (Berg), Chapter 665, Statues of
2004, authorized Humboldt, Mendocino, and Alameda counties to
implement a pilot program for the funding and delivery of
services and benefits through an integrated and comprehensive
county health and human services system until January 1, 2009.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081