BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1003
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 29, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                AB 1003 (John A. Perez) - As Amended:  April 2, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY

           This bill makes several changes to the Equality in Prevention  
          and Services for Domestic Abuse (EPSDA) Fund grant program for  
          the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, as  
          administered by the CA Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA).  
          Specifically this bill:

          1)Eliminates the limit of four annual grants. 

          2)Deletes provisions exempting previously funded programs from a  
            competitive grant process.

          3)Specifies grant recipients are not subject to matching funds  
            requirements. 

          4)Provides staff qualification requirements, requiring that  
            grant recipients meet the definition of domestic violence  
            counselor as specified in Evidence Code Sec. 1037.1(a), which  
            requires domestic violence counselors to have either a  
            master's degree in counseling; one year of counseling  
            experience, at least six months of which is in counseling  
            domestic violence victims; or at least 40 hours of supervised  
            training under a qualified domestic violence counselor. 

           FISCAL EFFECT
           
          1)Minor diminution of EPSDA grants to the extent the deletion of  
            what has been a 25% match requirement results in less program  
            per grant. Given, however, that funding in the EPSDA Fund is  
            projected to be less than $100,000 in 2009-10, the loss of a  
            match will not amount to a significant amount. 








                                                                  AB 1003
                                                                  Page  2


          2)To the extent there are sufficient funds in the EPSDA Fund to  
            support meaningful programs, this bill could result in more  
            cost-effective programming to the extent more stringent  
            eligibility requirements are met and presumptive grantees are  
            required to compete.  

           COMMENTS

          1)Rationale.  Current law allows for virtually automatic awarding  
            of previous grant recipients. The author notes that given  
            limited funding, presumptive eligibility may prevent new  
            organizations with better programs from being funded. This  
            measure proposes that all grants be administered via a  
            competitive RFP process, including those previously funded.  
            And by deleting the four-grant limit, Cal-EMA gains the  
            flexibility to issue more grants if funds are available.  
            Finally, specifying grant recipient qualifications will  
            further ensure cost-effective programming. 

          2)Background.  AB 2051 (Cohn, 2006), the Equality in Prevention  
            and Services for Domestic Abuse Act, levied a $23 fee on  
            persons registering as domestic partners to fund culturally  
            appropriate LGBT domestic violence programs that include  
            crisis hotlines, counseling, legal and social service  
            advocacy, resources referrals, emergency housing, and  
            educational workshops. 

            Funding has not materialized as expected, however, and  
            $700,000 of the $821,000 that was allocated for grants in the  
            prior and current budget years was actually a transfer from  
            the Restitution Fund. 

            For 2009-10, the budget introduced in January proposed  
            expenditures of $180,000, though that figure is likely to be  
            adjusted downward to less than $100,000, given the lack of  
            revenue from the $23 fee. The 2009-10 budget does not propose  
            a Restitution Fund transfer. 
           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081