BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1177 (Fong)
Hearing Date: 08/17/2009 Amended: 07/09/2009
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Human Serv.
4-1, T&H: 6-4
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1177 establishes the Interagency Council on
Homelessness (ICH) and prescribes the membership and duties of
the ICH. Specifically, this bill:
1.Designates the 18 ICH seats to be filled by representatives of
specified agencies, departments and non-governmental groups,
appointments.
2.Requires ICH to meet at least quarterly, and provides that
members shall serve without compensation.
3.Directs ICH to: (a) Act as the lead for coordinating and
planning the state's response to homelessness, including
coordinating federal funding; (b) Discuss potential mechanisms
for streamlining the administration of programs across
agencies; (c) Discuss potential mechanisms for streamlining
funding of homelessness programs to leverage existing
resources effectively; (d) Solicit input from stakeholders,
the business community, concerned public, and governmental
agencies; (e) Identify other states' best practices in
combating homelessness; (f) Create a plan, by the end of the
first year, to delineate each agency's responsibilities on the
council and to implement recommendations for policy,
regulatory, and resource changes needed to accomplish the
council's objectives; (g) Publish a plan to reduce or end
homeless- ness in California; (h) Discuss potential
improvements for the discharge of people likely to become
homeless after leaving institutions such as prisons, crisis
health care facilities, and foster care; (i) Gather needs
assessments on homelessness from local jurisdictions; (j)
Create a centralized database on homelessness by January 1,
2015 and assist in the coordination of a state continuum of
care by January 1, 2017.
4.Requires ICH to operate within the budget of each department
and agency represented, and requires the governor to designate
a lead agency to seek all available federal funding to support
ICH activities.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Create/operate new council $125
$250 $250 General
State plan to reduce homelessness Likely substantial future
cost pressure General
Federal*
Create centralized database
$100 Federal
Coordinate statewide continuum of care Potentially substantial
cost pressure General
Federal*
*Some programs/activities that address homelessness are eligible
for federal funding.
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
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AB 1177 (Fong)
This bill creates a new 18-person Interagency Council on
Homelessness (ICH) with extensive duties, outlined in the Bill
Summary, with regard to addressing the issue of homelessness in
the California. While this bill does not specify that ICH be
considered a state agency, its responsibilities with regard to
homelessness are substantively similar to the responsibilities
of the State Independent Living Council (SILC) with regard to
independence for persons with disabilities. SILC is a state
agency with three full-time staff supporting the 18-member
council, and an annual operating budget of $555,000 (all federal
funds). A $500,000 budget for a council or board is not uncommon
in the state; the Sex Offender Management Board, which has 12
unpaid members, has a budget of $490,000 General Fund primarily
spent on staff support.
The state's councils, boards, and task forces vary in scope of
duties and size of membership. Correspondingly, their budgets
vary to account for those factors, and also based on whether
existing staff from a lead agency can absorb the workload of a
new council. The 17-member Reentry Advisory Committee (which is
not a state agency) is staffed in part by two CDCR employees,
and the quarterly meeting coordination, and generation of
certain reports is contracted out to UC Davis for $100,000
annually.
This bill authorizes the Governor to select the lead agency
responsible for creating and managing ICH. Without knowing which
agency will be tasked with this project, it is impossible to
know the level of workload that can be absorbed, and the number
of (if any) new employees would be needed. Considering state
departments' budget reductions and mandatory furloughs, it is
extremely unlikely that establishing an ICH could be completed
within the existing resources of any probable department. The
workload on other (non lead agency) participants, however, would
likely be minor.
This bill requires ICH to "provided funding is available" adopt
a plan, within three years of its first meeting, to reduce or
end homelessness in the state. This plan would likely involve
increased preventative and remedial services, new protocols and
requisite training of agencies, and possibly new mandates on
local agencies (which often confront homelessness most
directly). There would be substantial cost pressure to adopt the
plan.
Provided federal or other nonstate funds are available, this
bill requires ICH to create a centralized database of
homelessness by January 1, 2013. While federal money may be
available for the creation of the database, which will likely
require an outside vendor, and typically costs about $100,000.
It is unclear if ongoing federal funding will exist to staff its
maintenance and management. It is also unclear who would use
this database, and for what purposes.
Provided funds, state funds or nonstate funds, are available,
this bill requires ICH to "assist in the coordination of a
statewide continuum of care". This provision is vague in that
the term "continuum of care" is often used interchangeably to
denote a series of comprehensive services aimed at addressing a
problem, or to denote an actual committee that helps to
coordinate the resources that could constitute a continuum of
care. The phrasing of the provision implies that ICH would be
coordinating the plan for
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AB 1177 (Fong)
comprehensive services. There are millions of dollars in federal
funding available specifically for states and local governments
to create a continuum of care related to
homelessness, that this project will likely qualify for that
funding. There is also additional federal grant funding
currently available for various homelessness-related program
development. It is unclear, however, if the continuum of care
will result in a higher level of ongoing services that will need
to be funded by the state in the future.
To the extent that this bill results in innovative and effective
services provided to reduce homelessness, there will likely be
significant savings to local governments and law enforcement
agencies. Depending on the nature of these services, there may
be significant savings to the state in costs associated with
crime and social services in the future.