BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2114
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2114 (Beall) - As Amended: March 18, 2010
Policy Committee: Aging &
LTCVote:4-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill modifies state and local planning efforts regarding
services for older Californians. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines the Elder Economic Security Index (Index) as a tool
that quantifies demographic and financial information.
Specifies the Index is derived from a publicly available
methodology established by the University of Massachusetts and
relies on publicly available data.
2)Requires the California Department of Aging (CDA) to report
the Index for each service planning area if the Index is
updated and made available to the department.
3)Requires Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to use the Index in
their service planning.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)No direct fiscal impact to CDA to administer the Index if the
data and analysis is provided by the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Health Policy Research.
According to the author and sponsors, the Center for Health
Policy Research maintains and publishes county-specific data
related to the Index online. The author may wish to amend this
bill to reflect that California specificity and the
availability of the data to relieve any cost pressure.
2)Unknown, likely minor administrative savings to AAA to the
extent use of the Index reduces duplicative planning efforts
and increases the reliability of quantitative analyses of
AB 2114
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local information.
COMMENTS
1) Rationale . This bill is sponsored by the Insight Center for
Community and Economic Development and supported by dozens of
advocacy groups. The Insight Center is a national research,
consulting, and legal organization dedicated to building
economic health in vulnerable communities. This bill, by
adding the Index to planning efforts, provides CDA and AAA
local agencies with more specific and uniform demographic and
financial data with respect to elderly Californians and their
service needs.
2) Committee Recommendation . As currently written, this bill
contains language about the research origin of the Elder
Economic Security Index and the academics who created the
Index. The language requires CDA to implement this bill only
if the Index data is "made available to the department."
According to the author, UCLA will provide automatic updates
to the Index and publish them online. The committee
recommends amending the bill to reflect this
California-specific availability of data to address any cost
pressures to CDA.
3) Background . The 33 AAA coordinate an array of services for
seniors and adults with disabilities at the community level
and serve as a focal point for local aging programs. Under
current law, local jurisdictions undertake periodic detailed
planning. Many of these efforts rely on the federal poverty
level (FPL), an index used by federal and state governments
in programs such as Medi-Cal, food stamps, and CalWORKs. The
FPL is based on a "basket" of living costs established
decades ago.
The proportion of spending, for example, attributable to
housing needs does not reflect the costs of living in many
Californians communities. In 2009, 100% of FPL was $10,830
for a single person in annual income. Because this FPL is so
low, many means-tested programs must rely on multipliers-200%
and 300% of FPL, for example. According to the author and
sponsors FPL has lost much of its meaning in high-cost
California. The Index, in contrast, relies on numerous
factors to update such costs and demographic factors that
reflect local variation and needs of older Californians. This
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bill, by shifting the focus to the Index, provides local
communities and the consumers served by programs with more
accurate information for planning efforts.
4) Related Legislation . AB 324 (Beall) in 2009 also addressed
the Elder Index, but included several other more substantial
provisions than those contained in AB 2114. AB 324 was
vetoed. The veto message indicated local agencies are already
authorized to use the Index in planning efforts. The author
indicates AB 2114 is needed to ensure uniform adoption of
this approach to planning.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081