BILL ANALYSIS
SB 886
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 886 (Florez) - As Amended: June 23, 2010
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:4 - 1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes county human services departments
responsible for administering the In-Home Supportive Services
(IHSS) program to permit IHSS providers to use electronic
timekeeping.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Ongoing costs of approximately $430,000 ($215,000 GF) for the
workload associated with the California Department of Social
Services developing policy instructions and regulations to
implement the provisions of the legislation; providing
technical assistance to county IHSS programs and/or Public
Authorities; developing new business requirements for the Case
Management Information and Payrolling System II; monitoring
the electronic timekeeping system to ensure that the hours and
tasks have been verified; and answering questions during the
transition period of the implementation of the electronic
timecard.
2)Unknown, potentially significant programming costs for both
Case Management Information and Payrolling System (CMIPS)
Legacy and CMIPS II in order to allow users to interface
directly with the CMIPS systems for electronic timekeeping.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The intent of this legislation is to allow counties
the option of shifting from paper time cards to an electronic
system. Shifting to this system is intended to improve the
efficiency of the system and allow providers to get paid in a
SB 886
Page 2
timelier manner. According to the author, other states that
have switched to electronic timecards "have reported huge
savings as well as efficiencies with increased quality
homecare for in-home recipients. The provider gets paid
quicker while providers spend less time worrying about whether
timecards are accurate and more time providing much needed
services."
2)Background . Twice each month under current law and practice,
more than 400,000 paper time cards from IHSS providers are
submitted and manually entered by county workers across
California. The cards require the signature of both IHSS
recipient and provider, and they reflect the hours worked in a
two-week period.
3)Alameda County . To date, only Alameda County has expressed an
interest in shifting to electronic timekeeping. They have
sponsored this legislation so that they may make that
transition. This legislation is not limited to the one county;
it would allow any interested county to adopt electronic
timekeeping. Currently, Alameda County uses electronic
reporting and timekeeping in its foster care tracking system,
its customer automated response system, and its adult and
aging automated response system. The county reports a
reduction in incorrect payments in foster care since adopting
the electronic system and virtually 100% on-time processing.
The county believes if it were allowed to use electronic
timekeeping for the IHSS program, it would eliminate many
problems stemming from timesheets arriving unsigned, being
filled out incorrectly, or not adding up correctly. These
problems take staff time to correct and can result in delayed
payment of providers.
4)Opposition . The United Domestic Workers (UDW) of America
(AFSCME Local 3930) note ABX4 19 (Evans; Chapter 17, Statutes
of 2009) established new timesheet requirements for IHSS
providers and recipients, primarily requiring that the time
cards include the signatures of both the provider and
recipient and the provider's fingerprint. Given those
requirements, this legislation would require IHSS providers in
counties that offer electronic timekeeping to submit paper
time cards and electronic time cards. UDW argues that this is
unnecessary, confusing, and could result in a delay in
providers being paid.
SB 886
Page 3
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081