BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
891 (Liu)
Hearing Date: 05/24/2010 Amended: 5/18/2010
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Human
Services 3-1
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: SB 891 requires the Department of Social Services
(DSS) and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to
convene a stakeholder review process on specified aspects of the
in-home supportive services (IHSS) program, and to create an
implementation plan for its recommendations. This bill specifies
that General Fund moneys shall not be used for the stakeholder
review process or the creation of an implementation plan.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Stakeholder review Potentially
significant costs Private/Federal/Special*
Report to Legislature Minor and
absorbable Private/Federal/Special*
Implementation plan Potentially substantial cost
pressure General
*Specifies that the provisions of the bill will use "no General
Fund".
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
This bill requires the DSS and DHCS to jointly convene a
stakeholder review process to obtain information and comments
regarding both of the following: 1) the imposition of a tax on
payments received by IHSS providers, and the potential for
increased federal financial participation as a result of these
tax revenues; 2) alternatives to the state's methodology for
deriving a functional index score for in-home supportive
services consumers. This bill also requires DSS and DHCS to
submit to the Legislature an implementation plan for the
stakeholder work group's recommendations.
The stakeholder review process would likely present a
significant workload to both DSS and DHCS, because of the
complex research involved in the tasks. This work group would,
among other tasks, be responsible for both developing an
alternative to the state's current functional index score (for
determining IHSS consumer functioning and needs), and a plan for
implementing the new system. That process would involve studying
the current statewide functional index scoring system, assessing
its effectiveness, and working to provide an alternative system
that is in some way a preferable assessment tool. It is likely
that each department would require at least PY to lead this
project. This bill specifies that no state General Fund shall be
used, but it is unclear whether (and to what extent) private,
special, or federal funds would be available to implement the
provisions of this bill.
Page 2
SB 891 (Liu)
This bill would result in substantial cost pressure to the
General Fund to adopt the recommendations and implementation
plan presented to the Legislature. The system proposed to
replace the functional index will impact consumers, and likely
change their levels of service in ways that cannot be predicted
(without knowing what the new
assessment evaluation will entail). It could result in
additional costs or savings. Establishing a new system and
procedures, however, will be costly and involve new training of
county eligibility workers, county social workers, and IHSS
providers to implement the sytem.