BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUDGET AND FISCAL REVIEW
Mark Leno, Chair
Bill No: AB 1477
Author: Committee on Budget
As Amended: August 11, 2014
Consultant: Samantha Lui
Fiscal: Yes
Hearing Date: August 14, 2014
Subject: Budget Act of 2014: Human Services Trailer Bill
Summary: Provides for statutory changes necessary to enact
human services-related provisions of the Budget Act of
2014.
Background and Proposed Law: Assembly Bill 1477 makes
statutory changes necessary to implement the Budget Act of
2014, including clarifications or corrections to errors
made when the budget and the human services trailer bill
(SB 855, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 29,
Statutes of 2014) were enacted in June 2014.
1. Community Care Licensing . SB 855 (Committee on Budget
and Fiscal Review), Chapter 29, Statutes of 2014,
established a process for the Department of Social Services
(DSS) to appoint a temporary manager or receiver to act as
the provisional licensee of the community care facility, if
DSS determines that residents of the facility are likely to
be in danger of serious injury or death, and the immediate
relocation of clients is not feasible. The temporary
manager or receiver assumes operation of a facility to
bring it into compliance; to facilitate a transfer of
ownership to a new licensee; or, to assure the transfer of
residents, if the facility is required to close.
AB 1477 clarifies that the unreimbursed costs to DSS for
temporary management/receivership is grounds for monetary
judgment in civil court and is a subsequent lien upon a
facility's assets. The bill establishes that the authority
to place a lien against specified property for
reimbursement of any state funds must be given judgment
creditor priority.
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2. Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program .
Effective January 1, 2015, counties, who opt-in to the
Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program, must pay an
approved relative caregiver a per child, per month rate, in
return for the care and supervision of a federally-
ineligible Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster
Care (AFDC-FC) child placed with the relative caregiver,
equal to the base rate paid to foster care providers for a
federally-eligible AFDC-FC child, if the county has
notified the department of its decision to participate in
the program.
AB 1477 clarifies eligibility criteria for relative
caregiver funding. Also, the bill clarifies that the
CalWORKs grant includes federal funding and a county
share-of-cost.
3. Group Home Moratorium . Existing law, as authorized by SB
1041 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 47,
Statutes of 2012, provides specified exceptions to the
group home moratorium on group home applications and rate
changes. AB 1477 includes fiscal year 2014-15 for which
exceptions to the group home moratorium may apply.
4. CalWORKs Child Support Disregard . AB 1477 clarifies that
the first $50 of child support payments received each
month, including income that is regularly anticipated, must
be disregarded as income and must not be deducted from the
amount of aid for which the recipient would otherwise be
eligible.
5. In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) . AB 1477 clarifies
that an IHSS provider is authorized to work the recipient's
adjusted weekly authorized hours, only if the adjusted
hours do not result in exceeding the allowable number of
hours worked that are compensable for overtime.
6. All-County Letters . AB 1477 authorizes Department of
Social Services (DSS) to implement changes pertaining to
CalFresh eligibility through all-county letters until
regulations are adopted.
Fiscal Effect: The 2014 Budget Act includes $5 million GF,
split between Item 5180-151-0001 ($3.3 million) and Item
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5180-153-0001 ($1.7 million), to establish Commercially
Sexually Exploited Children Program. AB 1477 bill shifts
the entire $1.7 million appropriated in Item 5180-153-0001
to Item 5180-151-0001.
Support: Unknown.
Opposed: Unknown.
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