BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1534
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 7, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   AB 1534 (Linder) - As Amended:  March 17, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                             Aging Vote:5-0
                       Human Services                   Vote: 7-0

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes continuous appropriations for the  
          California Department of Aging (CDA) and the Department of  
          Rehabilitation (DOR) for federal funds earmarked for support of  
          area agencies on aging and independent living centers,  
          respectively, in any fiscal year in which the Budget Act is not  
          enacted by July 1 of that fiscal year.  It also contains an  
          urgency clause.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          The proposed continuous appropriation of Federal Trust Funds to  
          DOR and CDA in the absence of an enacted state budget is  
          contrary to the general policy of this committee to avoid  
          continuous appropriations. The proposed 2014-15 budget includes  
          approximately $16 million in Federal Trust Funds for DOR for  
          support of ILCs, and $57 million for AAAs. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This bill is intended to ensure the continuation of  
            federal funds to independent living centers and area agencies  
            on aging in the event of a late budget.  The author asserts    
            past late budgets have denied the elderly and disabled in our  
            communities the services they need.

           2)Impact of Budget Delays  . Because the programs addressed by  
            this bill operate with very small margins, they must pursue  
            lines of credit during a budget crisis and are not reimbursed  
            for related expenses. In addition, some of the local programs'  
            credit records suffer as a result of these emergency loans.   








                                                                  AB 1534
                                                                  Page  2

            Considering, however, that budgets are now passed with a  
            majority vote, budget impasses may be a thing of the past.
                
            3)Prior Legislation  . In recent years, numerous bills have sought  
            to authorize or require continuous appropriations for specific  
            programs or departments during periods of budget impasse,  
            including AB 1928 (Berg) of 2006, AB 322 (Anderson) of 2007,  
            AB 885 (Nestande) of 2009, and AB 533 (Yamada) of 2011, which  
            also addressed continuous appropriation of federal funds for  
            both AAAs and ILCs.  Each bill was held on the Suspense File  
            of  this committee.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081