BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                SB 878
                                                                Page  1


        SENATE THIRD READING
        SB 878 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee)
        As Amended  August 12, 2014
        Majority vote 

         SENATE VOTE  :Vote not relevant

         BUDGET              16-10                                        
         
         -------------------------------- 
        |Ayes:|Skinner, Bloom, Campos,   |
        |     |Chesbro, Daly, Dickinson, |
        |     |Gordon,                   |
        |     |Jones-Sawyer, Mullin,     |
        |     |Muratsuchi, Nazarian,     |
        |     |Rodriguez, Stone, Ting,   |
        |     |Weber, Dababneh           |
        |     |                          |
        |-----+--------------------------|
        |Nays:|Gorell, Ch�vez, Grove,    |
        |     |Harkey, Mansoor,          |
        |     |Melendez, Allen,          |
        |     |Nestande, Patterson,      |
        |     |Wagner                    |
         -------------------------------- 

         SUMMARY  :  Expresses legislative intent to make statutory changes  
        necessary to eliminate the 7% across-the-board reduction to In Home  
        Supportive Service (IHSS) hours imposed by the settlement agreement  
        of the Dominguez v. Brown and Oster v. Lightbourne court cases.

         FISCAL EFFECT  :  In its current form, this bill has no costs.  The 7%  
        across-the-board cut is estimated to save $186.7 million General  
        Fund per year ($398.7 million all funds). 

         COMMENT  :  Two court cases, Oster v. Lightbourne, N.D. Cal., Case No.  
        CV 09-04668 CW, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth  
        Circuit, Case No. 12-15366 (Oster); and Dominguez v. Brown, N.D.  
        Cal., Case No. CV 09-02306 CW, United States Court of Appeals for  
        the Ninth Circuit, Case No. 09-16359 (Dominguez), challenged budget  
        reductions made to the IHSS program.  A settlement agreement for  
        both cases was filed on March 13, 2013 that included a provision for  
        an 8% across-the-board reduction to service hours in 2013-14, which  
        automatically was reduced to a 7% across-the-board reduction in  








                                                                SB 878
                                                                Page  2


        2014-15.  This settlement agreement was codified in SB 67 (Budget  
        and Fiscal Review Committee), Chapter 4, Statutes of 2013.

        This settlement agreement contained a provision that required the  
        Administration to submit proposed legislation to the Legislature  
        authorizing an assessment on home care services.   The goal of this  
        new assessment is to generate additional federal participation in  
        the IHSS program, and these new funds would be used to fully or  
        partially offset the 7% across-the-board reduction in IHSS hours.

        If this assessment is adopted by the Legislature, the administration  
        agreed to seek approval from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid  
        Services by October 1, 2014.

        As of August 12, 2014, the Legislature has not received the proposed  
        legislation from the Administration.  This bill states intent to be  
        the vehicle that is used for this proposed legislation, or other  
        statutory changes necessary to restore the 7% across-the-board  
        reduction.


         Analysis Prepared by  :    Christian Griffith / BUDGET / (916)  
        319-2099                                                    FN:  
        0004926