The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed three bills of
interest to counties this week, including two measures opposed by
CSAC.
AB 59, by Assembly Member Marie Waldron, was amended on January 6
to extend the Laura’s Law deadline by five years, from 2017 to
2022. CSAC and the Urban Counties of California both support this
version of the bill, which was passed by the Appropriations
Committee and is now on the Assembly Floor.
AB 168, by Assembly Member Maienschein, was amended on January 4
with new language that counties oppose. AB 168 would require the
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to apply for, and
places restrictions on, a federal demonstration program that
offers federal matching funds for Medi-Cal behavioral health
services provided through clinics.
The restrictions on counties included in this bill cause concern.
Specifically, the bill specifies that “counties shall not be
selected to participate in the demonstration program, unless they
redirect funds to increase housing opportunities for individuals
with severe mental illnesses.”
To require a county to divert existing funding toward a specific
population as a requirement for eligibility for unrelated federal
grant funding is a stretch, and something that CSAC opposes. The
County Behavioral Health Directors Association also opposes AB
168. It was passed by the Appropriations Committee and is now up
on the Assembly Floor.
Lastly, we continue to work on AB 1300, by Assembly Member
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas and sponsored by the California Hospital
Association (CHA). The May 5, 2015 version was passed by the
Appropriations Committee, but CHA plans to amend the bill once it
gets to the Senate. CSAC continues to oppose the current version
of AB 1300, and has met with CHA on their proposed new
amendments. However, the potential amendments also cause concern
and we anticipate actively opposing AB 1300 in the Senate.
