CSAC Board Approves IHSS MOE Methodology
September 7, 2017
The CSAC Board of Directors unanimously approved the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Maintenance of Effort (MOE) methodology that determines the distribution of additional IHSS costs and offsetting revenue to California’s counties. The methodology was unanimously recommended for approval by the CSAC Executive Committee and county administrative officers. With this Board approval, the methodology will now be officially presented to the Governor’s administration for their consideration and implementation.
As you may recall, the Governor’s January budget proposal called for shifting approximately $600 million in additional IHSS costs to counties. CSAC negotiated with the Administration to significantly mitigate these additional costs and the end result was reflected in the May Revise and signed into law as a budget trailer bill (SB 90) in June. The trailer bill included provisions to establish a new IHSS MOE and dedicated revenues to partially offset this cost shift including State General Fund contributions, Vehicle License Fee growth revenues, and sales tax growth revenues. In addition, SB 90 required the Department of Finance to consult with CSAC in the development of the new MOE.
CSAC formed a small IHSS MOE Workgroup to ensure input from the County Administrative Officers and technical experts and representation from Urban, Suburban, and Rural counties during the development of the new county IHSS MOE. The IHSS MOE Workgroup considered a broad range of factors and data that could be utilized to determine how to distribute the $592.2 million cost shift, the $400 million General Fund offset, and the additional offsetting revenue.
The approved methodology incorporates a county’s proportionate share of the current MOE Base and proportionate share of the growth in annual IHSS provider hours that has occurred over the prior MOE period. This methodology provides stability to a county’s current share of the MOE, incorporates the differences in wages and benefits that each county has negotiated, and is responsive to where growth in hours has occurred in recent years. More detailed information about the methodology can be found in this Memo to the CSAC Board.
Statewide, the increased county costs remain manageable in 2017-18 and 2018-19, but are unsustainable in subsequent years. The trailer bill includes a reopener clause for counties and will provide an opportunity to reexamine the funding structure during the development of the 2019-20 state budget.
CSAC would like to thank the entire IHSS MOE Workgroup for all of their hard work and contributions to establish this thorough and fair methodology as quickly as possible.
CSAC will be developing resources to assist counties in understanding the many complexities of the IHSS changes. These include a Realignment 101 course September 14-15 through the CSAC Institute, and a future webinar, bargaining primer, and comprehensive training on the details and implications to counties.