The deadline for the Governor to sign or veto bills was September
30. A large number of HHS-related bills were signed into law or
vetoed, and a couple bills CSAC supported that the Governor
signed are described below:
The Governor signed SB 1212 by Senator Ben Hueso, which
authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission to spend up
to $1,500,000 from the California Teleconnect Fund Administrative
Committee Fund to facilitate the expansion of 2-1-1 services into
counties that do not currently have 2-1-1 services. SB 1212
recognizes the importance of providing simplified access to
real-time information on health and human services emergency
care, crisis intervention, and disaster preparedness, response
and recovery. Currently 38 of California’s 58 counties offer
2-1-1 services, and CSAC and our members are grateful to the
Governor for signing this important measure to support the
expansion of these critical services statewide.
The Governor also signed SB 947 by Senator Richard Pan, which
would work to modernize the CalWORKs application and ensure a
more efficient process for families in need of CalWORKs benefits.
Existing law provides both the CalFresh and Medi-Cal programs
with the option of performing interviews by phone. SB 947 simply
allows counties to extend this option to the CalWORKs program by
allowing county human services agency or state hospital staff to
conduct the required personal eligibility interview via telephone
or electronically. CSAC would like to thank to Governor for
signing this important measure that recognizes that streamlining
the eligibility interview process for CalWORKs may be a crucial
step for struggling families to help them access the
program.
