AMENDMENTS TO SB 326 DO NOT MEANINGFULLY ADDRESS COUNTY CONCERNS

Amendments to SB 326 came into print yesterday, with an official amendment date of today, September 5. The amendments do not significantly address county concerns as outlined in our prior communications and most recent formal letter to the Legislature and Administration.

KEY CONCERNS AND TALKING POINTS:

1. Mitigate significant impact to funding for core services by expanding the definition in the housing interventions category to include onsite services.
2. Provide greater flexibility and clarity to shift a percentage of funds between program categories to allow counties the ability to meet the unique needs of their communities and unexpected changes in the economic landscape.
3. Secure county fiscal protections, including but not limited to clarifying that SUD-only is permissive outside of the Medi-Cal entitlement, and added due process for sanctions.
4. Simplify what goes to the voters. New requirements outside of MHSA can and should be considered separately and with additional time to work through unintended consequences.
5. Address volatility and a reasonable reserve level.

In the immediate term, we are requesting calls to engage your legislative delegations and for each county to send letters in alignment with the CSAC/county coalition letter, which we plan to update as a legislative floor alert, emphasizing that addressing the highlighted concerns will be critical for counties to successfully implement this reform.

There are only days left to make changes (the amendment deadline is Friday, September 8) to the proposal, and we have received no signal that the Administration’s next set of amendments will meaningfully address counties’ concerns. As a result, we may oppose the proposal unless our requested amendments are taken. A summary of the recent amendments can be found here for your reference.

BACKGROUND

As part of the Governor’s March announcement of the proposals, the Administration committed  to work in close partnership with legislative leaders, CSAC, and other critical stakeholders to develop the bill language. Contrary to that commitment, CSAC was not consulted on the provisions of the proposal initially released in print on June 19. As a result, counties have since raised numerous issues and concerns about the proposal and the intent of various provisions. Further, formal requests for needed changes to the proposal have been communicated to both the Administration and the Legislature, with limited response to those requests.

As expected, both bills passed off the respective Suspense Files of the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees on Friday, September 1. Both bills will now move to the Assembly and Senate floors for final amendments and votes by each house.

AB 531, the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act, was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a “do pass” motion with a vote of 5-2 (with Senators Jones and Seyarto voting no) without amendments. SB 326, which significantly reforms the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) among other changes, was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a motion of “do pass with amendments,” with a vote of 11-1 (with Assemblymember Meghan Dahle voting no, and Assemblymembers Dixon, Mathis, Sanchez, and Soria not voting).

WHAT’S AHEAD / NEXT STEPS

As detailed in the attached summary of amendments, some sections (still not specified) of the bills that are voted on next week by the Legislature will go before the voters. Once approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, the full CSAC Board may vote to take a formal position on the ballot measure itself, prior to the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election.

Thank you for your continued engagement and advocacy. We greatly appreciate the efforts and feedback from your counties and staff.