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Last Thursday the California State Assembly finalized their budget, following the Senate who approved their budget the week prior. The Assembly’s budget included some items that will help the developmental disability community, but overall the California Legislature did not value people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in this budget. Instead, the Legislature chose to approve the bare minimum for our community, proposing to restore cuts form 2009 and increase rates only to comply with minimum wage. Despite a multi-billion dollar surplus, the Legislature chose not to keep the promise of the Lanterman Act by investing in a strong system of community based supports and services.
Next, the Senate and Assembly go to Conference Committee to negotiate their differences and decide which items will be sent to the Governor by June 15th. The items that were passed are below:
PASSED BY ONLY THE ASSEMBLY
– $50 Million “Bridge” Funding For Providers in High-Cost Regions: The Assembly approved $50M (one-time) to provide rate support for providers facing fiscal distress due to local minimum wage increases, until a new rate system can go into effect as a result of the pending Rate Study. Since the Senate didn’t approve this then it goes to Conference Committee.
PASSED BY ASSEMBLY & SENATE
– Uniform Holiday Schedule: Both houses voted to reject the Governor’s proposals to reinstate the 14 day mandatory holiday schedule. Also, the Assembly specifically repealed the half-day billing statute, which wasn’t specifically mentioned in the Senate’s vote.
– Restoration of Social Recreation & Camping: Both houses voted to restore these services.
– SSI/SSP: Both houses voted to increase SSI/SSP with a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) for every year going forward on the state’s SSP portion of the grant. In 2019 the COLA would be 4% and would increase the state’s contribution by about $6.50/month on top of the federal COLA which would increase the SSI portion by about $18-20/month. Also, the Senate voted to end “cash-out”, which has historically given Californians on SSI money instead of being eligible for SNAP (aka Cal-Fresh). But now people on SSI would also be available for Cal-Fresh.
– Home Health and ICF-DD: Both houses approved a 50% increase in home health reimbursement rates and an increase in rates for ICF-DD.
– Safety net Augmentation: Both houses voted to approve $5.6 million General Fund for 2018-19 (one-time) to develop additional safety net services and the adoption of placeholder trailer bill language to direct how those funds will be spent, focusing on the following areas of Safety Net support:
- Mobile crisis services in each regional center catchment area.
- Comprehensive, individual assessment, planning and tailored services for individuals in crisis to provide continuity of treatment and supports, intensive monitoring and case management with reduce service coordinator caseloads.
- Development of intensive wrap-around services for persons with co-occurring developmental disabilities and mental health needs. These services will allow individuals to successfully prevent the admission of individuals in highly restrictive settings.
– A few other items that are mostly language and not much money:
- Strengthen Protections for Individuals Placed in IMDs;
- Provide Clients’ Rights Advocates (CRAs) Statutory Rights to Access Records for Individuals in Facilities for Which CRAs Receive Statutory Notice upon Admission;
- Transparency of Respite Policies and Protocols (this is good since some regional centers are implementing their own internal respite hour caps after the cap removed by the Legislature last year);
- Self Determination Pilot, Use of General Fund Offset
- Placeholder language related to Kern Regional Center, considering the latest development of protests due to claims of mismanagement;
PASSED BY NEITHER THE ASSEMBLY NOR SENATE (aka dead this year)
The Lanterman Coalition’s proposal to use revenue from the disposition of the developmental center properties to fund new affordable housing for people with IDD.
Jordan Lindsey, Executive Director, the Arc of California