by Teresa Anderson, MPH

The Governor’s 2018-19 proposed budget has reignited the conversation of unfunded mandates and the impact they have on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and service providers.   An unfunded mandate is, for the most part, a statute or regulation that requires an entity to perform or deliver services with no money allocated to fulfill the imposed requirement. For many businesses an increase in costs related to legislative or regulatory changes can be “price-adjusted” to account for changes in operating costs. A prime example of this is a local minimum wage ordinance. For instance, a retail business can implement a slight price adjustment to account for an increase in local minimum wage or a restaurant can increase the cost of a hamburger by 5%, but what about businesses – like regional center vendors – that are reimbursed based on a fixed rate?

	In many regions, local minimum wages surpass state minimum wage; however, reimbursement rates to IDD service providers aren’t adjusted in those regions to account for the increase in costs.

We are hearing from many regional center providers, families and advocates that the impact of unfunded mandates are causing restrictions in access to services as well as a financial strain on many providers. With at least 20 cities and much of the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County having local minimum wage ordinances that exceed state minimum wage, many service providers are faced with very difficult decisions related to the services they are able to provide. Although this is not a new problem, as many cities have had to increase minimum wage for the last several years in order to maintain or compete for a workforce, it is reaching crisis levels for providers who have had to “adjust” to the local minimum wage for several years in a row while still on a fixed rate reimbursement (that by all accounts are based on inadequate rates).

Recognizing the strain on regional center vendors, Assembly Member Holden introduced a bill last year aimed at alleviating some of the financial strain on providers though assistance with labor costs – through a rate adjustment – for providers in higher cost areas (local minimum age ordinance cities/areas). Unfortunately, even though there was not a single no vote on the bill it did not make it out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. This year Assembly Member Holden is advocating for our community in asking for a budget allocation to help alleviate labor cost in high cost areas (local minimum wage cities/areas).  The Arc and UCP California Collaboration strongly supports his budget request and will actively advocate for its passage.  Maintaining access to high quality services and supports for people with IDD throughout the state is a PRIORITY and we thank Assembly Member Holden for his advocacy. We will be sending out information about budget hearings and much needed advocacy efforts within the next couple of weeks. Let’s work together to ensure that high quality services and supports are there for EVERYONE.

Teresa Anderson,

Prevention Coordinato