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July 31, 2003
State Budget Update
The following was provided by the California Coalition for
Mental Health.
Written by: Stephanie Welch, CCMH
Re: State Budget Update July 31, 2003
Community Mental Health Services -
Impacts to Corrections, Drug and Alcohol and other miscellaneous areas.
Purpose:
This memo is intended to serve as an addendum to the memo distributed on
July 29th, which first reported on the impact of the State Budget (AB 1765) as
passed in the Legislature will affect community mental health programs. This
memo will identify additional impacts in other services/programs/ and funding
streams that affect the populations served by the greater mental health
community.
This memo is not intended as an analysis of AB 1765. An analysis of the impact
will be provided by staff following the Governor's signature of AB 1765 that
is slated to take place on Saturday August 2, 2003. Although the Governor is
not expected to use his blue pencil to make further cuts to the general fund,
as word is now that it was the Governor's staff that help craft the final deal
that broke the Assembly stalemate. That deal is noted below because it impacts
funding for the Board of Corrections. Staff would like to incorporate any
possible action by the Governor in our analysis which we will provide as the
earliest possible date.
AB 3632, Mental Health Services for Special Education Pupils: AB 1765
appropriates $69 million of federal Individual with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) funds for AB 3632 services. AB 1765 specifies that the county office of
education would receive these IDEA funds and would be required to contract
with the county mental health department for the purpose of transferring these
funds to county mental health. The state Department of Mental Health would be
required to develop an allocation formula for $12.334 million of funds. The
remaining funds would be distributed proportionately to counties based on
approved mandated cost claims filed for the 2001-02 fiscal year. This language
is included in line item 6110-161-0890, item 17.
SB 1042 and SB 1044:
These two bills were used by the Assembly to make changes to the budget
sent to them by the Senate. These bills do not make major changes and will be
sent back to the Senate for approval and are expected to be approved without
any problems. The bills restore a total of $16.1 million in reimbursements for
the Board of Corrections: Standards in Training and Corrections (STC) programs
and this would completely restore funding for the Board of Corrections to stay
in existence. The Board currently oversees the Mentally Ill Offender Crime
Reduction Grant Programs and is responsible for additional oversight of
individuals with mental illness in various criminal justice systems. The
mental health community should see this as a positive gain.
Corrections/Public Safety:
 | Cuts COPS and Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act grants by $16.3
million each -- Each agency will continue to get a minimum $100,000 with the
rest distributed on a per capita basis. Each grant was cut the same amount of
$16.3 each.
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| POST Training Reimbursement - The budget contains a reinstatement of $22.5
million to the Commission for Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST)
budget for purposes of reimbursing local law enforcement agencies for peace
officer training.
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| Sliding Scale Fees - The budget package also increases sliding scale fees
that counties pay to the California Youth Authority (CYA) for placement of
youthful offenders in CYA facilities. The proposed fee increases are contained
in AB 1758, which also specifies that the fees be increased annually for
inflation. The sliding scale inflationary adjustments, as detailed in the
table below, are estimated to generate $6.3 million in revenues in the 2003-04
fiscal year.
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| Category of Offense |
Current monthly fee |
Proposed Fee |
| Categories I-IV |
$150 |
$176 |
| Category V |
$1,300 |
$1,521 |
| Category VI |
$1,950 |
$2,281 |
| Category VII |
$2,600 |
$3,042 |
| Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP) - Provisions to
eliminate the OCJP functions are contained in budget trailer bill AB 1757. The
budget bill itself (AB 1765) assumes the abolition of OCJP effective January
1,2004 and therefore contains half-year funding for the office. Furthermore,
AB 1765 incorporates new Budget Control Section 25.00, which specifies the
following transfer of OCJP functions: |
- juvenile justice functions shall be transferred to the Board of
Corrections;
- law enforcement programs shall be transferred to the Office of Emergency
Services;
- and victims' services shall be transferred to the Victims' Compensation
and Government Claims Board or another appropriate entity.
The control section also requires the Department of Finance to provide to
the Legislature by March 1, 2004 a Governor's Restructuring Plan that would
permanently transfer the functions of OCJP to other agencies.
| CYA Facility Closure - Also contained in trailer bill AB 1758 is
language that requires closure of a CYA facility with a design capacity of at
least 640 wards no later than March 1, 2005. The trailer bill also contains a
provision that dedicates 50 percent of any savings generated to the
department, subject to legislative approval, to implement specified
priorities. |
Misc. Health and Human Services:
Alcohol and Drug Programs - The Senate version of the budget reduces local
discretionary alcohol and drug program funding by $11.5 million. (Staff will
be getting further details on this matter shortly).
CalWORKs
| COLA. The budget passed by the Senate on July 27 does not contain a cost
of living adjustment (COLA) for CalWORKS recipients in October 2003. |
| Statewide Fingerprint Imaging System. AS 1765 provides $14 million General
Fund to continue the Statewide Fingerprint Imaging System. |
| CalWORKS Employment Services. The budget retains $35 million augmentation
for employment services. |
| CalWORKS Performance Incentive Rollover. The budget retains the rollover
authority language adopted during the May revision budget hearings. |
| Employment Training Panel (ETP) Fund. The Senate budget eliminates support
for the Labor Market Information Program and appropriates $56.4 million from
the ETP to support CalWORKS Employment Services, thus increasing the
ETP-to-CalWORKS transfer by $35 million. |
List of Trailer Bills: For reference below are the trailer bills which
contain additional language needed to implement AB 1765. Go to:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov
and download copies that were marked amended 7/29/03.
AB 7X - Issuance of Need Borrowing Bonds
AB 1747 - Omnibus Natural Resources Bill
AB 1748 - Implementation of Prop 50
AB 1749 - Local agencies and booking fees paid to counties
AB 1750 - Transportation trailer - temp partial suspension of Prop 42
AB 1751 - Transportation Trailer
AB 1752 - Human Services trailer which reforms the Drug Courts and addresses
SSI/SSP AB 1753 - Department of Rehab and Department of Developmental
Disabilities
AB 1754 - Education Trailer for K-12 and Higher Education
AB 1755 and AB 1756 - General Government Omnibus Trailer
AB 1757 - Consolidates and transfers state agencies' authorities
AB 1758 - Public Safety Trailer (Corrections, Youth Authority, etc)
AB 1759 - Trial Courts
AB 1762 - Omnibus Health Trailer (MENTAL HEALTH)
AB 1763 - Rural Health Demo Project
AB 1766 - Triple-Flip Sales Tax Swap
AB 1768 - Funds to repay Vehicle License Fee Fund
AB 1765 - The BUDGET
SB 9 - Sen. McClintock's Bureaucracy Closure
Commission (Proposed - Not Taken Up by Assembly)
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Last Updated on
04/14/04
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