BOS Health Committee



ALAMEDA COUNTY

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS'

PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATION/LEGTISLATION

COMMITTEE

Monday, April 28, 2014

1:30 p.m.

Supervisor Keith Carson, Chair Location: Board of Supervisors Chambers – Room 512 5th floor

Supervisor Wilma Chan County Administration Building

1221 Oak Street, Oakland, CA 94612

Summary/Action Minutes

I. Federal Legislative Update

The House and Senate are both in session this week after a two-week spring recess. The House of Representatives will vote on its first two FY15 appropriations bills: the Military Construction-Veterans and Legislative Branch funding bills. The Senate is scheduled to debate legislation to raise the federal minimum wage. Following that vote, the chamber could likely begin debate on a bipartisan energy-efficiency bill introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Rob Portman.

FY15 Appropriations

In addition to the full House voting on the Military Construction-VA and the Legislative Branch appropriations bills, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies will mark up its draft appropriations bill this Wednesday. The other House Appropriations subcommittees will likely be given their spending levels, or 302(b) allocations, for FY15.

Surface Transportation Reauthorization

Both the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee are continuing work to draft the next transportation authorization bill. Senate EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer stated before the recess that she hopes to have the Senate bill drafted and marked up in May. House T&I Chairman Bill Shuster plans to release his bill in late spring/early summer.

The Obama administration will likely release its transportation authorization proposal in the next two weeks. Although the House T&I and Senate EPW will not adopt the administration’s proposal as a whole, it will provide more details on where the Obama administration stands on transportation priorities and how it would like to fund the next transportation bill.

Tax extenders

The House Ways and Means Committee will vote tomorrow, April 29, 2012 to markup up a number of bills that would make expired or expiring tax provisions permanent. Senate Majority Leader Reid still intends to bring the Senate tax extenders bill to the floor in the near future.

Minimum Wage

Majority Leader Reid filed cloture today on a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over two years. A procedural vote will occur on Wednesday. Democrats have been working with Senator Susan Collins to garner 60 votes to bypass a filibuster, but they have not been able to reach a deal and will not likely get the 60 votes needed to move forward.

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Reauthorization

Members in the House and Senate are working on a bipartisan basis on a deal to reauthorize a wide range of job training programs under the Workforce Investment Act. The WIA was first enacted in 1998 and has not been reauthorized since 2003. The Labor Department continues to operate the program originally authorized by the law due to additional funding from Congress.

In March 2013, the House passed the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act (H.R. 803), which would consolidate 35 WIA training programs into a single workforce investment fund and authorize it through 2020 at an expected cost of up to $6.2 billion. Democrats have largely criticized the measure—and President Barack Obama has threatened to veto it—for removing enrollment priorities for low-income individuals and requiring that two-thirds of the representatives to local workforce boards be employers, rather than labor union, community college and nonprofit officials.

The Senate version, the Workforce Investment Act (S. 1356), which would reauthorize WIA though 2018, was favorably reported out of the Senate HELP Committee in July 2013. The measure was introduced by a bipartisan group of four senators. The bill would retain preferences for low-income trainees and continue to provide funding to states through grants, at an estimated expense of $29.2 billion over five years.

Human Trafficking Legislation

Several House Committees are working on legislation to combat human trafficking and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor plans to bring it to the House floor for votes in May. Some of the bills being taken up this week by committees include:

• A House Foreign Affairs Committee bill that seeks to target those who bring sex-trafficking victims to the U.S. under legitimate work visas;

• A bill to encourage states to adopt laws that treat trafficked minors as victims;

• A bill to address services for trafficking victims who end up in foster care; and

• Legislation that provides more tools to prosecutors when they go after domestic human-trafficking perpetrators.

Purpose:

Report progress

Advocacy or Education

Request PAL Committee Recommendation or Position

Other: Federal legislative update

II. State Legislative Update

The revenue numbers for the month of April exceeded the Administration’s forecast of $10.989 billion. Receipts to date have reached $11.077 billion, about $90 million above the forecast and will continue to rise during the remainder of the month. By the end of March revenues had already exceeded fiscal year projections by about $1 billion. The surplus is expected to grow by approximately $200 million dollars by the end of the month.

Deadlines

The first major hearing deadline is Friday, May 2, 2014, when all bills with fiscal impact must pass out of the policy committees and to the Appropriations Committees. The policy committee deadline for non-fiscal bills is on May 9, 2014 and the fiscal committee deadline on May 23, 2014. The House of Origin deadline is May 30, 2014.

On Friday, April 25, 2014 the California State Sheriff’s Association (CSSA) released the results of a survey to determine the number of long-term offenders in county jails. The survey reflects data provided by forty- four counties. The survey results for Alameda County included 1,635 inmates sentenced to 5-10 years, 124 inmates sentenced to more than 10 years and the most common crimes were vehicle theft and drug trafficking.

Covered California

After the end of the open enrolment for health insurance under California’s Health Care Exchange, the Covered California Board released enrollment details for activity between October 1, 2013 and April 15, 2014. Over 1.4 million residents signed up for coverage through the exchanged

CSAC Budget Priorities

The CSAC Executive Committee has invited all counties’ legislative coordinators and caucus members to participate on a conference call on May 2, 2014 at 1:30 pm. The purpose of the call is to brief county staff on the budget priorities in preparation for the release of the May Revise on May 14, 2014.

Alameda County Bill Priorities

AB 1893 – Safe Needle Disposal – Status: Scheduled to be heard in the Health Assembly on April 29, 2014.

AB 2396 – Professional Licenses – Status: Scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protections Committee on April 29, 2014.

SB 1005 – Health Care Coverage: Immigration Status - Status: Scheduled to be heard in the Senate Health Committee on April 30, 2014.

SB 1014 – Safe Medication Disposal – Status: amended; to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 1151 – Vehicle School Zones: Fines – Status: amended; Passed the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee and to be heard in the Senate Public Safety Committee.

SCA 11 – Protection of Local Revenues – Status: No movement. The measure requires a 2/3 vote of the legislature and Republican votes to move forward.

Purpose:

Report progress

Advocacy or Education

Request PAL Committee Recommendation or Position

Other: State legislative update

Request for Legislation Position – Action Items

SB 1178 (Correa) Developmental Disabilities: Housing

Recommendation: Support: Scott Haggerty, District 1, Board of Supervisors

Request full reimbursement for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) Program

Recommendation: Support: Alex Briscoe, Director, Health Care Services Agency

Purpose:

Report progress

Advocacy or Education

Request PAL Committee Recommendation or Position

Other:

Recommendation from PAL Committee: Approve. Move to the full Board of Supervisors.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None.

Board of Supervisors’ Committees agendas are available via Internet at:

P:\BOS comms\PAL_4_28_14 minutes

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