Budget | March 4, 2022

Budget Subcommittees Consider Stakeholder Proposals, Opioid-Related Investments

This week, California State Senate and Assembly Budget Subcommittees continued a steady pace of committee hearings, assessing proposed investments offered by the Newsom Administration through the Governor’s January Budget. Below, we highlight a few hearings of most interest to CHEAC Members:

Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 Hears Stakeholder Proposals, Including California Can’t Wait Coalition HERO Initiative

On Thursday, the Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services convened a hearing to assess a multitude of stakeholder budget proposals, covering a wide array of subjects and departments and agencies. Stakeholder proposals are submitted to the subcommittee for consideration and seek to augment or modify the Governor’s January Budget.

During the hearing, representatives from the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) read into the record the wide range of stakeholder proposals under the authority of all entities within the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS).

Notably, included in the subcommittee’s stakeholder proposals was the California Can’t Wait Coalition’s budget request for the Public Health Equity and Readiness Opportunity (HERO) Initiative which seeks to retain and bolster the state’s public health workforce. The Coalition’s requests total $186.4 million across several initiatives and several fiscal years including:

  • Recruitment and Retention
    • Public Health Recruitment and Retention Stipends ($120 million one-time, available over three years)
    • Waive Public Health Nurse Certification Fees for Three Years ($10 million one-time)
  • Public Health Training and Pipeline Investments
    • Incumbent Worker Upskill Training ($12.8 million one-time, available over four years)
    • California Public Health Pathways Training Corps (CA-PHC) ($24 million one-time, available over three years)
    • California Microbiologist Training ($6.5 million, available over three years)
    • Public Health Lab Aspire ($6.6 million one-time, available over three years)
    • California Epidemiologic Investigation Service (Cal-EIS) Training ($6.5 million one-time, available over three years)

Numerous other stakeholder proposals were also considered, including investments in expanding maternal, child, and adolescent health services, health equity programming, communicable disease control, chronic disease prevention and wellness promotion, and workforce recruitment and retention.

An extensive public comment period was held, allowing stakeholders and interested parties to comment on the slate of proposed investments. Subcommittee No. 3 took no action on stakeholder proposals, leaving open all items for action at a later date. The full hearing agenda is available here. A video recording of the hearing is available here.

Assembly Budget Subcommittees Assess Opioid, Youth Behavioral Health Investments

On Monday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services and the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance, as well as the Assembly Select Committee on Early Childhood Development, convened a hearing to assess budget investment proposals from the Newsom Administration related to youth behavioral health.

The majority of the issues explored by the committees were activities and investments as part of the Administration’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI). Representatives from the California Health and Human Services (CalHHS) Agency, the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), and the California Department of Education (CDE), among others, presented the sweeping proposals to deliver behavioral health services to California’s youngest residents.

Of interest to CHEAC Members, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) presented its proposal for $55 million in one-time funding to establish: 1) a media and health communications campaign targeted toward youth opioid education and awareness and fentanyl risk education; and 2) syndromic surveillance using the BioSense Platform to collect and analyze data on opioid overdose trends.

CHEAC submitted a letter in support of the CDPH proposal and encouraged the state to leverage best practices and lessons learned from local efforts in combatting opioid misuse.

No action was taken by the committees and items were held open for action at a later date. The full agenda for Monday’s hearing is available here. A video recording of the hearing is available here.

Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 Examines Jail Oversight

The Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor, and Transportation on Wednesday convened a hearing to assess a variety of budget proposals related to corrections. A considerable amount of the hearing was dedicated to county jail oversight, local detention facility standards, and inspections.

The Subcommittee explored topics related to incarcerated individuals with behavioral health conditions, whether the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) should have more authority over county jail inspections, and whether changes to the BSCC membership composition is warranted.

No actions were proposed or taken during the examination of local jail oversight. The full agenda, including background information, is available here. A video recording of the hearing is available here.