Busy Weeks Ahead for Policy Committees

This week was largely dominated by budget discussions in the Legislature, though several policy committees did convene to hear a short list of bills. Rules Committees in both houses have now assigned most bills to policy committees, producing several busy weeks of hearings ahead.

Below, we highlight a few bills of interest to CHEAC Members. This week’s full bill chart is available here.

Access to Health Services

AB 1591 (Berman) as introduced 2/17/17 – Support

AB 1591, introduced by Assembly Member Marc Berman, was heard in the Senate Health Committee this week where it was unanimously passed to Senate Appropriations. The measure expands Medi-Cal reimbursement to include Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs) in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health centers (RHCs) as a means to improve access to behavioral health care throughout California.

Local Health Department Administration

AB 1250 (Jones-Sawyer) as amended on 5/30/17 – Oppose

Last week, CHEAC joined the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) in opposing AB 1250 by Assembly Member Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Sr., which is now assigned to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. This measure specifies an extensive list of criteria that must be met when counties and cities contract out for personal services, including provisions related to cost savings, displacement of county and city employees, competitive bidding processes, and performance standards. AB 1250 poses significant challenges to local health department administration, as well as general local government operations.

Cannabis

AB 350 (Salas) as amended on 6/8/17 – Watch

AB 350, introduced by Assembly Member Rudy Salas, was unanimously passed by the Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee and now moves to the Senate Floor. The measure deems any edible cannabis produced as being appealing to children or easily confused with regular candy if it is in the shape of a person, animal, insect, fruit, or other shape associated with candy.