Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary s1

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

ACR 38 (Brown) - California Task Force on Family Caregiving

Version: June 15, 2015 Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 5 - 0 Urgency: No Mandate: No Hearing Date: June 29, 2015 Consultant: Brendan McCarthy

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary: ACR 38 would establish a task force on family caregiving with twenty members appointed by the Senate and Assembly. The task force would be required to consider issues relating to family caregivers and report to the Legislature on those issues.

Fiscal Impact: Annual costs of about $300,000 per year for three years to provide staff support to the task force and compensate taskforce members for travel costs (private funds). Staff anticipates that the task force will need two support positions and about $40,000 per year to reimburse members for travel costs.

Background: According to a report by the AARP Public Policy Institute, there are 42 million family caregivers in the United States who provide care to a relative with limitations to their daily activities.

Proposed Law: ACR 38 would establish a task force on family caregiving.

Specific provisions of the resolution would:  Establish the California Task Force on Family Caregiving with twenty members;  Require the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Rules Committee to each appoint ten members with specified backgrounds;  Require the task force to meet monthly to consider issues relating to family caregiving;  Require the task force to consult with appropriate stakeholders;  Prohibit the use of state funds to support the task force, but authorize the task force to solicit contributions and pay for staff costs and travel reimbursements;  Require the task force meetings to be subject to open meeting laws;  Require the task force to provide reports to the Legislature, including a final report by July 1, 2018;  Authorize the existence of the task force until July 1, 2018. ACR 38 (Brown) Page 2 of 2

Related Legislation: AB 1744 (Brown) was substantially similar to this resolution, but would have required the Department of Aging to convene a similar blue-ribbon panel. That bill was vetoed by Governor Brown.

Staff Comments: The resolution does not specifically require any existing state agency or department to provide administrative support to the task force. The resolution does not address how an appointed task force would collect non-state funds, hire staff, provide fiscal oversight over donated funds, or provide reimbursements to task force members. Without clarity on how those administrative tasks will be performed, it is not clear how the task force envisioned in the resolution will function.

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