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(1)Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. Existing law declares it to be the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.

This bill would establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and would provide that moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the state board. By creating a new continuously appropriated fund, this the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the state board to administer the fund to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. The bill would authorize the state board to provide for the deposit into the fund of federal contributions, voluntary contributions, gifts, grants, and bequests. The bill would require the state board to expend moneys in the fund for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist eligible applicants with projects relating to the provision of safe and affordable drinking water and, beginning January 1, 2020, would require the expenditure to be consistent with a fund implementation plan adopted by July 1 of each odd-numbered year by the state board, as prescribed. The bill would require the state board, working with a multistakeholder advisory group, to adopt by July 1 of each odd-numbered year a policy handbook with priorities and guidelines for expenditures of the fund. The bill would require the state board annually to publish on its Internet Web site a report of expenditures from the fund and a summary of progress made with respect to the implementation of these provisions. The bill would require the state board to adopt by July 1 of each odd-numbered year, an assessment of funding need that estimates the anticipated funding needed for the next two fiscal years to achieve the purposes of the fund. The bill would require, by January 1, 2020, the state board, in consultation with local health officers and other relevant stakeholders, to make available a map of aquifers that are used or likely to be used as a source of drinking water that are at high risk of containing contaminants. For purposes of the map, the bill would require local health officers and other relevant local agencies to provide all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by certified laboratories to the state board, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local health officers and local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill, beginning July 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, would require a community water system with 200 or more service connections to provide an opportunity for each customer of a community water system to provide a voluntary remittance either as part of the customers regular water bill bill or by using a specified notification procedure, to advance the purposes of the fund. The bill would require the board to develop and maintain a list of voluntary best practices associated with bill presentation, accounting, and collection of voluntary remittances, as prescribed. The bill would authorize a customer of a community water system to remit nothing, an amount recommended by the community water system, as prescribed, or an alternative amount. The bill would prohibit a community water system from sanctioning, taking any enforcement or collection action against, imposing any late charge or penalty against, or otherwise holding liable, a customer in any manner for deducting the amount from the bill or otherwise paying or not paying a voluntary remittance. The bill would require a community water system to transfer to the board for deposit in the fund all voluntary remittances received from its customers, except for a specified amount of a community water systems administrative cost for collecting the fee, as specified.

(2)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(3)This bill would make its operation contingent on the enactment of SB 844 of the 201718 Regular Session.

This bill would establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and would provide that moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the state board. By creating a new continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the state board to administer the fund to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. The bill would authorize the state board to provide for the deposit into the fund of federal contributions, voluntary contributions, gifts, grants, and bequests. The bill would require the state board to expend moneys in the fund for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist eligible applicants with projects relating to the provision of safe and affordable drinking water and, beginning January 1, 2020, would require the expenditure to be consistent with a fund implementation plan adopted by July 1 of each odd-numbered year by the state board, as prescribed. The bill would require the state board, working with a multistakeholder advisory group, to adopt by July 1 of each odd-numbered year a policy handbook with priorities and guidelines for expenditures of the fund. The bill would require the state board annually to publish on its Internet Web site a report of expenditures from the fund and a summary of progress made with respect to the implementation of these provisions. The bill would require the state board to adopt by July 1 of each odd-numbered year, an assessment of funding need that estimates the anticipated funding needed for the next two fiscal years to achieve the purposes of the fund. The bill would require, by January 1, 2020, the state board, in consultation with local health officers and other relevant stakeholders, to make available a map of aquifers that are used or likely to be used as a source of drinking water that are at high risk of containing contaminants. For purposes of the map, the bill would require local health officers and other relevant local agencies to provide all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by certified laboratories to the state board, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local health officers and local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill, beginning July 1, 2019, would require a community water system to provide an opportunity for each customer of a community water system to provide a voluntary remittance as part of the customers water bill to advance the purposes of the fund. The bill would require the board to develop and maintain a list of voluntary best practices associated with bill presentation, accounting, and collection of voluntary remittances, as prescribed. The bill would authorize a customer of a community water system to remit nothing, an amount recommended by the community water system, as prescribed, or an alternative amount. The bill would prohibit a community water system from sanctioning, taking any enforcement or collection action against, or otherwise holding liable, a customer in any manner for deducting the amount from the bill or otherwise paying or not paying a voluntary remittance. The bill would require a community water system to transfer to the board for deposit in the fund all voluntary remittances received from its customers, as specified.

(3)This bill would make its operation contingent on the enactment of SB 844 of the 201718 Regular Session.

(1)Existing law establishes the Department of Child Support Services to administer all federal and state laws and regulations relating to child support enforcement obligations. Existing law requires each county to maintain a local child support agency with responsibility for promptly and effectively enforcing child support obligations. Existing law establishes a quality assurance and performance improvement program within Californias child support program, and requires local child support agencies, in partnership with the department, to monitor and measure program performance and compliance.The bill would, beginning July 1, 2018, require the director of the Department of Child Support Services and the president of the Child Support Directors Association of California to jointly lead discussions for the purposes of identifying programwide operational efficiencies and further refinements to the budget methodology for the child support program, as needed. The bill would also require the department to submit a report to the chairs of the budget committees of each house of the Legislature that includes a description of the topics discussed and recommendations by July 1, 2019. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2021.The bill would require the department, on or before March 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, to submit a status report to the Legislature on specific topics related to child support collection, including, among other topics, case-to-staff ratios for each local child support agency and collections to families and recoupment collections to county, state, and federal governmental entities.(2)Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration to implement a statewide automated welfare system for specified public assistance programs. Existing law requires that statewide implementation of the statewide automated welfare system be achieved through no more than 4 county consortia, including the Interim Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) consortia, and the Los Angeles Eligibility, Automated Determination, Evaluation, and Reporting (LEADER) System.This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that representatives from the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Office of Systems Integration, the SAWS consortia, and the counties meet with advocates, clients, and other stakeholders no less than quarterly to review the development status of the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System (CalACES) and California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) projects. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Office of Systems Integration, and the SAWS consortia to engage with stakeholders to discuss current and planned functionality changes, system demonstrations of public portals and mobile applications, and advocates identification of areas of concern. The bill would require these meetings to commence in the summer of 2018 and to continue at least quarterly through development, implementation, and maintenance. The bill would also require the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, and the Office of Systems Integration to develop, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the SAWS consortia, and stakeholders, a formal process for health and human services advocates and clients to provide input into new or changing public facing elements of CalACES and CalSAWS. By imposing a new duty on county members of the SAWS consortia to engage with stakeholders, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.(3)Existing law requires public social services for the deaf and hard of hearing to be available in at least 3 regions throughout the state. Existing law requires that those services include job development and placement and independent living skills instruction, among others. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish the criteria for funding public social services for the deaf and hard of hearing. Existing law requires the department to contract with public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for a period not to exceed one year for purposes of these provisions, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to renegotiate those contracts on an annual basis. Existing law requires a private nonprofit corporation to submit a financial statement prior to renewal of a contract under these provisions.This bill would instead require the department to contract with those entities for services pursuant to a competitive bid process, as prescribed. The bill would authorize those contracts to be negotiated for a term not to exceed 5 years. The bill would require a private nonprofit corporation to submit a financial statement for its most recent fiscal year prior to any new award or renewal of a contract under these provisions.(4)Existing law, commonly known as Continuum of Care Reform (CCR), states the intent of the Legislature in adopting CCR to improve Californias child welfare system and its outcomes by increasing the use of home-based family care and the provision of services and supports to home-based family care, and creating faster paths to permanency resulting in shorter durations of involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, among other things. Existing law, as part of the CCR, requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a resource family approval process, which replaces the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, certifying foster homes by foster family agencies, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving guardians and adoptive families.This bill would require the Department of Finance, in consultation with the specified entities, to develop and implement a methodology for determining the states and each countys overall actual costs and savings resulting from the implementation of the CCR initiative, and would require the methodology to take into account the CCR-related assistance and administration costs and savings of the state and each county associated with the implementation of the CCR initiative, based on the best available data.Existing law establishes the state-funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) program, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, and the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP), under which aid is provided based on a statutorily prescribed rate structure known as the basic foster care maintenance payment rate structure. Existing law, as part of CCR, updated payment rate structures for foster care programs.This bill would instead require the home-based family care rate structure to be implemented as of January 1, 2017, in furtherance of CCR. The bill would require this rate structure to be the model under which aid is provided under Kin-Gap, AFDC-FC, and AAP, as described, excluding cases in which guardianship has been established in the probate court, which would receive the basic foster care maintenance structure effective and available as of December 31, 2016. The bill would make additional conforming changes. To the extent that this bill would affect agreements administered by county agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.Under existing law, a child who is placed in the approved home of a relative is eligible for AFDC-FC if he or she is eligible for federal financial participation in the AFDC-FC payment, as specified. Existing law establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC) for the purpose of making the amount paid to relative caregivers for the in-home care of children placed with them who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments equal to the amount paid on behalf of children who are eligible for AFDC-FC payments. Existing law requires counties, until June 30, 2018, to provide an emergency assistance payment or ARC payment to an emergency caregiver who meets specified requirements, and is caring for a child or nonminor dependent placed in the caregivers home under specified circumstances, if the child or nonminor dependent resides in California, and is not otherwise eligible for AFDC-FC or ARC. Existing law requires the payments to be made either through ARC or through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant Emergency Assistance Program for child welfare services, as specified.This bill would extend indefinitely the requirement that counties provide an emergency assistance payment or ARC payment to an emergency caregiver, if the emergency caregiver has signed and submitted to the county an application for resource family approval and an application for the Emergency Assistance Program has been completed. The bill would provide for payments if the child or nonminor dependent is ineligible for the TANF block grant Emergency Assistance Program, and payments if the resource family application has not yet been approved or denied, as specified. The bill would require counties to document information and provide information to the State Department of Social Services monthly to receive the federal and state share of payment, as specified. By expanding the duties of counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.The California Community Care Facilities Act provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law states that it is the policy of the state to facilitate the proper placement of every child in a residential care facility where the placement is in the best interests of the child. Existing law requires a group home, transitional housing placement provider, community treatment facility, runaway and homeless youth shelter, temporary shelter care facility, transitional shelter care facility, or short-term residential therapeutic program to report to the departments Community Care Licensing Division upon the occurrence of any incident concerning a child in the facility involving contact with law enforcement, as specified. Existing law requires the facility to provide a followup report for each incident, including identifying the type of incident. Under existing law, the department is required to inspect the facility at least once a year if the department determines that, based on the licensed capacity, the facility has reported a greater than average number of law enforcement contacts involving an alleged violation of specified crimes by a child residing in the facility. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor.This bill would require each group home, transitional shelter care facility, short-term residential therapeutic program, and temporary shelter care facility to develop protocols that dictate the circumstances under which law enforcement may be contacted in response to the conduct of a child residing at the facility. The bill would require the protocols to, among other things, specify that contacting law enforcement shall only be used as a last resort once all other deescalation and intervention techniques have been exhausted and only upon approval of a staff supervisor. To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on county facilities and expand the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.This bill would, until July 1, 2023, require the department to allocate funds appropriated to provide training and community-based, culturally relevant, trauma-informed services in order to reduce the frequency of law enforcement involvement and delinquency petitions arising from incidents at group homes and other facilities licensed to provide residential care to dependent children. Among other things, the bill would require the department to annually allocate funds appropriated to the department in the annual Budget Act to lead agencies that submit a 3-year plan with specified information by February 1 of the first year, and submit any modifications to the plan by February 1 of each subsequent year. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to determine the rate classification level (RCL) for each group home. Existing law prohibits a new group home rate or changes to an existing rate pursuant to RCL except that the department may grant an exception, on a case-by-case basis and only through December 31, 2018, when there is a material risk to the welfare of children due to an inadequate supply of appropriate alternative placement options to meet the needs of children, as specified.This bill would authorize the department to grant an additional extension to a group home beyond December 31, 2018, upon a county child welfare department submitting a written request on behalf of a provider and providing required documentation. The bill would authorize extensions in increments up to 6 months and not to exceed a total of 12 months. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions through all-county letters.Existing federal law establishes the Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers Program for the purposes of providing financial aid to current and former foster youth who are attending qualifying postsecondary educational institutions. Existing law provides that the Student Aid Commission, through an interagency agreement with the State Department of Social Services, currently operates the program in California, and, commencing with the 201718 award year, requires the commission to make a new Chafee grant award to a student only if the student attends specified qualifying institutions.This bill would, commencing with the 201819 award year and contingent upon an appropriation of sufficient funds in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, add the condition that the student not be 26 years of age or older by July 1 of the award year in order to receive a Chafee grant award. The bill would require the commission to annually report to the Legislature specified information regarding Chafee grant awards for the preceding award year, including the number of students that apply to receive the Chafee grant award, and the number of, and age of, students paid through the program.Existing law authorizes the Director of Social Services to enter into an agreement with a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization regarding the care and custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings, under specified circumstances. Existing law requires these agreements to provide for the delegation to the tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization the responsibility that would otherwise be the responsibility of the county for the provision of child welfare services or assistance payments under the AFDC-FC program, or both.This bill would, to the extent that funding is expressly provided in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, authorize an Indian tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, that is a party to an agreement to, in accordance with the agreement, be eligible to receive an allocation of child welfare services funds to assist in funding the startup costs associated with establishing a comprehensive child welfare services program.(5)Existing law, as part of the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, under the direction of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, in the California Department of Aging. Existing law provides for the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program under which funds are allocated to local ombudsman programs to assist elderly persons in long-term health care facilities and residential care facilities by, among other things, investigating and seeking to resolve complaints against these facilities. Existing law requires the department to allocate federal and state funds for local ombudsman programs according to a specified distribution, but prohibits the department from allocating less than $35,000 per fiscal year, except in areas with fewer than 10 facilities and fewer than 500 beds.This bill would increase the base allocation for local ombudsman programs to $100,000 per fiscal year, regardless of the number of facilities or beds.Existing law requires each county welfare department to establish and support a system of protective services for elderly and dependent adults who may be subjected to neglect, abuse, or exploitation or who are unable to protect their own interests. Existing law requires the county to establish and maintain a specialized entity within the county welfare department that has the lead responsibility for the operation of the adult protective services program.This bill, subject to an appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act, would establish the Home Safe Program, which would require the State Department of Social Services to award grants to counties, tribes, or groups of counties or tribes, that provide services to elder and dependent adults who experience abuse, neglect, and exploitation and otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for adult protective services, for the purpose of providing prescribed housing-related supports to eligible individuals. The bill would require the department to develop criteria and procedures to award the grants, as specified, and would require the department to enter into a contract with an independent evaluation and research agency to evaluate the impacts of the program.(6)Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans.Existing law establishes the county-administered In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program to aged, blind, or disabled persons, as defined, who are unable to perform the services themselves and who cannot safely remain in their homes or abodes of their own choosing unless these services are provided. Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors to contract with a nonprofit consortium or to establish a public authority to provide in-home supportive services, and provides that the public authority or nonprofit consortium shall be deemed to be the employer of in-home supportive services personnel for the purposes of collective bargaining over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.Under the Medi-Cal program, services provided under the IHSS program are provided as a Medi-Cal benefit under the IHSS Plus option, and similar services, known as personal care services and home- and community-based attendant services and supports, are provided to eligible individuals. The Medi-Cal program also defines waiver personal care services to mean personal care services authorized by the State Department of Health Care Services for persons who are eligible for either nursing or model nursing facility waiver services.This bill would provide that the county, or the public authority or nonprofit consortium established to provide in-home supportive services, shall be deemed the employer to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment of individuals providing waiver personal care services. The bill would, for purposes of these provisions, of bargaining unit placement, and of waiver personal care services, require individuals providing waiver personal care services to be deemed a part of the established bargaining unit of in-home supportive service providers of an employer of record in the county in which the individual delivers waiver personal care services. The bill would provide that these provisions shall be implemented only to the extent that any necessary federal approvals are obtained and federal financial participation is available and not otherwise jeopardized. The bill would also make conforming changes.The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make public records available for inspection by the public, subject to specified criteria and with specified exceptions. The act exempts from public inspection specified information regarding persons paid by the state to provide in-home supportive services or personal care services.This bill would additionally exempt from public inspection specified information regarding persons paid by the state to provide in-home supportive services under the IHSS Plus option, home- and community-based attendant services and supports, and waiver personal care services. Existing law entitles a provider of in-home supportive services who, on and after July 1, 2018, works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment to paid sick days, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with stakeholders, to convene a workgroup to implement paid sick leave for in-home supportive services providers, as specified, and requires the work group to finish its implementation work by November 1, 2017.This bill, no later than February 1, 2019, would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the Department of Finance and stakeholders, to reconvene the paid sick leave workgroup for in-home supportive services. The bill would require the workgroup to discuss how paid sick leave affects the provision of in-home supportive services and to consider the potential need for a process to cover an in-home supportive services recipients authorized hours when a provider should need to utilize his or her sick time. The bill would require the workgroup to finish its work by November 1, 2019.(7)Existing law provides for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSP), which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act.Under existing law, benefit payments under SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient, with an annual cost-of-living adjustment, effective January 1 of each year. Existing law prohibits, for each calendar year, commencing with the 2011 calendar year, any cost-of-living adjustment from being made to the maximum benefit payment unless otherwise specified by statute, except for the pass along of any cost-of-living increase in the federal SSI benefits. Existing law continuously appropriates funds for the implementation of SSP.This bill would provide for an annual cost-of-living adjustment to the SSP benefit payment commencing July 1, 2022, which shall be 0%, unless otherwise specified in the annual Budget Act. (8)Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds.This bill would, on and after January 1, 2019, establish the CalWORKs Home Visiting Initiative as a voluntary program for the purpose of supporting positive health, development, and well-being outcomes for eligible pregnant and parenting women, families, and infants born into poverty, expanding their future educational, economic, and financial capability opportunities, and improving the likelihood that they will exit poverty. The bill would include case management and evidence-based home visiting, as defined, as a primary component of the program, and would require home visiting to be offered to an individual who meets certain criteria, as specified, and to include, but not be limited to, specified resources and referrals relating to prenatal, infant, and toddler care, among other things. The bill would make participation in the program optional for counties and would require a county that applies for funds under the program to agree to the terms of the program and to include specified information in its application. The bill would, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, require the State Department of Social Services to award funds to participating counties for the purposes of the program. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer the program through all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted.Existing law establishes the maximum aid payment amounts to be provided to each family receiving aid under CalWORKs, and increases the maximum aid payments by 1.43% effective October 1, 2016. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program, and requires a county share of cost to be subtracted from that General Fund appropriation.This bill would, effective April 1, 2019, increase the maximum aid payment amounts by an additional 10%. The bill would, commencing in the 201920 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, if an incremental adjustment is made to the maximum aid payments, require the counties share of that adjustment to be based upon the total incremental adjustment or the increase in the California Necessities Index, as specified, for the fiscal year in which the adjustment becomes effective, whichever is lower.Existing law provides an annual cost-of-living adjustment to the maximum aid payment, but suspends the adjustment for certain periods, including for the 201011 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter.This bill would provide for an annual cost-of-living adjustment to the maximum aid payment commencing July 1, 2022, which shall be 0%, unless otherwise specified in the annual Budget Act. Existing law makes a homeless family that has used all available liquid resources in excess of $100 eligible for homeless assistance benefits to pay the costs of temporary shelter if the family is eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program. Under existing law, the nonrecurring special needs benefit to pay for temporary shelter for a family of up to 4 is $65 per day. Existing law provides up to $15 per day for the 5th and additional members of the family, up to a daily maximum of $125.This bill would, on and after January 1, 2019, increase the nonrecurring special needs benefit to pay for temporary shelter for a family of up to 4 to $85 a day, and would provide that the daily maximum amount for the payment of additional family members is $145. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to adopt emergency regulations to implement these provisions by January 1, 2021, as specified, and would authorize the department to implement those provisions by all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted. To the extent that this bill may increase the administrative duties of counties, it would impose a state-mandated local program.Existing law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility, but permits a student who is enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate program that leads to employment to continue in that program under specified conditions. If a recipients participation in educational or vocational training, as determined by the number of hours required for classroom, laboratory, or internship activities, is not at least 30 hours, or 20 hours, as specified, existing law provides that county shall require the recipient to participate concurrently in work activities, as specified.This bill would include hours required for study time provided for by an educational or training institution when determining the minimum number of hours of participation in educational or vocational training necessary for a recipient to be exempt from concurrent work activities. To the extent that the bill would increase the number of individuals who maintain their eligibility for the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Because moneys from the General Fund are continuously appropriated to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program, the bill would make an appropriation.(9)Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing financial and food assistance benefits, including CalFresh benefits.This bill would establish the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project, which would require the department, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture and stakeholders with experience operating CalFresh nutrition incentive programs, to include within the EBT system a supplemental benefits mechanism that allows an authorized retailer, as defined, to deliver and redeem supplemental benefits, as specified.The bill would create in the State Treasury the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Grant Fund, as specified. The bill would, upon the deposit of sufficient moneys into the fund, as determined by the department, and upon the appropriation of moneys from the fund by the Legislature for this purpose, also require the department to provide a minimum of 3 grants to nonprofit organizations or government agencies for pilot projects to implement and test the supplemental benefits mechanism in existing retail settings, and to develop and adopt guidelines for awarding the grants. The bill would require the department to evaluate the pilot projects and make recommendations to further refine and expand the supplemental benefits mechanism, and to submit a report to the Legislature with the outcomes of that evaluation when the department has sufficient data to evaluate the pilot, but no later than January 1, 2022. The bill would exempt contracts under the pilot project from specified public contracting requirements and would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions without taking any regulatory action. The bill would require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals to establish this pilot project, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2024. Existing law requires that the eligibility of households for CalFresh benefits be determined to the extent permitted by federal law, and requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a program of categorical eligibility for CalFresh in accordance with federal law. Existing law requires SSP payments to be reduced for individuals and couples, as specified, for purposes of CalFresh eligibility, if permitted by federal law.This bill would repeal SSP payment reductions for purposes of CalFresh eligibility, and would grant CalFresh eligibility, as specified, to recipients of SSI, SSP, or both as of June 1, 2019, or an alternate implementation date determined by the department that is no later than August 1, 2019. The bill would require a county welfare department to determine continuing eligibility and benefits for households, as specified. By imposing requirements on counties relative to CalFresh, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.This bill would establish the SSI/SSP Cash-In Supplemental Nutrition Benefit (SNB) Program to provide nutrition benefits to a CalFresh household that had its benefits reduced when a previously excluded SSI or SSP recipient was added to the household under the new eligibility provisions. The bill would also establish the SSI/SSP Cash-In Transitional Nutrition Benefit (TNB) Program to provide nutrition benefits to a CalFresh household that became ineligible when a previously excluded SSI or SSP recipient was added to the household under the new eligibility provisions. The bill would provide that the SNB and TNB program benefits would be granted only to the extent funding is appropriated in the annual Budget Act. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions, as specified. (10)The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement specified provisions of the bill through all-county letters or similar instructions and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations implementing these provisions no later than January 1, 2020.(11)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.(12)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.(13)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

The bill would, beginning July 1, 2018, require the director of the Department of Child Support Services and the president of the Child Support Directors Association of California to jointly lead discussions for the purposes of identifying programwide operational efficiencies and further refinements to the budget methodology for the child support program, as needed. The bill would also require the department to submit a report to the chairs of the budget committees of each house of the Legislature that includes a description of the topics discussed and recommendations by July 1, 2019. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2021.

The bill would require the department, on or before March 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, to submit a status report to the Legislature on specific topics related to child support collection, including, among other topics, case-to-staff ratios for each local child support agency and collections to families and recoupment collections to county, state, and federal governmental entities.

(2)Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration to implement a statewide automated welfare system for specified public assistance programs. Existing law requires that statewide implementation of the statewide automated welfare system be achieved through no more than 4 county consortia, including the Interim Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) consortia, and the Los Angeles Eligibility, Automated Determination, Evaluation, and Reporting (LEADER) System.

This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that representatives from the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Office of Systems Integration, the SAWS consortia, and the counties meet with advocates, clients, and other stakeholders no less than quarterly to review the development status of the California Automated Consortium Eligibility System (CalACES) and California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) projects. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Office of Systems Integration, and the SAWS consortia to engage with stakeholders to discuss current and planned functionality changes, system demonstrations of public portals and mobile applications, and advocates identification of areas of concern. The bill would require these meetings to commence in the summer of 2018 and to continue at least quarterly through development, implementation, and maintenance. The bill would also require the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, and the Office of Systems Integration to develop, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the SAWS consortia, and stakeholders, a formal process for health and human services advocates and clients to provide input into new or changing public facing elements of CalACES and CalSAWS. By imposing a new duty on county members of the SAWS consortia to engage with stakeholders, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3)Existing law requires public social services for the deaf and hard of hearing to be available in at least 3 regions throughout the state. Existing law requires that those services include job development and placement and independent living skills instruction, among others. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish the criteria for funding public social services for the deaf and hard of hearing. Existing law requires the department to contract with public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for a period not to exceed one year for purposes of these provisions, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to renegotiate those contracts on an annual basis. Existing law requires a private nonprofit corporation to submit a financial statement prior to renewal of a contract under these provisions.

This bill would instead require the department to contract with those entities for services pursuant to a competitive bid process, as prescribed. The bill would authorize those contracts to be negotiated for a term not to exceed 5 years. The bill would require a private nonprofit corporation to submit a financial statement for its most recent fiscal year prior to any new award or renewal of a contract under these provisions.

(4)Existing law, commonly known as Continuum of Care Reform (CCR), states the intent of the Legislature in adopting CCR to improve Californias child welfare system and its outcomes by increasing the use of home-based family care and the provision of services and supports to home-based family care, and creating faster paths to permanency resulting in shorter durations of involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, among other things. Existing law, as part of the CCR, requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a resource family approval process, which replaces the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, certifying foster homes by foster family agencies, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving guardians and adoptive families.

This bill would require the Department of Finance, in consultation with the specified entities, to develop and implement a methodology for determining the states and each countys overall actual costs and savings resulting from the implementation of the CCR initiative, and would require the methodology to take into account the CCR-related assistance and administration costs and savings of the state and each county associated with the implementation of the CCR initiative, based on the best available data.

Existing law establishes the state-funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) program, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, and the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP), under which aid is provided based on a statutorily prescribed rate structure known as the basic foster care maintenance payment rate structure. Existing law, as part of CCR, updated payment rate structures for foster care programs.

This bill would instead require the home-based family care rate structure to be implemented as of January 1, 2017, in furtherance of CCR. The bill would require this rate structure to be the model under which aid is provided under Kin-Gap, AFDC-FC, and AAP, as described, excluding cases in which guardianship has been established in the probate court, which would receive the basic foster care maintenance structure effective and available as of December 31, 2016. The bill would make additional conforming changes. To the extent that this bill would affect agreements administered by county agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Under existing law, a child who is placed in the approved home of a relative is eligible for AFDC-FC if he or she is eligible for federal financial participation in the AFDC-FC payment, as specified. Existing law establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC) for the purpose of making the amount paid to relative caregivers for the in-home care of children placed with them who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments equal to the amount paid on behalf of children who are eligible for AFDC-FC payments. Existing law requires counties, until June 30, 2018, to provide an emergency assistance payment or ARC payment to an emergency caregiver who meets specified requirements, and is caring for a child or nonminor dependent placed in the caregivers home under specified circumstances, if the child or nonminor dependent resides in California, and is not otherwise eligible for AFDC-FC or ARC. Existing law requires the payments to be made either through ARC or through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant Emergency Assistance Program for child welfare services, as specified.

This bill would extend indefinitely the requirement that counties provide an emergency assistance payment or ARC payment to an emergency caregiver, if the emergency caregiver has signed and submitted to the county an application for resource family approval and an application for the Emergency Assistance Program has been completed. The bill would provide for payments if the child or nonminor dependent is ineligible for the TANF block grant Emergency Assistance Program, and payments if the resource family application has not yet been approved or denied, as specified. The bill would require counties to document information and provide information to the State Department of Social Services monthly to receive the federal and state share of payment, as specified. By expanding the duties of counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Community Care Facilities Act provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law states that it is the policy of the state to facilitate the proper placement of every child in a residential care facility where the placement is in the best interests of the child. Existing law requires a group home, transitional housing placement provider, community treatment facility, runaway and homeless youth shelter, temporary shelter care facility, transitional shelter care facility, or short-term residential therapeutic program to report to the departments Community Care Licensing Division upon the occurrence of any incident concerning a child in the facility involving contact with law enforcement, as specified. Existing law requires the facility to provide a followup report for each incident, including identifying the type of incident. Under existing law, the department is required to inspect the facility at least once a year if the department determines that, based on the licensed capacity, the facility has reported a greater than average number of law enforcement contacts involving an alleged violation of specified crimes by a child residing in the facility. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor.

This bill would require each group home, transitional shelter care facility, short-term residential therapeutic program, and temporary shelter care facility to develop protocols that dictate the circumstances under which law enforcement may be contacted in response to the conduct of a child residing at the facility. The bill would require the protocols to, among other things, specify that contacting law enforcement shall only be used as a last resort once all other deescalation and intervention techniques have been exhausted and only upon approval of a staff supervisor. To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on county facilities and expand the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would, until July 1, 2023, require the department to allocate funds appropriated to provide training and community-based, culturally relevant, trauma-informed services in order to reduce the frequency of law enforcement involvement and delinquency petitions arising from incidents at group homes and other facilities licensed to provide residential care to dependent children. Among other things, the bill would require the department to annually allocate funds appropriated to the department in the annual Budget Act to lead agencies that submit a 3-year plan with specified information by February 1 of the first year, and submit any modifications to the plan by February 1 of each subsequent year.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to determine the rate classification level (RCL) for each group home. Existing law prohibits a new group home rate or changes to an existing rate pursuant to RCL except that the department may grant an exception, on a case-by-case basis and only through December 31, 2018, when there is a material risk to the welfare of children due to an inadequate supply of appropriate alternative placement options to meet the needs of children, as specified.

This bill would authorize the department to grant an additional extension to a group home beyond December 31, 2018, upon a county child welfare department submitting a written request on behalf of a provider and providing required documentation. The bill would authorize extensions in increments up to 6 months and not to exceed a total of 12 months. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions through all-county letters.

Existing federal law establishes the Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers Program for the purposes of providing financial aid to current and former foster youth who are attending qualifying postsecondary educational institutions. Existing law provides that the Student Aid Commission, through an interagency agreement with the State Department of Social Services, currently operates the program in California, and, commencing with the 201718 award year, requires the commission to make a new Chafee grant award to a student only if the student attends specified qualifying institutions.

This bill would, commencing with the 201819 award year and contingent upon an appropriation of sufficient funds in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, add the condition that the student not be 26 years of age or older by July 1 of the award year in order to receive a Chafee grant award. The bill would require the commission to annually report to the Legislature specified information regarding Chafee grant awards for the preceding award year, including the number of students that apply to receive the Chafee grant award, and the number of, and age of, students paid through the program.

Existing law authorizes the Director of Social Services to enter into an agreement with a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization regarding the care and custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings, under specified circumstances. Existing law requires these agreements to provide for the delegation to the tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization the responsibility that would otherwise be the responsibility of the county for the provision of child welfare services or assistance payments under the AFDC-FC program, or both.

This bill would, to the extent that funding is expressly provided in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, authorize an Indian tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, that is a party to an agreement to, in accordance with the agreement, be eligible to receive an allocation of child welfare services funds to assist in funding the startup costs associated with establishing a comprehensive child welfare services program.

(5)Existing law, as part of the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, under the direction of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, in the California Department of Aging. Existing law provides for the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program under which funds are allocated to local ombudsman programs to assist elderly persons in long-term health care facilities and residential care facilities by, among other things, investigating and seeking to resolve complaints against these facilities. Existing law requires the department to allocate federal and state funds for local ombudsman programs according to a specified distribution, but prohibits the department from allocating less than $35,000 per fiscal year, except in areas with fewer than 10 facilities and fewer than 500 beds.

This bill would increase the base allocation for local ombudsman programs to $100,000 per fiscal year, regardless of the number of facilities or beds.

Existing law requires each county welfare department to establish and support a system of protective services for elderly and dependent adults who may be subjected to neglect, abuse, or exploitation or who are unable to protect their own interests. Existing law requires the county to establish and maintain a specialized entity within the county welfare department that has the lead responsibility for the operation of the adult protective services program.

This bill, subject to an appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act, would establish the Home Safe Program, which would require the State Department of Social Services to award grants to counties, tribes, or groups of counties or tribes, that provide services to elder and dependent adults who experience abuse, neglect, and exploitation and otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for adult protective services, for the purpose of providing prescribed housing-related supports to eligible individuals. The bill would require the department to develop criteria and procedures to award the grants, as specified, and would require the department to enter into a contract with an independent evaluation and research agency to evaluate the impacts of the program.

(6)Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans.

Existing law establishes the county-administered In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program to aged, blind, or disabled persons, as defined, who are unable to perform the services themselves and who cannot safely remain in their homes or abodes of their own choosing unless these services are provided. Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors to contract with a nonprofit consortium or to establish a public authority to provide in-home supportive services, and provides that the public authority or nonprofit consortium shall be deemed to be the employer of in-home supportive services personnel for the purposes of collective bargaining over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Under the Medi-Cal program, services provided under the IHSS program are provided as a Medi-Cal benefit under the IHSS Plus option, and similar services, known as personal care services and home- and community-based attendant services and supports, are provided to eligible individuals. The Medi-Cal program also defines waiver personal care services to mean personal care services authorized by the State Department of Health Care Services for persons who are eligible for either nursing or model nursing facility waiver services.

This bill would provide that the county, or the public authority or nonprofit consortium established to provide in-home supportive services, shall be deemed the employer to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment of individuals providing waiver personal care services. The bill would, for purposes of these provisions, of bargaining unit placement, and of waiver personal care services, require individuals providing waiver personal care services to be deemed a part of the established bargaining unit of in-home supportive service providers of an employer of record in the county in which the individual delivers waiver personal care services. The bill would provide that these provisions shall be implemented only to the extent that any necessary federal approvals are obtained and federal financial participation is available and not otherwise jeopardized. The bill would also make conforming changes.

The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make public records available for inspection by the public, subject to specified criteria and with specified exceptions. The act exempts from public inspection specified information regarding persons paid by the state to provide in-home supportive services or personal care services.

This bill would additionally exempt from public inspection specified information regarding persons paid by the state to provide in-home supportive services under the IHSS Plus option, home- and community-based attendant services and supports, and waiver personal care services.

Existing law entitles a provider of in-home supportive services who, on and after July 1, 2018, works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment to paid sick days, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with stakeholders, to convene a workgroup to implement paid sick leave for in-home supportive services providers, as specified, and requires the work group to finish its implementation work by November 1, 2017.

This bill, no later than February 1, 2019, would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the Department of Finance and stakeholders, to reconvene the paid sick leave workgroup for in-home supportive services. The bill would require the workgroup to discuss how paid sick leave affects the provision of in-home supportive services and to consider the potential need for a process to cover an in-home supportive services recipients authorized hours when a provider should need to utilize his or her sick time. The bill would require the workgroup to finish its work by November 1, 2019.

(7)Existing law provides for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSP), which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act.

Under existing law, benefit payments under SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient, with an annual cost-of-living adjustment, effective January 1 of each year. Existing law prohibits, for each calendar year, commencing with the 2011 calendar year, any cost-of-living adjustment from being made to the maximum benefit payment unless otherwise specified by statute, except for the pass along of any cost-of-living increase in the federal SSI benefits. Existing law continuously appropriates funds for the implementation of SSP.

This bill would provide for an annual cost-of-living adjustment to the SSP benefit payment commencing July 1, 2022, which shall be 0%, unless otherwise specified in the annual Budget Act.

(8)Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds.

This bill would, on and after January 1, 2019, establish the CalWORKs Home Visiting Initiative as a voluntary program for the purpose of supporting positive health, development, and well-being outcomes for eligible pregnant and parenting women, families, and infants born into poverty, expanding their future educational, economic, and financial capability opportunities, and improving the likelihood that they will exit poverty. The bill would include case management and evidence-based home visiting, as defined, as a primary component of the program, and would require home visiting to be offered to an individual who meets certain criteria, as specified, and to include, but not be limited to, specified resources and referrals relating to prenatal, infant, and toddler care, among other things. The bill would make participation in the program optional for counties and would require a county that applies for funds under the program to agree to the terms of the program and to include specified information in its application. The bill would, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, require the State Department of Social Services to award funds to participating counties for the purposes of the program. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer the program through all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted.

Existing law establishes the maximum aid payment amounts to be provided to each family receiving aid under CalWORKs, and increases the maximum aid payments by 1.43% effective October 1, 2016. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program, and requires a county share of cost to be subtracted from that General Fund appropriation.

This bill would, effective April 1, 2019, increase the maximum aid payment amounts by an additional 10%. The bill would, commencing in the 201920 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, if an incremental adjustment is made to the maximum aid payments, require the counties share of that adjustment to be based upon the total incremental adjustment or the increase in the California Necessities Index, as specified, for the fiscal year in which the adjustment becomes effective, whichever is lower.

Existing law provides an annual cost-of-living adjustment to the maximum aid payment, but suspends the adjustment for certain periods, including for the 201011 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter.

This bill would provide for an annual cost-of-living adjustment to the maximum aid payment commencing July 1, 2022, which shall be 0%, unless otherwise specified in the annual Budget Act.

Existing law makes a homeless family that has used all available liquid resources in excess of $100 eligible for homeless assistance benefits to pay the costs of temporary shelter if the family is eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program. Under existing law, the nonrecurring special needs benefit to pay for temporary shelter for a family of up to 4 is $65 per day. Existing law provides up to $15 per day for the 5th and additional members of the family, up to a daily maximum of $125.

This bill would, on and after January 1, 2019, increase the nonrecurring special needs benefit to pay for temporary shelter for a family of up to 4 to $85 a day, and would provide that the daily maximum amount for the payment of additional family members is $145. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to adopt emergency regulations to implement these provisions by January 1, 2021, as specified, and would authorize the department to implement those provisions by all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted. To the extent that this bill may increase the administrative duties of counties, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility, but permits a student who is enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate program that leads to employment to continue in that program under specified conditions. If a recipients participation in educational or vocational training, as determined by the number of hours required for classroom, laboratory, or internship activities, is not at least 30 hours, or 20 hours, as specified, existing law provides that county shall require the recipient to participate concurrently in work activities, as specified.

This bill would include hours required for study time provided for by an educational or training institution when determining the minimum number of hours of participation in educational or vocational training necessary for a recipient to be exempt from concurrent work activities. To the extent that the bill would increase the number of individuals who maintain their eligibility for the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Because moneys from the General Fund are continuously appropriated to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program, the bill would make an appropriation.

(9)Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing financial and food assistance benefits, including CalFresh benefits.

This bill would establish the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project, which would require the department, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture and stakeholders with experience operating CalFresh nutrition incentive programs, to include within the EBT system a supplemental benefits mechanism that allows an authorized retailer, as defined, to deliver and redeem supplemental benefits, as specified.

The bill would create in the State Treasury the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Grant Fund, as specified. The bill would, upon the deposit of sufficient moneys into the fund, as determined by the department, and upon the appropriation of moneys from the fund by the Legislature for this purpose, also require the department to provide a minimum of 3 grants to nonprofit organizations or government agencies for pilot projects to implement and test the supplemental benefits mechanism in existing retail settings, and to develop and adopt guidelines for awarding the grants. The bill would require the department to evaluate the pilot projects and make recommendations to further refine and expand the supplemental benefits mechanism, and to submit a report to the Legislature with the outcomes of that evaluation when the department has sufficient data to evaluate the pilot, but no later than January 1, 2022. The bill would exempt contracts under the pilot project from specified public contracting requirements and would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions without taking any regulatory action. The bill would require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals to establish this pilot project, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2024.

Existing law requires that the eligibility of households for CalFresh benefits be determined to the extent permitted by federal law, and requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a program of categorical eligibility for CalFresh in accordance with federal law. Existing law requires SSP payments to be reduced for individuals and couples, as specified, for purposes of CalFresh eligibility, if permitted by federal law.

This bill would repeal SSP payment reductions for purposes of CalFresh eligibility, and would grant CalFresh eligibility, as specified, to recipients of SSI, SSP, or both as of June 1, 2019, or an alternate implementation date determined by the department that is no later than August 1, 2019. The bill would require a county welfare department to determine continuing eligibility and benefits for households, as specified. By imposing requirements on counties relative to CalFresh, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would establish the SSI/SSP Cash-In Supplemental Nutrition Benefit (SNB) Program to provide nutrition benefits to a CalFresh household that had its benefits reduced when a previously excluded SSI or SSP recipient was added to the household under the new eligibility provisions. The bill would also establish the SSI/SSP Cash-In Transitional Nutrition Benefit (TNB) Program to provide nutrition benefits to a CalFresh household that became ineligible when a previously excluded SSI or SSP recipient was added to the household under the new eligibility provisions. The bill would provide that the SNB and TNB program benefits would be granted only to the extent funding is appropriated in the annual Budget Act. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions, as specified.

(10)The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement specified provisions of the bill through all-county letters or similar instructions and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations implementing these provisions no later than January 1, 2020.

(11)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(12)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(13)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2018.

Version:

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:SECTION 1.Chapter 4.6 (commencing with Section 116765) is added to Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:4.6.Safe and Affordable Drinking Water1.Legislative Findings and Declarations116765.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)Section 106.3 of the Water Code declares that it is the policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.

(b)For all public water systems, the operation and maintenance costs to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards on a routine and consistent basis may be significant.

(c)All community water systems are currently required to set, establish, and charge a schedule of rates and fees that are sufficient to recover the operation and maintenance costs required to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards on a routine and consistent basis.

(d)Hundreds of community water systems in the state cannot charge rates and fees that are affordable and sufficient to recover the full operation and maintenance costs required to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards on a routine and consistent basis due to a combination of low income levels of customers, high treatment costs for contaminated water sources, and a lack of economies of scale that result in high unit costs for water service. Many schools that serve as their own regulated public water systems and have contaminated water sources cannot afford the full operation and maintenance costs required to provide water that meets federal and state drinking water standards.

(e)Nearly all state or federal drinking water project funding sources prohibit the use of that funding for operation and maintenance costs, and as a result, those systems that cannot afford required operation and maintenance costs are unable to access funding for capital projects to meet federal and state drinking water standards.

(f)As a result, hundreds of thousands of Californians, particularly those living in small disadvantaged communities, may be exposed to unsafe drinking water in their homes and schools, which impacts human health, household costs, and community economic development.

(g)A significant number of California residents rely on state small water systems and domestic wells to provide their drinking water.

(h)The state small water systems and individual domestic wells face a serious threat of contamination because they often draw their water from shallow groundwater sources and have fewer or no chemical monitoring requirements.

(i)To ensure that the right of every Californian to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes is protected, it is in the interest of the State of California to identify where Californians are at high risk of lacking reliable access to safe drinking water or are known to lack reliable access to safe drinking water, whether they rely on a public water system, state small water system, or domestic well for their potable water supply.

(j)Long-term sustainability of drinking water infrastructure and service provision is necessary to secure safe drinking water for all Californians and therefore it is in the interest of the state to discourage the proliferation of new, unsustainable public water systems and state small water systems, to prevent waste, and to encourage consolidation and service extension when feasible.

(k)To begin addressing the challenges set forth in this section, it is in the interest of all Californians to establish a fund that can provide financial support, particularly for operation and maintenance, to enhance access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also advancing the long term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.

(l)The problems with failing water systems can be solved provided there is adequate funding. The board currently has authority to require failing water systems to consolidate or connect with larger water systems, authority to appoint an administrator to take over and fix a failing system, and some funding for capital improvements. The University of California, Davis, recently reported that 44 percent of disadvantaged communities without safe drinking water in the Central San Joaquin Valley are within 500 feet of a water system that has safe drinking water and 66 percent are within one mile.

(m)The Legislature intends for this program to be administered in a manner that is consistent with the following principles:

(1)The board should prioritize other available sources of funding before using the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.

(2)Failing water systems should be consolidated whenever appropriate. The board should prioritize these consolidations using its existing authority to consolidate failing water systems.

(3)All communities should receive safe and affordable drinking water and, to the greatest degree practicable, communities should be financially self-sustaining as soon as practicable.

(4)The board should post regular progress reports on its Internet Web site, including an accounting of the funds committed.

(5)This chapter does not expand any obligation of the state to provide water or to require the expenditure of additional resources beyond the amount of revenue collected in the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund pursuant to this chapter.

2.Definitions116766.

For the purposes of this chapter:

(a)Administrator has the same meaning as defined in Section 116686.

(b)Board means the State Water Resources Control Board.

(c)Community water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(d)Customer means a purchaser of water from a community water system who uses the water for municipal purposes, including residential, commercial, governmental, and industrial uses, including the United States to the extent authorized by federal law.

(e)Disadvantaged community has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(f)Domestic well means a groundwater well used to supply water for the domestic needs of an individual residence or water systems that are not public water systems and that have no more than four service connections.

(g)Eligible applicant means a public water system, including, but not limited to, a mutual water company; a public utility; a public agency, including, but not limited to, a local educational agency that owns or operates a public water system; a nonprofit organization; a federally recognized Indian tribe; a state Indian tribe listed on the Native American Heritage Commissions California Tribal Consultation List; an administrator; or a groundwater sustainability agency.

(h)Fund means the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund established pursuant to Section 116767.

(i)Fund implementation plan means the fund implementation plan adopted pursuant to Section 116769.

(j)Groundwater sustainability agency has the same meaning as defined in Section 10721 of the Water Code.

(k)Low-income household means a household with an income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide median household income.

(l)Nontransient noncommunity water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.(m)

(l)Public water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(n)

(m)Replacement water includes, but is not limited to, bottled water, vended water, point-of-use, or point-of-entry treatment units.

(o)

(n)Safe drinking water has the same meaning as defined in Section 116681.

(p)

(o)Service connection has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(q)

(p)Small community water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(r)

(q)State small water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(s)

(r)Vended water has the same meaning as defined in Section 111070.

3.Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund116767.

The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the board without regard to fiscal years, in accordance with this chapter. Moneys in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not revert to the General Fund. Moneys in the fund shall not be available for appropriation or borrowed for use for any purpose not established in this chapter chapter, with the exception of the administrative cost reimbursement related to the collection of the Safe Drinking Water Fee for Nondairy Confined Animal Facilities, as established in Article 10.5 (commencing with Section 595) of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code, the Fertilizer Safe Drinking Water Fee, as established in Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 14615) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Food and Agricultural Code, and the Dairy Safe Drinking Water Fee, as established in Article 14.5 (commencing with Section 62215) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 21 of the Food and Agricultural Code, unless that use of the moneys receives an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the membership in each house of the Legislature.

116768.

(a)The board shall administer the fund for the purposes of this chapter to provide a source of funding to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. The board shall prioritize the use of this funding to assist disadvantaged communities served by a public water system and low-income households served by a state small water system or a domestic well. The board shall consider and prioritize, where appropriate, the use of funding for consolidation or extension of service or both. In order to maximize the use of other funding sources for capital construction projects when available, the board shall prioritize use of this funding for costs other than those related to capital construction costs, except for capital construction costs associated with consolidation and service extension to reduce the ongoing unit cost of service and to increase sustainability of drinking water infrastructure and service delivery. Beginning January 1, 2020, an expenditure from the fund shall be consistent with the annual fund implementation plan. Where sources of funding other than the fund are available and identified pursuant to Section 116769 for expenditure by the board, the board shall prioritize the use of those funding sources over the fund in accordance with the annual fund implementation plan.

(b)In accordance with subdivision (a), subject to the availability of funds, the board shall expend moneys in the fund for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist eligible applicants with any of the following:

(1)The provision of replacement water, as needed, to ensure immediate protection of health and safety as a short-term solution.

(2)The development, implementation, and sustainability of long-term drinking water solutions, including, but not limited to, the following:

(A)Technical assistance, planning, construction, repair, and operation and maintenance costs associated with replacing, blending, or treating contaminated drinking water or with fixing failing water systems. Technical assistance and planning costs may include, but are not limited to, analyses to identify, and efforts to further, opportunities to reduce the unit cost of providing drinking water through organizational and operational efficiency improvements, system consolidation and service extension, implementation of new technology, and other options and approaches to reduce costs.

(B)Creating and maintaining natural means and green infrastructure solutions that contribute to sustainable drinking water.

(C)Consolidating water systems.

(D)Extending drinking water services to other public water systems, domestic wells, or state small water systems.

(E)The satisfaction of outstanding long-term debt obligations of public water systems where the board determines that a systems lack of access to capital markets renders this solution the most cost-effective for removing a financial barrier to the systems sustainable, long-term provision of drinking water.

(3)Identifying and providing outreach to Californians who are eligible to receive assistance from the fund.

(4)Testing the drinking water quality of domestic wells serving low-income households, prioritizing those in high risk areas identified pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 116770).

(5)The provision of administrative and managerial services under Section 116686.

(c)Notwithstanding Section 11019 of the Government Code, the board may make advance payments as necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter.

(d)The board may expend moneys from the fund for reasonable costs associated with administration of this chapter. Beginning July 1, 2022, the board may expend no more than 5 percent of the annual revenues deposited into the fund for reasonable costs associated with administration of this section.

(e)The board may undertake any of the following actions to implement the fund:

(1)Provide for the deposit of both of the following moneys into the fund:

(A)Federal contributions.

(B)Voluntary contributions, gifts, grants, or bequests.

(2)Enter into agreements for contributions to the fund from the federal government, local or state agencies, and private corporations or nonprofit organizations.

(3)Provide for appropriate audit, accounting, and fiscal management services, plans, and reports relative to the fund.

(4)Direct portions of the fund to a subset of eligible applicants as required or appropriate based on funding source and consistent with the annual fund implementation plan.

(5)Direct moneys deposited into the fund described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) towards a specific project, program, or study.

(6)Take additional action as may be appropriate for adequate administration and operation of the fund.

(f)In administering the fund, the board shall make reasonable efforts to ensure both of the following:

(1)That funds are used to secure the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure, including, but not limited to, requiring adequate technical, managerial, and financial capacity of eligible applicants as part of funding agreement outcomes. Funding shall be prioritized to implement consolidations and service extensions when feasible, and administrative and managerial contracts or grants entered into pursuant to Section 116686 where applicable. Funds shall not be used to delay, prevent, or avoid the consolidation or extension of service to public water systems where it is feasible and the least-cost alternative. The board may set appropriate requirements as a condition of funding, including, but not limited to, a system technical, managerial, or financial capacity audit, improvements to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, an evaluation of alternative treatment technologies, and a consolidation or service extension feasibility study. As a condition of funding, the board may require a domestic well with nitrate contamination where ongoing septic system failure may be causing or contributing to contamination of a drinking water source to conduct an investigation and project to address the septic system failure if adequate funding sources are identified and accessible.

(2)That funds are not used to subsidize large-scale nonpotable use, to the extent feasible.

(g)In administering the fund, the board shall ensure that all moneys deposited into the fund from the safe drinking water fee for nondairy confined animal facilities, the fertilizer safe drinking water fee, or the dairy safe drinking water fee shall be used to address nitrate-related contamination issues.

(h)By January 1, 2025, the board shall conduct a public review and assessment of the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund and shall recommend to the Legislature a plan to address remaining needs. The plan shall address all of the following:

(1)The effectiveness of the fund in securing access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.

(2)How the fund has been expended.

(3)An assessment of the remaining needs.

(4)Existing and potential sources of funding for the remaining needs.

(5)Recommendations for other actions to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(i)By January 1, 2031, the board shall update the public review and assessment required by subdivision (h) and shall recommend to the Legislature a plan to address remaining needs after January 1, 2034.

(j)This chapter shall not be construed to limit either of the following:

(1)The boards authority to order the provision of administrative and managerial services pursuant to Section 116686 or any other authority that has been provided by the Legislature.

(2)The boards authority to order consolidations, whether physical or operational, pursuant to Section 116682 or any other authority that has been provided by the Legislature.

(k)Neither the board nor any employee of the board may be held liable for any act that is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The board or any authorized person shall not be deemed to have incurred or to be required to incur any obligation to provide additional funding or undertake additional action solely as a result of having undertaken an action pursuant to this chapter.

116769.

To ensure transparency and accountability the board shall do all of the following:

(a)By July 1 of each year, publish on its Internet Web site a report of expenditures from the fund and a summary of progress made with respect to the implementation of this chapter.

(b)By July 1 of each odd-numbered year:

(1)Adopt, after a public hearing, an assessment of funding need, based on available data, that includes all of the following:

(A)Identification of systems and populations potentially in need of assistance, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(i)A list of systems that consistently fail to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water. The list shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(I)Any public water system that consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

(II)Any community water system that serves a disadvantaged community that must charge fees that exceed the affordability threshold established by the board in order to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards.

(III)Any state small water system that consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

(ii)A list of programs that assist, or that will assist, households supplied by a domestic well that consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water. This list shall include the number and approximate location of households served by each program without identifying exact addresses or other personal information.

(iii)A list of public water systems and state small water systems that may be at risk of failing to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

(iv)An estimate of the number of households that are served by domestic wells or state small water systems in high risk areas identified pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 116770). The estimate shall identify approximate locations of households, without identifying exact addresses or other personal information, in order to identify potential target areas for outreach and assistance programs.

(B)An analysis of anticipated funding, per contaminant, needed for known projects, services, or programs by eligible applicants, consistent with the fund implementation plan, including any funding needed for existing long-term funding commitments from the fund. The board shall identify and consider other existing funding sources able to support any projects, services, or programs identified, including, but not limited to, local funding capacity, state or federal funding sources for capital projects, funding from responsible parties, and specialized funding sources contributing to the fund.

(C)An estimate of the funding needed for the next two fiscal years based on the amount available in the fund, anticipated funding needs, other existing funding sources, and other relevant data and information.

(2)(A)Adopt, after a public hearing, a fund implementation plan and policy handbook with priorities and guidelines for expenditures of the fund.

(B)The board shall work with stakeholders that include representatives of entities paying into the fund, public water systems, technical assistance providers, local agencies, nongovernmental organizations, residents served by community water systems in disadvantaged communities, state small water systems, and domestic wells, and the public, to establish priorities and guidelines for the fund implementation plan and policy handbook.

(C)The adoption of a fund implementation plan and policy handbook and the implementation of the fund pursuant to the policy handbook are not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(D)The fund implementation plan and policy handbook shall contain a funding strategy for addressing the public health impacts from failing domestic wells and state small water systems and their long-term sustainability.

116769.5.

(a)Beginning July 1, 2022, the board may expend no more than 3 percent of the annual revenues deposited into the fund for the reasonable costs of administering this article and Article 4 (commencing with Section 116770). 116770) and Article 5 (commencing with Section 116771).

(b)This article does not expand any obligation of the state to provide resources for the provisions of this article or to require the expenditure of additional resources beyond the amount of revenue collected in the fund.

4.Information on High Risk Areas116770.

(a)(1)By January 1, 2020, the board, in consultation with local health officers and other relevant stakeholders, shall use available data to make available a map of aquifers that are at high risk of containing contaminants and that exceed primary federal and state drinking water standards that are used or likely to be used as a source of drinking water for a state small water system or a domestic well. The board shall update the map at least annually based on any newly available data.

(2)The board shall make the map of high risk areas, as well as the data used to make the map, publicly accessible on its Internet Web site in a manner that does not identify exact addresses or other personal information and that complies with the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code). The board shall notify local health officers and county planning agencies of high risk areas within their jurisdictions.

(b)(1)By January 1, 2020, a local health officer or other relevant local agency shall provide to the board all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by certified laboratories for a state small water system or domestic well that was collected after January 1, 2014, and that is in the possession of the local health officer or other relevant local agency.

(2)By January 1, 2021, and by January 1 of each year thereafter, all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by a certified laboratory for a state small water system or domestic well that is submitted to a local health officer or other relevant local agency shall also be submitted directly to the board in electronic format.

(c)A map of high-risk areas developed pursuant to this article is not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

5.Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Voluntary Remittances116771.

(a)Beginning July 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, a community water system with 200 or more service connections shall provide an opportunity for each customer of a community water system to provide a voluntary remittance as part of a customers water bill to advance the purposes of the fund. This section applies only to a community water system with 200 or more service connections.

(b)A community water system shall recommend a voluntary remittance on each customers bill in the following specified amounts:

(1)For a customer with a water meter that is less than or equal to one inch in size, ninety-five cents ($0.95) one dollar ($1) per month.

(2)For a customer with a water meter that is greater than one inch and less than or equal to two inches in size, four dollars ($4) per month.

(3)For a customer with a water meter that is greater than two inches and less than or equal to four inches in size, six dollars ($6) per month.

(4)For a customer of a water meter that is greater than four inches in size, ten dollars ($10) per month.

(5)For a customer without a water meter, ninety-five cents ($0.95) one dollar ($1) per month.

(c)A bill community water system shall provide the opportunity for a customer to provide a voluntary remittance by either of the following methods:

(1)Each regular bill from a community water system shall name the voluntary remittance the voluntary remittance to provide safe drinking water to disadvantaged communities. The bill, in a visually accessible manner, using clear and unambiguous language, shall provide each customer the option of deducting the voluntary remittance from the bill if the customer elects not to pay the voluntary remittance, and shall include the opportunity in the bill to remit an alternative amount or nothing. A customer of a community water system may remit, for the purposes of this section, nothing, the amount recommended pursuant to subdivision (b), or an alternative amount.

(2)A community water system shall provide annually at least two written notices to each customer that notify the customer that the recommended voluntary remittance will be added to the customers bills for one year unless the customer elects to pay nothing or an alternative amount. The community water system shall send the first notice at least 30 days before the second notice, and it shall send the second notice at least 30 days before adding the voluntary remittance to a customer bill. The notices shall include instructions for the customer to notify the community water system that the customer elects not to pay the voluntary remittance or elects to pay an alternative amount.

(d)The board, in consultation with the Association of California Water Agencies, board shall develop and maintain a list of voluntary best practices associated with bill presentation, accounting, notifications, and collection of voluntary remittances. The board shall consult with the Association of California Water Agencies and other stakeholders. The best practices shall include, but are not limited to, the ability of a customer to obtain a refund subject to appropriate limitations, special consideration for low-income households, and the use of clear, readable, and unambiguous language in a visually accessible location on the bill.

(e)A community water system shall not sanction, take any enforcement or collection action against, impose any late charge or penalty against, or otherwise hold liable, a customer in any manner for exercising the option to deduct the voluntary remittance from the bill, paying an alternative amount, or for otherwise paying or not paying a voluntary remittance described by this section.

(f)(1)A community water system shall collect the voluntary remittance from each customer that chooses to provide it and may retain an amount, as approved by the board, as reimbursement for the reasonable costs incurred by the community water system associated with the collection of the fee. The community water system shall remit the remainder of the amount collected to the board.

(2)Until July 1, 2021, the amount retained by a community water system pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not exceed 4 percent of the amount collected, and, beginning July 1, 2021, the amount retained pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not exceed 2 percent of the amount collected.

(3)For a small community water system, reasonable community water system administrative cost reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) or 4 percent of the total revenue collected, whichever is more.

(f)

(g)At least two times per year, a community water system shall transfer to the board for deposit into the fund all voluntary remittances received from its customers pursuant to this section since the last transfer.

SEC. 2.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

SEC. 3.

This act shall become operative only if Senate Bill 844 of the 201718 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2019.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(g)A significant number of California residents rely on state small water systems and domestic wells to provide their drinking water.

(l)The problems with failing water systems can be solved provided there is adequate funding. The board currently has authority to require failing water systems to consolidate or connect with larger water systems, authority to appoint an administrator to take over and fix a failing system, and some funding for capital improvements. The University of California, Davis, recently reported that 44 percent of disadvantaged communities in the Central Valley are within 500 feet of a water system that has safe drinking water and 66 percent are within one mile.

(m)The Legislature intends for this program to be administered in a manner that is consistent with the following principles:

(1)The board should prioritize other sources of funding before using the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.

(2)Failing water systems should be consolidated whenever appropriate. The board should prioritize these consolidations using its existing authority to consolidate failing water systems.

(3)All communities should receive safe and affordable drinking water and, to the greatest degree practicable, communities should be financially self-sustaining as soon as practicable.

(4)The board should post regular progress reports on its Internet Web site, including an accounting of the funds committed.

2.Definitions116766.

For the purposes of this chapter:

(a)Administrator has the same meaning as defined in Section 116686.

(b)Board means the State Water Resources Control Board.

(c)Community water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(e)Disadvantaged community has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(h)Fund means the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund established pursuant to Section 116767.

(i)Fund implementation plan means the fund implementation plan adopted pursuant to Section 116769.

(j)Groundwater sustainability agency has the same meaning as defined in Section 10721 of the Water Code.

(k)Low-income household means a household with an income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide median household income.

(l)Nontransient noncommunity water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(m)Public water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(n)Replacement water includes, but is not limited to, bottled water, vended water, point-of-use, or point-of-entry treatment units.

(o)Safe drinking water has the same meaning as defined in Section 116681.

(p)Service connection has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(q)Small community water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(r)State small water system has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.

(s)Vended water has the same meaning as defined in Section 111070.