Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations

As we move forward, we encourage the public to provide written testimony before the hearing by visiting the Committee website at APRO.Assembly.CA.Gov. Please note that any written testimony submitted to the Committee is considered public comment and may be read into the record or reprinted. And we now have the hearing room open for attendance. All are encouraged to watch the hearing from its stream on the Assembly website at Assembly CA gov today's events, we encourage the public to monitor the Committee's website for updates.

And just as a note, we will maintain decorum during the hearing as customary, and any individual who is disrupted may be removed from the room. We are short of a quorum at this point, so we will call on the Members of the Committee to make their way to the hearing room. But while we wait for that quorum to come, we'll have Senator Limon will work as a Subcommittee at this point and we'll hear SB 639 that enjoys a do pass.

Thank you. Thank you, Chairman, Members. SB 639 would merge the California Alzheimer's Disease Center and the Dementia Care Aware program into a single coordinated effort renamed the California Alzheimer's Diagnosis Hubs. According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 6.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia affecting cognitive and social behavior.

CADCs are a network of sites at University medical schools overseen by the California Department of Public Health, that provide services ranging from specialized training for healthcare professions to piloting federally funded clinical trials. Dementia care is an integral aspect of the Department of Aging's Master plan, which is overseen by the Department of Healthcare Services to provide statewide standards of care for dementia screening for primary care providers across all healthcare coverage options.

After engagement with DHCS, CDPH, CDA, CADCs, and the DCA team, this Bill has been strengthened to ensure that the Californias receive an accurate and timely diagnosis for dementia and related conditions through diagnostic screenings and culturally relevant physician training offered at the California Alzheimer's Diagnostic Hubs. Today I have Jared Giarrusso-Cloak from the Government Affairs Director at the Alzheimer's Association to provide testimony and technical assistance for SB 639.

It's okay. Good morning, Committee chair and Members. Again. My name is Jared Giarrusso-Cloak. I'm the government affairs Director for the Alzheimer's Association. We are the sponsors of SB 639. As the Senator mentioned, this Bill is designed to help our state's elders access a timely and accurate diagnosis of dementia by focusing our two state programs designed around diagnostics and cognitive screenings into a true collaborative effort that represents a modest but true step forward towards a statewide regional Alzheimer's diagnostic hub and Spoke System.

Given that these two programs are administered by DHCS, CDPH and CDA, we were patient in waiting for technical amendments from the departments that help accomplish our goals as these amendments came in. While the Bill was on the Assembly floor.

The most recently accepted amendments were requested by Department of Public Health to ensure clarity of implementation by shifting the approvals for the Medi Cal components of dementia care wear from the Health and Safety Code into Welfare and Institutions code, as well as including similar language encouraging collaboration between the two programs. None of these amendments create new obligations in the Bill for the departments, centers or programs, but help to uplift existing resources and clarify implementation.

However, DHCS has provided fiscal impact for SB 639, which outlines approximately 5.27 million in fiscal impact for FY 24-25 and approximately 10.5 million each ongoing fiscal year. These costs go to funding the Dementia Care Aware program, which is staffed at UCSF after the HCBS dollars which currently Fund the program are exhausted at the end of 2024. Additionally, CDPH has provided a fiscal impact of 178,000 in new staffing costs.

To be clear, the major costs proposed by the departments regarding this Bill do not impact the State General Fund for FY 23-24, and only half of the DHCS costs would come from State General Fund Dollars as Dementia Care Aware is a medical program and would receive a federal match that represents half the cost. So State General Fund impact, based on the estimates that were provided to us, would be 2.9 million in FY 24 25 and approximately 5.4 million each fiscal year after.

We hope to continue our collaboration with the Administration on this important Bill and we request your support today. Thank you.

Thank you. Department of Finance?

Yes. Michelle Perrault with the Department of Finance. Finance currently has an oppose on this Bill. I won't reiterate since my colleague here already gave the costs, but Finance concurs with those costs estimates and we would argue that any type of funding under this Bill that impacts General funds should be done through the state budget process.

Okay, thank you for that. Is there anyone from the public that would like to address the Committee in support or opposition to the Bill? Okay, seeing none, we'll bring it back to the Committee. Are there any let's see if we have a quorum. Okay, we'll establish a quorum. Hold on here.

Dahle, Bryan. Lee Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Fong, Hart, Lowenthal, Mathis, Papan, Pellerin. Sanchez, Soria, Weber, Wilson.

Okay, it's been been moved by Hart, seconded by Fong. I see. No questions. Would you like to close? Okay, the Bill is out on an A roll call. We'll now move to dispense with the suspense or the consent calendar.

SB 842, Bradford.

Is there a motion? Weber?

Holden? Holden aye. Dahle? Dahle aye. Bryan? Lee? Wendy Carrillo? Dixon? Dixon aye. Fong? Fong aye. Hart? Hart aye. Lowenthal? Mathis? Mathis aye. Papan? Papan aye. Pellerin? Pellerin aye. Sanchez? Sanchez aye. Soria? Weber? Weber aye. Wilson.

Okay. Is there anyone--the measure passes--is there anyone in the public that would like to under public comment, speak on the consent calendar item? Seeing none, we'll allow for add-ons to consent.

Bryan? Lee? Wendy Carillo? Lowenthal? Soria? Soria aye. Wilson.

We'll keep the roll open for five minutes. The rest of the Committee, if you need to move on to other parts of the day, feel free.

Bryan? Lee is on the consent calendar. Mr. Lee aye. Lowenthal? Wilson?

Meeting is adjourned.