Legislative Analyst's Office, August 2000

California Spending Plan 2000-01 Chapter 3 Part 2

Expenditure Highlights

Health and Social Services

In this section, we describe the major features of the health and social services funding in the state spending plan. General Fund support for health and social services programs in 2000-01 totals $20.3 billion, an increase of 14 percent over the prior year. This growth in expenditures is the result of caseload increases, as well as program changes and higher cost of services, including Medi-Cal provider rate increases and In-Home Supportive Services wage and benefit increases. Figure 9 shows the changes in expenditures in the major welfare grant programs and the Medi-Cal Program.

Figure 10 (see page 30) describes the major General Fund policy changes (from prior law) enacted in the 2000-01 Budget Act and related legislation. The major budget health trailer bill was Chapter 93, Statutes of 2000 (AB 2877, Thomson) and the major social services trailer bill was Chapter 108, Statutes of 2000 (AB 2876, Aroner).

Medi-Cal Program

In California, the federal Medicaid Program is administered by the state as the California Medical Assistance (Medi-Cal) Program. This program provides health care services to welfare recipients and to other qualified low-income persons (primarily families with children and the aged, blind, or disabled). The Department of Health Services (DHS) administers the program.

The budget appropriates $8.7 billion from the General Fund for Medi-Cal benefits in 2000-01, an increase of $1.1 billion (15 percent) over estimated General Fund spending in 1999-00. Three factors primarily explain the large growth in spending. First, the General Fund cost of rate increases for Medi-Cal providers totals almost $500 million, accounting for a spending increase of 6.5 percent. Second, eligibility expansions and simplifications increase General Fund spending by $174 million (an increase of 2.3 percent). Third, the General Fund cost of Medi-Cal payments that support programs administered by the Departments of Developmental Services and Mental Health increases by $108 million, resulting in a Medi-Cal spending increase of 1.4 percent. The remaining spending increase of about $350 million (4.7 percent) primarily reflects increases in the cost and utilization of Medi-Cal health services, with prescription drugs and other pharmacy purchases accounting for roughly half of this increase.

The budget estimates that average monthly Medi-Cal caseload will increase by 258,000 (5 percent) in 2000-01--to almost 5.4 million. This caseload growth results from eligibility expansions and simplifications.

In addition to benefit costs, the budget also appropriates a total of $508 million (an increase of 7.6 percent) from the General Fund in 2000-01 for eligibility administration and outreach by the counties and claims payment by the state's fiscal intermediaries. The budget also includes $13.2 billion of federal Medicaid funds in 2000-01. This includes (1) funds that match state Medi-Cal funds in the DHS budget, (2) supplemental disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, and (3) funds that match state and local funds in other related programs that qualify for Medicaid financing.

We discuss the major Medi-Cal budget changes in more detail below.

• Provider Rate Increases ($496.2 Million). As passed by the Legislature, the budget included $522.1 million from the General Fund for a variety of provider rate increases. The Governor vetoed $25.9 million of this amount, so that the enacted budget provides $496.2 million for rate increases, as shown in Figure 11 (see page 32) and described below.
• Long-Term Care ($242.1 Million). Rate increases for nursing homes and other long-term care institutions include $161.4 million for a 10.1 percent annual rate adjustment based on cost audits and projections and $67 million for an additional 7.5 percent pay increase for both direct care and support staff. The budget also provides $10.7 million for a one-time supplemental payment to "distinct part" nursing facilities (those associated with hospitals), which will be allocated primarily to the facilities with the highest rates and largest number of Medi-Cal patient days. In addition, the budget includes $3 million to increase rates for intermediate care facilities (ICFs) for the developmentally disabled.
• Physicians ($134 Million). The budget includes $84.9 million for general rate increases for medical procedures performed by physicians. This amount is equivalent to an average increase of 15.6 percent. However, the funds will be allocated by DHS to increase rates for individual procedures by varying percentages in order to reduce disparities in the current rate structure. In addition, higher rate increases totaling $48 million are included for various physician services, including hospital emergency rooms, neonatal and perinatal services, and services to children with special health needs that qualify for the California Children's Services (CCS) Program.
• Managed Care Plans ($66.9 Million). This amount is equivalent to a 4.8 percent increase in Medi-Cal payments to managed care plans. Actual increases will be determined by annual rate calculations and contract negotiations. Medi-Cal managed care plans also will be allocated a proportionate share of the rate increases for individual providers, such as physicians.
• Other Medical Services ($28.7 Million). The budget funds a range of rate increases for home health care, services by various allied health professionals (such as psychologists and physical therapists), nonemergency medical transportation, Pap smears and mammograms, and various other services.
• Dental ($17.7 Million). This amount is equivalent to an average increase of 6.8 percent. Rate increases will be allocated by DHS to improve access to dental services and to increase rates for specialty dental services, which would bring specialty rates more into line with rates for regular and preventive dental services that were increased in the past as a result of a lawsuit.
• Hospitals ($7 Million). The budget includes $5 million for a 20 percent increase in rates for team evaluation visits provided by Special Care Centers. These centers are located primarily at children's hospitals and teaching hospitals and provide outpatient treatment, diagnostic, and evaluation services for CCS children. The budget also increases supplemental payments for outpatient services in rural and small hospitals by $2 million.

Elimination of Quarterly Reporting ($65.6 Million). Effective January 1, 2001, budget legislation eliminates the quarterly eligibility reporting requirement for Medi-Cal coverage of families and children. The existing requirement for an annual redetermination of eligibility will remain. The budget includes an augmentation of $65.6 million for an average monthly caseload increase of about 250,000 during the second half of 2000-01, as some individuals will stay longer on the program due to elimination of the quarterly eligibility reports.

Reduced State "Administrative Fee" for DSH Payments ($55 Million). The budget includes a General Fund increase of $55 million in the Medi-Cal Program to backfill for an equivalent reduction in the state administrative fee. The state deducts this fee from the intergovernmental transfers of funds that the state receives from public hospitals to finance DSH payments. Counties and the University of California will split the benefit of the reduction with private hospitals on a roughly equal basis.

Expanded No-Cost Medi-Cal for the Elderly, Blind, and Disabled ($23.5 Million). Effective January 1, 2001, budget legislation expands eligibility for no-cost Medi-Cal to elderly, blind, and disabled persons with incomes up to the equivalent of 133 percent of the federal poverty level (about $11,100 annually). Existing law generally limits no-cost Medi-Cal coverage to individuals and couples with incomes below 89 percent and 102 percent of poverty, respectively. The budget includes a General Fund increase of $23.5 million for this eligibility expansion, which will eliminate cost-sharing requirements for an estimated 53,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

Dental Preventive Care ($22.5 Million). The budget includes a General Fund augmentation of $22.5 million to allow up to two dental examinations and cleanings as a regular Medi-Cal benefit. Under existing policy, examinations have been available only at the time of an initial visit to a dentist, and cleanings have been limited to once a year without prior authorization.

Children's Hospitals ($12 Million). The budget includes a one-time augmentation of $12 million from the General Fund to fund special supplemental Medi-Cal payments to children's hospitals to upgrade their equipment.

Expansion of Antifraud Efforts ($76.4 Million Net Savings). The budget adds 182 positions at a General Fund cost of $6.2 million to the DHS to expand efforts to reduce fraudulent practices by Medi-Cal providers. The budget also includes $82.6 million of General Fund savings in Medi-Cal benefit costs relative to prior trends, which is attributable primarily to antifraud efforts. Consequently, the expanded antifraud efforts result in a net savings of $76.4 million.

Additional Staff for Nursing Home Inspection and Enforcement ($9.1 Million). The budget adds 179 positions to the Licensing and Certification Division of DHS (including Los Angeles County contract positions) to increase the frequency of inspections and make them less predictable and to provide more intensive and focused inspection and enforcement for problem nursing homes.

Nursing Home Quality Awards ($8 Million). Budget legislation establishes a Quality Awards Program for nursing homes, and the budget includes $8 million from the General Fund for awards in the form of bonuses for nursing home staff. Awards to fund innovative projects at nursing homes will be made using a portion of the penalties collected from nursing homes for violations of federal requirements.

Healthy Families Program

The Healthy Families Program implements the federal State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), enacted in 1997. Funding generally is on a 2-to-1 federal/state matching basis. Families pay a relatively low monthly premium and can choose from a selection of managed care plans for their children. Coverage is similar to that offered to state employees and includes dental and vision benefits. The program began enrolling children in July 1998.

Enrollment Ramp-Up. The 2000-01 General Fund budget for the Healthy Families Program totals $157.1 million--an increase of $72.6 million (86 percent) over the prior year. The budget assumes that 80 percent of all estimated eligible children will enroll in the Healthy Families Program by the end of 2000-01. In addition, budget trailer bill legislation extends, for one year, a state-only program to cover children who are legal immigrants who do not qualify for federal funding because they entered the U.S. after August 22, 1996.

Public Health Programs

The DHS administers a broad range of public health programs. Among these are (1) programs that complement and support the activities of local health agencies controlling environmental hazards, preventing and controlling disease, and providing health services to populations with special needs; and (2) state-operated programs, such as those that license health facilities and certain types of technical personnel.

Fund Shift for Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP) Program. The budget shifts CHDP's primary fund source from Proposition 99 funds to the General Fund, at a cost of $60.3 million to the General Fund.

State Funds Suspended for County Medical Services Program. Budget legislation suspends, for one additional year, the statutory General Fund appropriation of $20.2 million for the County Medical Services Program, which provides health care for low-income adults in small counties. Existing county reserves make the General Fund allocation unnecessary in the current year.

Clinics' Dental Equipment and Capital Outlay. As passed by the Legislature, the budget provided a one-time General Fund appropriation of $15 million to expand community-based dental clinics. The funds would be used to purchase dental equipment and renovate or expand dental facilities. The Governor vetoed this augmentation.

Cancer Treatment Programs. In 1999-00, the budget provided $5 million from the General Fund on a one-time basis for breast cancer treatment for uninsured, low-income women. The Legislature adopted the Governor's proposal to continue and expand this program in 2000-01, at a cost of $20 million to the General Fund. The budget also funds a new prostate cancer treatment program at a General Fund cost of $10 million.

Public Health Subvention. As passed by the Legislature, the budget included a General Fund augmentation of $9.5 million to fully fund the statutory allocation formula for local health jurisdictions' public health activities, such as communicable disease control and community and public health surveillance. The Governor vetoed this augmentation.

Mental Health

The Department of Mental Health directs and coordinates statewide efforts for the treatment of mental disabilities. The department's primary responsibilities are to (1) administer the Bronzan-McCorquodale and Lanterman-Petris-Short Acts, which provide for the delivery of mental health services through a state-county partnership and for involuntary treatment of the mentally disabled; (2) operate four state hospitals and the Acute Psychiatric Program at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville; and (3) administer community programs directed at specific populations.

Integrated Services for the Homeless. The budget includes $55.6 million ($20 million one-time) from the General Fund for the continuation and expansion of demonstration projects authorized by Chapter 617, Statutes of 1999 (AB 34, Steinberg). These projects target services to seriously mentally ill adults who are homeless, recently released from jail or prison, or at risk of homelessness or incarceration.

Supportive Housing. The budget includes $25.1 million from the General Fund to provide grants for the rehabilitation or development of supportive housing for low-income individuals with health needs. Supportive housing combines affordable housing with various health and income support services.

Children's System of Care Program. The budget includes $15.5 million from the General Fund to fully fund the Children's System of Care Program in all 58 counties. The program funds a coordinated system of services through interagency collaboration.

Minor Capital Outlay. The budget includes $12.3 million from the General Fund for special repair/deferred maintenance projects ($6.7 million) and for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance projects ($5.6 million) in the four state hospitals.

New Programs. The budget includes $8 million from the General Fund for new community-based services: $6 million to provide grants to counties for the development of crisis intervention and stabilization treatment programs for adults and children, and $2 million to support a three-year pilot program providing substance abuse and mental health treatment services for underserved populations.

Developmental Services

The Department of Developmental Services contracts with 21 nonprofit regional centers to coordinate educational, vocational, and residential services for developmentally disabled clients. The department also operates five state developmental centers that house developmentally disabled clients who require residential care.

Rate Increases. The budget includes $60.7 million from the General Fund for various rate increases for community-based developmental services. These include community care facilities (3 percent), shift nursing (10 percent), "look-alike" day programs (10 percent), and supported living services and day and respite programs (10 percent for salaries and wages and 5 percent for administrative costs).

Minor Capital Outlay. The budget includes $27.1 million from the General Fund for minor capital outlay projects at the five developmental centers, including projects to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Alcohol and Drug Programs

The Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs directs and coordinates the state's efforts to prevent or minimize the effects of alcohol and drug abuse. Services include prevention, early intervention, detoxification, and recovery.

Substance Abuse Treatment. The budget includes $7.7 million from the General Fund to expand adult treatment services and $5.7 million from the General Fund to expand youth treatment.

Drug Courts. The budget includes $10 million from the General Fund to fund the Comprehensive Drug Court Implementation Act, which will provide funding to counties for drug courts that serve adults, juveniles, and parents of children who are dependents of, or detained by, the courts.

California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs)

In response to federal welfare reform legislation, the Legislature created the CalWORKs program in 1997. This program, which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, provides cash grants and welfare-to-work services to families with children whose incomes are not adequate to meet their basic needs. The budget plan provides $2.1 billion from the General Fund for the CalWORKs program in 2000-01, which is an increase of 2.9 percent over 1999-00.

CalWORKs Grants. The budget includes $87 million (combined General Fund and federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF] block grant funds) to provide a 2.96 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) pursuant to current law. Effective October 1, 2000, the maximum grant for a family of three in high-cost counties will increase by $19 to a total of $645 per month and the corresponding grant in low-cost counties will increase by $18 to a total of $614 (see Figure 12).

Figure 12
CalWORKs and SSI/SSP Maximum Monthly Grants
Program	1999-00	2000-01	Change
			Amount	Percent
CalWORKsa
Low-cost counties	$596	$614b	$18	3.0%
High-cost counties	626	645b	19	3.0
SSI/SSP
Individuals	$692	$712c	$20	2.9%
Couples	1,229	1,265c	36	2.9
a Family of three.
b Effective October 1, 2000.
c Effective January 1, 2001.

County Performance Incentives. The budget makes the following changes in county incentive payments, resulting in savings of $1.1 billion (combined federal TANF funds and General Fund). (In the context of the CalWORKs budget, these savings are almost entirely General Fund because available federal funds from the TANF reserve total only $91 million.) Specifically, the budget:

• Requires counties to forego 25 percent of incentives previously earned in order to be eligible for future incentive payments (savings of $411 million). A remaining unpaid obligation of $320 million will be paid to counties over two years, beginning with $250 million in 2000-01.
• Prohibits counties from earning incentives during the budget year (savings of $693 million).

The budget legislation allows counties to expend up to 25 percent of their incentive funds on services for working poor families whose incomes exceed the eligibility limit for CalWORKs. In addition, beginning in 2001-02, the incentive payment formula is modified to reduce the amount of payments counties can earn from savings attributable to recipients' earnings. Finally, future incentive payments will be capped by annual budget act appropriations.

Welfare-to-Work Matching Funds. The federal government provides funds to the states to serve hard-to-employ persons under the Welfare-to-Work block grant program. For every $2 in federal Welfare-to-Work funds expended, California must expend $1 in matching funds. Based on an assumption that $20 million of the $190 million in federal funds will not be expended by the end of 2000-01, the budget reduces the appropriation of state matching funds by $10 million.

Food Stamps Program

The Food Stamps program provides food stamps to low-income persons. The cost of the food stamps coupons (about $1.6 billion) is borne entirely by the federal government, with the exception of the state-only program for noncitizens that is discussed below.

Continuation of State-Only Program for Recent Legal Noncitizens. With respect to noncitizens, current federal law generally limits food stamps benefits to legal noncitizens who immigrated to the U.S. prior to August 1996 and are under age 18 or over age 64. The California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) provides state-only food stamps benefits to pre-August 1996 immigrants who are ineligible for federal benefits. In addition, state law provided that federally ineligible post-August 1996 immigrants could receive CFAP benefits through September 2000. The budget legislation postponed the sunset on benefits for post-August 1996 immigrants for one year. Postponing this sunset results in a General Fund cost of $3.7 million in 2000-01.

Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Program (SSI/SSP)

The SSI/SSP is a state and federally funded program that provides grants to low-income aged, blind, and disabled persons. The budget appropriates $2.6 billion from the General Fund for the program in 2000-01, which is an increase of 5.4 percent over 1999-00. This spending increase is largely attributable to higher grants, effective January 2001, and caseload growth.

Grant Payments. Pursuant to prior and current law, the budget provides for the statutory COLA (2.96 percent) for SSI/SSP grants, at a General Fund cost of $43 million in 2000-01. Effective January 1, 2001, the maximum grant for aged and disabled individuals will increase by $20 to a total of $712 per month, and the grant for couples will increase by $36 to $1,265 per month (see Figure 12).

In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)

The IHSS program provides various services to eligible aged, blind, and disabled persons who are unable to remain safely in their own homes without such assistance.

Public Authorities. Counties are permitted to establish Public Authorities to negotiate wage increases on behalf of IHSS providers. The budget includes $56.4 million from the General Fund for the state's share of cost for an hourly wage of $7.50 ($1.75 above the minimum wage) for Public Authority workers. The budget also includes $34.2 million from the General Fund for the state's share of cost, up to 60 cents per hour, for health benefits for these workers.

Nonpublic Authorities. Under prior law, workers not associated with a Public Authority (independent providers) received the minimum wage. The budget includes $3.8 million from the General Fund effective January 2001 for a 3 percent wage increase for these workers. This will bring the hourly wage to $5.92.

Child Welfare Services (CWS) and Foster Care

The CWS program provides services to abused and neglected children, including immediate social worker response to allegations of child abuse and neglect and ongoing services to children and their families who have been identified as victims, or potential victims, of abuse and neglect. The Foster Care program provides grants to pay for the care of children placed in foster family homes or group homes.

Workload Relief. As passed by the Legislature, the budget included $39.7 million from the General Fund for workload relief in the CWS program, generally to fund additional social workers. The Governor vetoed $5.7 million of the amount.

Adoptions Backlog Reduction. The budget includes one-time funding of $12.7 million from the General Fund to county adoption agencies to reduce the current backlog of foster care children awaiting adoptive placement.

Foster Care Rate Increases. The budget includes $24.7 million from the General Fund for the statutory COLA for foster family homes, foster family agencies, and group homes. This amount also reflects related increases in the Kinship Guardianship Assistance and the Adoption Assistance programs. In addition, the budget includes $5.5 million from the General Fund for a wage pass-through of 10 percent for foster family agency and group home social workers.

Child Support Enforcement

Legislative reforms enacted in 1999--Chapter 478 (AB 196, Kuehl) and Chapter 480 (SB 542, Burton and Schiff)--overhauled the organization, administration, and funding of the child support program. Pursuant to this legislation, the 2000-01 budget transfers the funding of the child support program from the Department of Social Services to the newly formed Department of Child Support Services. The budget includes $370 million from the General Fund, of which $340 million is for local assistance to county child support departments. The local assistance amount represents an increase of $33 million from the General Fund (about 11 percent over 1999-00). These costs are generally offset by projected savings from increased child support collections.

Aging Programs

The Department of Aging administers various programs providing services to the elderly and functionally disabled adults.

Long-Term Care Innovation Grants. The budget includes $15 million from the General Fund to provide grants to community-based organizations to expand alternatives to nursing homes and address the unmet needs of special populations.

Community-Based Programs. The budget includes $18 million from the General Fund to expand community-based programs, including the Multipurpose Senior Services Program, Adult Day Health Care, and Linkages.

Judiciary and Criminal Justice

The 2000-01 budget for judicial and criminal justice programs totals $7.8 billion, including $7.2 billion from the General Fund and $648 million from various special funds. This is an increase of $776 million, or 11 percent, over 1999-00 expenditures. The increase results primarily from (1) new and expanded programs to assist local law enforcement agencies and (2) additional costs associated with the state's increased financial responsibility for support of trial courts.

The amount is $131 million, or about 2 percent, above the Governor's proposed budget. This figure represents the net effect of several augmentations, reductions, and modifications made to the Governor's budget by the Legislature. The most significant of these changes was an augmentation of $121 million for counties to use for juvenile crime and delinquency prevention programs. The Governor subsequently vetoed the $121 million augmentation as well as several other augmentations, resulting in total funding for judiciary and criminal justice programs that is very close to the total proposed by the Governor. (At the time this report was prepared, however, AB 1913 [Cardenas], which would restore the $121 million that the Governor vetoed, had been approved by the Legislature and was awaiting action by the Governor.)

Trial Court Funding

The budget includes $2.1 billion for support of trial courts. This amount includes $1.1 billion from the General Fund, $459 million transferred from counties to the state, and $424 million in fine, penalty, and court fee revenues. The General Fund amount is $177 million, or 18 percent, greater than the current-year amount.

The increase includes a number of new one-time expenditures, such as $77.4 million for trial court information technology projects, and ongoing workload-related costs, such as $57.5 million to fully fund local trial court salary increases granted in 1999-00 and expected in 2000-01.

The budget also includes additional money to increase fees paid to jurors. In January, the Governor proposed $12.7 million to increase fees paid to jurors from the current $5 per day to $12 per day. The Legislature ultimately appropriated $19.1 million to increase fees to $15 per day. Authorization for the higher fees is included in Chapter 127, Statutes of 2000, a budget trailer bill (AB 2866, Migden).

The budget also includes $11.6 million to provide an 8.5 percent increase in the base salaries for trial court judges and appellate court justices. This increase would be in addition to cost-of-living increases previously authorized for judges--2.5 percent effective June 30, 1999, 4 percent effective July 1, 1999, and 4 percent effective September 1, 2000. The salary increases were authorized in Chapter 196, Statutes of 2000, a budget trailer bill (AB 2884, Kuehl).

Department of Corrections

The budget proposes a total of $4.3 billion from the General Fund for support of the California Department of Corrections (CDC). This represents an increase of $140 million, or 3.4 percent, above the 1999-00 level. The primary reasons for the increase are increases in employee compensation and expansion of parole, substance abuse treatment, and medical services programs.

Although the budget provides full funding for the projected inmate and parole caseloads in the budget year, the amount is actually a net reduction of $41 million from estimated current-year expenditures, due to projected declines in the number of inmates. Specifically, the budget assumes that the inmate population will be about 160,100 at the end of the budget year, a decrease of 1,100 inmates from the end of 1999-00. The projected budget-year population is about 6,500 inmates fewer than was initially assumed in the Governor's January budget. The parole population is projected to reach about 120,300 parolees at the end of the budget year, an increase of 1,100 parolees from the end of 1999-00.

The budget approved by the Legislature included $26.9 million to provide additional supervision and services, such as substance abuse and mental health treatment, for inmates and parolees. This amount is $14 million higher than initially proposed by the Governor. The Governor, however, reduced the augmentation by $8 million.

Federal Funds for Incarceration and Supervision of Undocumented Felons. The budget also assumes that the state will receive a total of $178 million in federal funds to offset the state's costs of supervising undocumented felons in CDC and the Department of the Youth Authority. This is the same amount assumed in 1999-00. These federal funds are counted as offsets to state expenditures and are not shown in the budgets of the CDC and the Youth Authority, or in the budget bill.

Department of the Youth Authority

The budget provides $331 million from the General Fund for support of the Youth Authority. The department's budget reflects a decrease of 2.4 percent below the 1999-00 level, due primarily to a projected small decline in the number of wards and parolees in the budget year. The budget assumes that the ward population will be 7,300 at the end of the budget year, a drop of 75 wards.

In addition, the Legislature augmented the budget by $6.4 million to increase the substance abuse, mental health, and sex offender treatment services for wards and parolees in order to meet identified treatment needs ($2.8 million), and to enhance staff oversight, institutional management, and ward safety ($3.6 million). The costs of these services and enhancements would have increased to about $47 million in 2001-02 when fully implemented. However, the Governor vetoed these augmentations.

Assistance to Local Law Enforcement

The budget and trailer bills include $400 million in funding to assist local law enforcement agencies, a substantial increase from the current year.

Citizens Option for Public Safety (COPS) Program. Chapter 100, Statutes of 2000, a budget trailer bill (AB 2885, Cardenas), included $121.3 million to continue the current COPS program, which provides discretionary funding, distributed on a per capita basis, for local police departments and sheriffs for front-line law enforcement, sheriffs for jail services, and district attorneys for prosecution. The amount is $21.3 million greater than the amount provided in 1999-00. These additional monies will be used to supplement the allocations to front-line law enforcement agencies to ensure that each agency receives at least $100,000.

One-Time Allocations. The budget also includes several one-time allocations for local law enforcement, including:

• Los Angeles Crime Lab--$96 million for construction of a local forensic crime laboratory in Los Angeles that is designed to service the Los Angeles City Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Departments, as well as other southern California local law enforcement agencies.
• Local Law Enforcement Equipment--$75 million to local law enforcement agencies for the purchase of equipment and technology, distributed on a per-capita basis with a minimum grant of $100,000 per agency.
• DNA Testing--$50 million to pay for DNA testing of evidence in unsolved sex crimes.
• Mentally Ill Offenders--$50 million to counties for additional grants under the existing Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Program.

Assistance for Local Juvenile Justice Programs

The spending plan approved by the Legislature included significant new ongoing and one-time funding to support local efforts to reduce crime and delinquency among juveniles. Specifically, AB 2885 provided $121 million--the same amount as the COPS program discussed above--for county juvenile justice coordinating councils to use to support locally identified needs. These funds were to be distributed to counties on a per-capita basis. The Governor vetoed these funds. At the time this report was prepared, however, AB 1913 (Cardenas) which would restore the $121 million for these programs, had been approved by the Legislature and was awaiting action by the Governor. This measure also makes slight modifications to the criteria contained in AB 2885 for use of the funds by counties.

The budget also includes $75 million (General Fund) and $37.5 million (federal funds) for competitive grants to counties for construction and renovation of local juvenile detention facilities. In addition, the budget includes $35 million to extend two current juvenile justice programs in the Board of Corrections--the Juvenile Challenge Grant Programs ($25 million) and the Repeat Offender Prevention Program ($10 million).

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