CSBA is co-sponsoring AB 3192 by Assembly Education Committee Chair Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach), which would require the California Department of Health Care Services to prepare and distribute a fiscal and compliance audit guide for the local educational agency Medi-Cal Billing Option program by June 30, 2019. This federally funded program helps subsidize the cost of school-based Medi-Cal services that support the health and academic success of California students.

Through this program, LEAs can receive up to 50 percent reimbursement for the cost of health services provided to students by qualified LEA staff. However, ambiguity and inconsistency have long been persistent problems in the administration and oversight of the program. As a result, a significant number of Medi-Cal claims have been retroactively disallowed in recent years, underscoring the need for the fiscal guide that the bill would create.

“The health services provided by schools are often the only medical attention that low-income students receive, and are also particularly essential for students with special needs,” said Erika Hoffman, CSBA legislative advocate. “AB 3192 will establish greater clarity and consistency for LEAs and help maximize available federal reimbursements, so that schools can continue to provide these important services for their students.”

CSBA is co-sponsoring AB 276, by former Jurupa Unified School District governing board member Jose Medina (D-Riverside), to extend to charter schools the public meeting and conflict of interest laws which already apply to traditional public schools. Specifically, AB 276 specifies that charter schools and entities managing charter schools would be subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act (or the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act), the California Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act of 1974 and Government Code 1090.

The bill, which currently resides in the Assembly Rules Committee, aligns with prior legislation supported or co-sponsored by CSBA, including AB 1478 (Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles) from 2017, which failed passage on the Assembly Floor, and two prior bills which were both vetoed by the Governor.

CSBA is co-sponsoring AB 2285, also by Assembly member O’Donnell (D-Long Beach), to help fill vacancies created by the state’s ongoing teacher shortage by more closely aligning credentialing requirements for out-of-state teachers with requirements for renewals of in-state credentials. In 2007, the requirement for 150 hours of professional development was eliminated for in-state teachers who were renewing a credential. AB 2285 would extend similar relief to teachers who have already completed their credentialing requirements in another state.