The UC Berkeley Labor Center has released
a report examining the potential impacts of transitioning
In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) collective bargaining from
counties to the state or regional level. It’s important to note
that this is not the report that was required by the 2023 Budget
Act. Rather, this report was commissioned by the California
Department of Social Services (CDSS) as one component of the
Department’s efforts to produce the mandated analysis of the
costs and benefits of moving IHSS collective bargaining
responsibilities.
For the UC Berkeley Labor Center report, it provides a
comprehensive analysis of a full range of factors and
considerations related to IHSS collective bargaining, including
labor market issues, comparisons to other states, implications on
provider retention, potential costs, impacts to the county
maintenance of effort (MOE) and Realignment, and possible funding
sources. It does not contain policy recommendations, but instead
shares thorough data and analysis that should be utilized to
inform any legislative decisions regarding changes to IHSS
collective bargaining. Some significant findings relevant to
county IHSS costs and responsibilities include:
County IHSS costs are growing at a faster rate than 1991
Realignment revenues.
There will be decreasing funding available for other
realigned programs in the cost projection scenarios that include
either a county share of cost for statewide increases or an
increased MOE inflation factor.
For these two reasons, it would be significantly challenging
to utilize Realignment revenues as a source of funding for any
county responsibility of state bargained increases.
CSAC was an active member of the workgroup that CDSS convened to
analyze this issue and provided significant input throughout the
process including to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, particularly
on the county IHSS MOE and 1991 Realignment considerations. Once
the final CDSS report is released, CSAC will share it with
counties.
