June 25, 2023

CSAC is asking all counties to immediately weigh in with their state legislative delegation on a problematic In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) proposal that was amended into a budget trailer bill yesterday. The human services trailer bill (AB 120/SB 120) contains a provision that would increase the existing IHSS collective bargaining penalty from a one-time seven percent of the county MOE amount to an ongoing ten percent of the county MOE amount. CSAC strongly opposes this proposal and requests that county leaders call and text your state legislative delegation with the below talking points. Additional background information on the IHSS collective bargaining penalty is found below the talking points.

• Our county opposes the IHSS collective bargaining penalty included in the human services trailer bill (AB 120/SB 120) and asks for this language to be removed from the bill.
• This proposal was included with zero public input, no consultation with counties, and was not discussed at any budget hearings this year.
• Counties are making significant progress on collective bargaining and have made ongoing investments of hundreds of millions of dollars for permanent IHSS provider wage increases in the past several years.
  • Add details about local agreement to increase provider wages in your county if applicable
• This proposal unfairly punishes all counties including those counties that are consistently increasing IHSS provider wage increases.
• The ongoing ten percent penalty amount will allow every county to be leveraged into a $1.00 wage increase.
• Many counties can’t afford such an increase or can only do so by taking funding away from other safety net programs including social services, health, and behavioral health.
• If the state is interested in dictating the outcome of local bargaining, the state should assume responsibility for bargaining or provide funding for these mandated increases.

Linked here is the county coalition opposition letter that was distributed this weekend contains further information. Thank you for your quick action on this important state budget issue. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Justin Garrett at jgarrett@counties.org.

Background on IHSS Penalty

The current IHSS collective bargaining Realignment withholding was enacted in 2021 as a one-time seven percent penalty and is now proposed to be increased to an ongoing ten percent penalty with this new language. A county would be subject to the withholding only if all of the following four conditions are met: (1) A county and provider union have completed the full IHSS mediation and factfinding process; (2) the factfinding panel has issued recommended settlement terms that are more favorable to the union; (3) the county has an expired IHSS collective bargaining agreement; and (4) the county and union have not reached an agreement within 90 days after the release of the factfinding recommendations.

The existing withholding is equivalent to seven percent of a county’s 2020-21 IHSS MOE amount. The withholding occurs through a one-time adjustment to the county’s Social Services Realignment base and is distributed as one-time general growth to the other subaccounts. The Social Services Realignment base is then restored by the amount of the withholding in the next fiscal year. Under this new language, the withholding would be ten percent of a county’s IHSS MOE amount for the prior year. The withholding will then occur every year until a collective bargaining agreement is reached.