Contact: Gregg Fishman, Communications Coordinator

916-327-7500, ext. 516 916-342-9508 mobile

May 11, 2017

The Governor’s May Revision is a notable improvement over the January budget which included a significant cost shift to counties for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). Due to the elimination of the 2012 county Maintenance of Effort (MOE) agreement, the original January Budget would have shifted more than $623 million in costs to counties in the first year, growing to $1.6 billion within a few years. Due to a growing caseload and wage and benefit cost increases, counties would have been forced to divert funds from other vital services to cover the IHSS cost shift, up to and including cuts to programs that rely on 1991 realignment funds from the state.

“The changes to IHSS funding in the May Revision mean that for the next two years, counties will be able to avoid major cuts to critical programs and services that would have been devastated if the January budget had remained as it was,” said CSAC Executive Director Matt Cate.

“We appreciate that the Governor and his staff understand that county services are truly vital to the health and wellbeing of the people we serve,” said CSAC President Keith Carson from Alameda County. “However, we remain very concerned about the growing cost of the program in future years given changing demographics and economics. If nothing changes in a few years, vital services in health care, social services and public safety will be at risk.”

Over the past several weeks, CSAC leadership, County Executive Officers, and CSAC staff have been meeting with key members of the Governor’s administration, discussing ways to reduce the impact of the IHSS cost shift. As a result of these efforts, the May Revision includes $1.1 billion in state general fund contributions over the next four years to mitigate the cost shift to counties. The Governor’s proposal also contains a commitment going forward to review the costs of the program within the structure of 1991 Realignment and the impact of the inflation factor.

Asked at the May Revision press conference about the nature of the discussions with counties, the Governor replied, “They were numerous, cordial and convincing and that’s why we put $400 million back in the budget,” to mitigate the local impacts of increased IHSS costs.

“Counties are doing our fair share to shoulder our share of IHSS costs,” said Cate. “But the May Revision spares us from the worst of the immediate impact and leaves the door open for future negotiations as the fiscal picture changes for our state and counties.”

For more background on the IHSS MOE and the Coordinated Care Initiative, please click here. And for a full CSAC analysis of the May Revision please click here.

The Governor’s news release about the May Revision can be found here.

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The California State Association of Counties is the voice of California’s 58 counties at the state and federal level.