Bill Text: CA AB988 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 988

Bill Title: Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act: veteran and military data reporting.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 460, Statutes of 2023. [AB988 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB988-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 988

CHAPTER 460

An act to amend Section 53123.4 of the Government Code, relating to mental health.

[ Approved by Governor October 08, 2023. Filed with Secretary of State October 08, 2023. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 988, Mathis. Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act: veteran and military data reporting.

Existing federal law, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, designates the 3-digit telephone number “988” as the universal number within the United States for the purpose of the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, maintained by the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, and the Veterans Crisis Line, which is maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Existing law creates a separate surcharge, beginning January 1, 2023, on each access line for each month, or part thereof, for which a service user subscribes with a service supplier. Existing law sets the 988 surcharge for the 2023 and 2024 calendar years at $0.08 per access line per month and beginning January 1, 2025, at an amount based on a specified formula not to exceed $0.30 per access line per month. Existing law authorizes the 911 and 988 surcharges to be combined into a single-line item, as described. Existing law provides for specified costs to be paid by the fees prior to distribution to the Office of Emergency Services.

Existing law, the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, creates the 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund and requires the fees to be deposited along with other specified moneys into the fund. Existing law provides that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the funds be used for specified purposes and in accordance with specified priorities. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to require an entity seeking moneys available through the fund to annually file an expenditure and outcomes report containing specified information, including, among other things, the number of individuals served and the outcomes for individuals served, if known.

This bill would require an entity seeking moneys from the fund to also include the number of individuals who used the service and self-identified as veterans or active military personnel in its annual expenditure and outcomes report.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 53123.4 of the Government Code is amended to read:

53123.4.

(a) The 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury.

(b) (1) The fund shall consist of the revenue generated by the 988 surcharge assessed on users under Section 41020 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, which revenue shall be used solely for the operations of the 988 center and mobile crisis teams as defined in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Section 9813(b)(2) of Public Law 117-2). The fund shall also consist of any other appropriations made to it by the Legislature. The Legislature may consider additional uses for the revenue generated by the 988 surcharge based on recommendations made by the California Health and Human Services Agency and the advisory group pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 53123.3.

(2) The revenue generated by the 988 surcharge shall, to the extent not prohibited by Section 251a of Title 47 of the United States Code and any applicable rules or regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission and in compliance with subdivision (b) of Section 41136 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, be prioritized to fund the following:

(A) First, the 988 centers, including the efficient and effective routing of telephone calls, personnel, and the provision of acute behavioral health services through telephone call, text, and chat to the 988 number.

(B) Second, the operation of mobile crisis teams accessed via telephone calls, texts, or chats made to or routed through 988 as specified under Section 4(a)(2)(B) of Public Law 116-172.

(3) Money in the fund shall not be subject to transfer to another fund or to transfer, assignment, or reassignment for another use or purpose outside of those specified in this article.

(4) 988 surcharge revenue in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes specified in this article.

(5) The revenue generated by the 988 surcharge shall be used to supplement, not supplant, federal, state, and local funding for 988 centers and behavioral health crisis services.

(6) The revenue generated by the 988 surcharge may only be used to fund service and operation expenses that are not reimbursable through Medicaid federal financial participation, Medicare, health care service plans, or disability insurers.

(c) The office, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, may adopt regulations regarding how funds received shall be disseminated to support the operations of the 988 system and related behavioral health crisis services.

(d) The office shall require an entity seeking funds available through the 988 Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund to annually file an expenditure and outcomes report in a form and manner as determined by the office and the State Department of Health Care Services. The expenditure and outcomes report shall include, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) The total budget.

(2) Number and job classification of personnel.

(3) The number of individuals served.

(4) The outcomes for individuals served, if known.

(5) The health coverage status of individuals served, if known.

(6) Beginning July 1, 2025, to the extent feasible and consistent with paragraph (11) of subdivision (b) of Section 52123.3, measures of system performance, including capacity, wait times, and the ability to meet demand for services.

(7) Beginning January 1, 2030, to the extent feasible and consistent with paragraph (11) of subdivision (b) of Section 52123.3, the amount billed to and reimbursed by Medi-Cal or other public and private health care service plans or insurers.

(8) The number of individuals who used the service and self-identified as veterans or active military personnel, if known.

(e) The State Treasurer shall report annually to the office on fund deposits and expenditures.