California Legislation, Regulations & Policy

CWA has a long history of advocating for children and families in California, through sponsoring and supporting legislation, budgetary requests, and simply educating our representatives in Sacramento about WIC and the benefits and support it provides to their constituents. WIC is the state’s largest nutrition and lactation public health workforce, an excellent resource for decision makers as they consider policy that will impact how the needs of local families are met. CWA works to make sure that California’s legislators are knowledgeable about WIC and have good access to WIC’s wealth of knowledge!

Bills that CWA sponsors, supports, or is monitoring are summarized below.

Legislative Bills

AB-2300 - CalWORKs and CalFresh: Work Requirements

AB-2300

Kalra (D)

Summary: The bill amends exemptions and qualifications for requirements for CalWORKs and CalFresh (under a number of situations) including for infant and childcare and for parents during pregnancy and miscarriage and amends the definition of certain incomes.

Position: Support

SB-1058 - Disability Insurance: Paid Family Leave: Applicant Data

SB-1058

Durazo (D)

Summary: This bill would require the department to collect data regarding the race and ethnicity of individuals who claim disability benefits under those programs.

Position: Support

SB-951 - Unemployment Insurance: Contribution Rates: Disability Insurance: Paid Family Leave: Weekly Benefit Amount

SB-951

Durazo (D)

Summary: This bill adjusts the formula for unemployment disability insurance, including for temporary family disability insurance, also known as paid family leave. Under an adjusted formula, wage replacement for paid family leave would increase.

Position: Support

AB-2659 - Medi-Cal Managed Care: Midwifery Services

AB-2659

Patterson (R)

Summary:
This bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan to have within its provider network at least one licensed midwife (LM) and one certified-nurse midwife (CNM) within each county where the Medi-Cal managed care plan provides services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

Position: Support

AB 2199 - California Birthing Justice for New Families Pilot

AB 2199

Wicks (D)

Summary:
Sponsored by Black Women for Wellness Action Project
A grant pilot program that advances birth equity by expanding access to doula care to underserved
populations not eligible for or covered by Medi-Cal, but cost remains a barrier to access. Doula groups apply for funding to provide care to underserved communities including incarcerated people.

Position: Support

AB 1930 - Medi-Cal – Comprehensive Perinatal Services

AB 1930

Arambula (D)

Summary: This bill requires DCHS to ensure provision during the 12-month postpartum period, the Medi-Cal comprehensive perinatal health assessment and care plan, ensure the ability of unlicensed perinatal health workers to provide services and CBOs to qualify to provide preventive care under licensed providers in the clinic, home or community.

Position: Support

AB 2402 - Presumptive Eligibility for Children 0-5 on Medi-Cal

AB 2402

Blanca Rubio (D)

Summary: This bill would remove the requirement for providing income information at the end of the 12 months and would instead require that the infant remain continuously eligible for the Medi-Cal program until they are 5 years of age.

Position: Support

AB 1995 - Does Away with Co-Pays and Premiums in Medi-Cal

AB 1995

Arambula (D)

Summary: Co-pays, and premiums for individuals enrolled in Medi-Cal, children and birth individuals and children in the Medi-Cal Access Program and employed individuals with disabilities would be eliminated.

Position: Support

SB-1083 - CalWORKs - Pregnancy and Homeless Assistance

SB-1083

Skinner (D)

Summary: Requires all CalWORKs participants to perinatal home visiting services. The bill also provides homeless assistance to families in danger of being homeless, expediting the assistance and lengthening the time of benefits, in particular for pregnant individuals.

Position: Support

AB 2230 - CalWORKs-Temporary Shelter and Permanent Housing Benefits

AB 2230

Gipson (D)

Summary: Increases the benefits amounts and duration for families seeking temporary shelter assistance, and permanent housing, and expedites family benefits applications approval.

Position: Support

 

Budget Asks

$10 Million in Books for WIC Kids

Summary: The Budget includes $10 million General Fund to expand early literacy efforts by developing a partnership between CDPH and First 5 California to administer a statewide program to provide multilingual books and early literacy programing for families with young children in collaboration with other state programs such as home visiting, childcare, early childcare centers, and foster care and WIC. (Page 24 Summary Gov Proposed Budget 2022-23.)

Position: Support

Community Health Workers

Summary: $350 million General Fund to recruit, train, and certify 25,000 new community health workers by 2025 in areas such as climate health, homelessness, and dementia to meet the goal of a more ethnically and culturally inclusive workforce by 2025. See the Labor and Workforce Development Chapter for more details.

Position: Support

CPEHN Data to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities

Summary: CPEHN requests General Fund expenditure authority of $1.3 million in 2022-23 and $777,000 annually thereafter to: 1) establish clear, enforceable standards for plans and providers for the collection and reporting of demographic data by age, sex, race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation and gender identity, and disability state as well as data on health-related social needs such as access to housing, food and other supports; and 2) establish a program to provide technical assistance and other incentives to health plans and providers to improve their data practices, including training for providers and staff on data collection, its legality and uses and how to work with patients to improve comfort levels in sharing this data at all points of care.

Position: Support

CPSP Benefits

Summary: Maternal and Child Health Access requests expenditure authority of $126.4 million ($29.9 million General Fund, $94.7 million federal funds, and $1.8 million special funds) to make the following changes to the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program (CPSP): 1) cover additional comprehensive perinatal assessments, individualized care plans, visits and units of services for an additional 10 months after the current 60-day period; and 2) provide Medi-Cal/MCAP reimbursement for covered preventive services when rendered in a beneficiary’s home or elsewhere away from a medical facility by a provider participating in the CPSP care team.

Position: Support

Continuous Medi-Cal Coverage for Kids to Age 5

Summary: The Children’s Partnership, Children Now, First 5 Association of California, First 5 Center for Children’s Policy, March of Dimes, Maternal and Child Health Access, National Health Law Program, and Western Center on Law and Poverty request expenditure authority of $20 million ($10 million General Fund and $10 million federal funds) in 2022-23 and $40 million ($20 million General Fund and $20 million federal funds) annually thereafter to provide multi-year continuous coverage for Medi-Cal children up to age five.

Position: Support

Community Health Navigators

Summary: Maternal and Child Health Access, Asian Resources, Inc., Community Health Councils, Inc., and California Pan-Ethnic Health Network request expenditure authority of $30 million ($15 million General Fund and $15 million federal funds) annually to support a grant program to community-based organizations for outreach, enrollment, retention, and utilization services.

Position: Support

Medi-Cal Data Sharing

Summary: A coalition of 22 organizations including health plans, physician organizations and health information exchange organizations request expenditure authority of $255 million ($95 million General Fund, $160 million federal funds) in 2022-23, $206 million ($74 million General Fund, $132 million federal funds) in 2023-24, and $166 million ($70 million General Fund, $96 million federal funds) annually thereafter to support performance payments for Medi-Cal providers that join and share data with qualified health information exchanges, and funding for qualified health information exchanges to build and maintain the health data infrastructure needed for CalAIM to succeed.

Position: Support

CA Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund

Summary: A coalition of 12 public health equity organizations request General Fund expenditure authority of $100 million annually to support grants to nonprofit organizations, clinics, and tribal organizations to address the social determinants of physical health and behavioral health, advance racial equity, and reduce health disparities.

Position: Support

Nurse Family Partnership

Summary: The Nurse-Family Partnership requests General Fund expenditure authority of $15 million annually to support expansion of the California Home Visiting Program.

Position: Support

Public Health Equity and Readiness Initiative

Summary: CHEAC, HOAC, and SEIU California request total General Fund expenditure authority of $186.4 million, available up to four years, for the Public Health Equity and Readiness Opportunity (HERO) Initiative, including the following components: 1) Public Health Recruitment and Retention Stipend ($120 million at HCAI); 2) Waive Public Health Nurse Certification Fees ($10 million at Board of Registered Nursing); 3) Incumbent Worker Upskill Training ($12.8 million at HCAI); 4) CA Public Health Pathways Training Corps ($24 million at DPH); 5) CA Microbiologist Training ($6.5 million at DPH); 6) Public Health Lab Aspire ($6.6 million at DPH); and 7) CA Epidemiologic Investigation Services ($6.5 million at DPH). (Note, no plans for the nutrition workforce.)

Position: Monitor

SB 65 Full Funding

Summary: Black Women for Wellness Action Project, CA Nurse-Midwives Association, March of Dimes, NARAL Pro-Choice California, National Health Law Program, and Western Center on Law and Poverty request General Fund expenditure authority of $6 million in 2022-23 and $5 million annually thereafter to implement components of the California Momnibus Act, SB 65 (Skinner), Chapter 449, Statutes of 2021, including the Fetal Infant Mortality Review committees (DPH), midwifery workforce training (HCAI), and doula services (DHCS).

Position: Support

Food 4 All: Nourish CA and CIPC

Summary: The sponsors request $40 million General Fund in 2022-23, growing to $548 million in 2024-25, and on an ongoing basis to expand the CFAP to noncitizen immigrants of all ages who are currently excluded from CalFresh solely due to their immigration status.

Position: Support

Food with Care: Nourish CA and CACFP

Summary: The sponsors request $85 million General Fund in 2022-23 and $70 million General Fund in 2023-24 and ongoing to provide free meals to children in child care by enabling all child care providers to qualify for reimbursements equivalent to the highest federal rate for meals.

Position: Support

Diapers: Supply Bank and National Diaper Bank

Summary: The sponsors request a total of $30 million General Fund, to be spent over three years, and budget bill language to expand the Diaper Bank program statewide to serve the remaining counties without a funded diaper bank.

Position: Support

HEALTHY FAMILIES...STRONG COMMUNITIES...BRIGHT FUTURES!

CALIFORNIA WIC ASSOCIATION | 3960 INDUSTRIAL BLVD, SUITE 500 WEST SACRAMENTO, CA 95691 | PHONE: 916-572-0700