BILL NUMBER: AB 2555AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Feuer, Jones, and Nielsen (Coauthor: Assembly Member Monning) FEBRUARY 19, 2010 An act relating to aging,andmaking an appropriation therefor , and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately . LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2555, as amended, Feuer. Ombudsman programs: appropriation. Existing law establishes the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account into which moneys derived from civil penalties for violations of state law are deposited. Moneys in this account may be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the protection of health or property of residents of long-term health care facilities, as specified. Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in the California Department of Aging. Existing law requires the department to allocate all federal and state funds for local ombudsman programs according to a specified schedule. This bill would appropriate the sum of $1,600,000 from the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account to the department to fund local ombudsman programs in accordance with the distribution schedule during the 2010-11 fiscal year. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The sum of one million six hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) is hereby appropriated from the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account, established pursuant to Section 1417.2 of the Health and Safety Code, to the California Department of Aging to fund local ombudsman programs in accordance with the distribution schedule in Section 9719.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. These funds may be used for this purpose through the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year, at which time remaining unencumbered funds shall revert to the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account. SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to protect the safety of older Californians by funding vital inspection services for long-term health care facilities, at the earliest possible time, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.