Capitol Corner | May 2025
The deadline for Senate and Assembly bills to be out of policy committees in their house of origin is approaching rapidly. The Governor is expected to present his “May Revise” budget proposal in a few days. And interest groups are inundating the State Capitol virtually and in-person to advocate for their position on over 2,000 bills currently pending in the Legislature.
Needless to say, the “sausage” factory that is the legislative process is in high gear and will remain in that mode for the next several weeks. CAHSAH is busy advocating for our priority bills and budget requests with your advocates regularly testifying in committee hearings on behalf of our industry. We also meet regularly with legislators and staff on the many measures being considered that impact home care, home health, and hospice services. And every day we read scores of amended bills to ensure that otherwise obscure measures are not modified in such a way that they now impact what we do and how we do it.
Of note, CAHSAH had a particularly high profile in the legislative process on April 23. That day fell in the middle of our 3-day virtual Annual Lobby Day event when CAHSAH members from across the state were meeting with legislators and staff to advocate for our priorities. That same day, a contingent of Medi-Cal private duty nursing providers swept through the Capitol to argue for reinstatement of that the $62 million that was included in last year’s state budget to increase PDN reimbursement rates but was negated by the passage of Proposition 35 last November. And if that wasn’t enough, CAHSAH also participated in a very high profile Long Term Care Resource Fair on the Capitol grounds that day to spread the word about who we are and how we provide Californians with the home care, home health, and hospice services patients need to allow them to remain home with their families rather than in health care institutions. We were joined in that effort by our colleagues representing nursing homes, assisted living facilities, PACE programs, and others in this inaugural event that all parties agree should be done on an annual basis.
So that hopefully provides a little flavor of the current policy agenda in Sacramento and how we are fighting for you every day in that arena. The fight continues though, and we encourage you to watch this space, be on the lookout for advocacy Action Alerts, and please pay particular attention to our regular Weekly News Update for the latest in what’s happening in our industry and our association.