§ 11011

(a) (1) The Safety Net Reserve Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. The Medi-Cal Subaccount and the CalWORKs Subaccount are hereby created within the Safety Net Reserve Fund.

(2) Notwithstanding any other law, the Controller may use the funds in the Safety Net Reserve Fund and the Medi-Cal and CalWORKs subaccounts for cash flow loans to the General Fund as provided in Sections 16310 and 16381 of the Government Code.

(b) (1) The Department of Finance, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office, shall establish both of the following:

(A) A methodology to calculate savings attributable to caseload and cost per case for the purpose of funding the subaccounts.

(B) A process for the distribution of funds.

(2) On or before May 1, 2019, and during the annual budget process, the Department of Finance, in consultation with the Legislative Analyst’s Office, shall present to the Legislature information related to the methodology and the distribution process, as described in paragraph (1).

(3) It is the intent of the Legislature to codify in future legislation the final methodology and distribution process.

(c) Upon the enactment of the 2018 Budget Act, upon order of the Director of the Department of Finance, the Controller shall transfer two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) from the General Fund to the CalWORKs Subaccount. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Safety Net Reserve Fund and the Medi-Cal and CalWORKs subaccounts shall be utilized for the purposes of maintaining existing program benefits and services for the Medi-Cal and CalWORKs programs during economic downturns when caseload and cost per case related to these programs increase and state revenues decline.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 42, Sec. 3. (AB 1830) Effective June 27, 2018.)