California State Senator Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica/El Segundo, responding to industry pressure, abandoned his attempt to repeal the RCFE rent control law. However, Mr. Allen is performing the ol’ razzle dazzle by amending SB1406 to “limit” resident rate or fee increases to “annual,” to less than 10% OR to no greater than 5% plus the previous year’s increase in the Consumer Price Index(CPI). The fee limits would be in Health and Safety Code 1569.655, the current admission agreement law, not rent control law.
California’s Health and Safety Code 1569.147 prohibits a city, county and state agency from implementing rent controls upon RCFEs: “Nothing in this chapter authorizes the imposition of rent regulations or controls for licensed residential care facilities for the elderly. Licensed residential care facilities for the elderly are not subject to controls on rent imposed by any state or local agency or other local government entity.”
OK. If no state or government agency can impose rent regulations or controls, who or what agency would implement fee increase limits? What agency would determine if an RCFE is obeying fee increase limits? It must be DSS because it “controls” facility admission agreements. Since it is not rent, DSS as a state agency, would not be regulating “rent” but your fees. So, instead of limiting “rent,” which does not apply, Mr. Allen is going backdoor in an effort to control your service fees and levels of care while still “honoring” the rent control law. Your LPA determines if you are charging too much!
In its current form, the bill extricates the legislature from setting rent controls, but it empowers the legislature to control your rates—all based upon CPI. California’s CPI is higher than the US average. So, which CPI would be used—the lower, national CPI or the higher, state CPI? Since the bill does not specify which CPI it creates a legal ambiguity that could result in negating the bill or allowing DSS to set rate increase limits.
Another part of Mr. Allen’s bill would be a new, ambiguous residents’ right “to request, refuse, or discontinue a service.” What if a resident requests IV infusions? Stage IV wound care? What does a facility do to honor that resident’s requested service? If a resident no longer wants a basic service, and the facility honors the new resident right, how would DSS manage the requirement for facilities to provide “services required to be provided by the facility in order to obtain and maintain a license?”
Lastly, Mr. Allen seeks to stretch all resident rate increase notifications from 60 days to 90 days giving “a detailed justification for the increase.” If passed and signed into law, these and other changes would take effect on and after January 1, 2025.
This is a dangerous and ambiguous bill proposed by industry-ignorant legislators. Contact your local state legislators AND provide your comments to Mr. Allen at (310) 414-8190.