Bill Text: CA SB56 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: University of California, Riverside School of Medicine: expansion.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-06-03 - Referred to Com. on HIGHER ED. [SB56 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB56-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  March 27, 2019

Amended  IN  Senate  March 11, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 56

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Introduced by Senator Roth
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Cervantes and Medina)

December 17, 2018

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An act relating to postsecondary education, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 56, as amended, Roth. University of California, Riverside School of Medicine: expansion.

The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. Existing law requires, on or before April 1 of each year, the University of California to provide progress reports and specified information consistent with the published mission and vision of the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature pertaining to funding, recruitment, hiring, and outcomes for the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine.

This bill would appropriate to the regents $80,000,000 from the General Fund for the 2020–21, 2020–21 fiscal year to be expended solely on the construction of a new University of California, Riverside School of Medicine facility, and an additional $25,000,000 from the General Fund each fiscal year, commencing with the 2020–21 fiscal year, to be expended solely on ongoing operational support for the expansion of the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine. As a condition of receiving the additional annual $25,000,000 appropriation, the bill would require the University of California to comply with the annual reporting requirement under existing law pertaining to funding, recruitment, hiring, and outcomes for the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine.

Digest Key

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) For purposes of this act, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Inland Southern California” is a region in southern California east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area that comprises the County of Riverside and the County of San Bernardino.

(2) “UCR” is the University of California, Riverside.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The state’s supply of primary care physicians is significantly below what is considered sufficient to meet patient needs. In the rapidly growing and ethnically diverse area of Inland Southern California, the shortage is particularly severe, with just 35 primary care physicians per 100,000 patients, far fewer than the recommended range of 60 to 80 primary care physicians per 100,000 patients. In real numbers, Inland Southern California has a shortfall of 1,500 primary care physicians and a shortfall of 33¹/₃ percent in specialist physicians. UCR School of Medicine needs to substantially expand its enrollment to meet the region’s need for primary care and specialist physicians.

(2) According to the statistics published by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the state lags substantially in the number of medical school seats per capita, with just 17.3 seats per 100,000 persons compared to the national average of 31.4 seats per 100,000 persons.

(3) According to the California Health Care Foundation, 72 percent of the state’s counties have an undersupply of primary care physicians, with primary care physicians making up just 34 percent of the state’s physician workforce.

(4) UCR’s four-year school of medicine opened in August 2013 and subsequently received provisional accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the nationally recognized accrediting body for medical education programs leading to doctor of medicine degrees in the United States and Canada. At the time UCR School of Medicine opened, it was the first new public medical school in the state in more than 40 years. Since its opening, UCR School of Medicine has graduated 89 students with doctor of medicine degrees, 40 in 2017 and 49 in 2018.

(5) UCR School of Medicine, as a community-based medical school, has a public mission to expand and diversify the region’s physician workforce and improve the health of people living in Inland Southern California. UCR School of Medicine has also made a commitment to underserved patient populations.

(6) Due to budgetary constraints at the time it was established, UCR School of Medicine was forced to occupy an existing facility located on UCR’s campus, which has limited its total enrollment to 250 students per academic year and state funding to support the medical school to $15,000,000 per fiscal year, impacting its ability to fully realize its public mission.

(7) Expansion of the UCR School of Medicine facility is urgently required in order to accommodate 500 physicians in training to increase the supply of primary care physicians in underserved areas of the state. The state’s annual appropriation of $15,000,000 also needs to be increased to support the expansion of UCR School of Medicine.

(c) The following amounts are hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California for the following purposes:

(1) For the 2020–21 fiscal year, the sum of eighty million dollars ($80,000,000), to be expended solely on the construction of a new UCR School of Medicine facility.

(2) For the 2020–21 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, the sum of twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), to be expended solely on ongoing operational support for the expansion of UCR School of Medicine.

(d) As a condition of receiving the annual appropriation in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), the University of California shall annually comply with the reporting requirement described in subdivision (d) of Section 16 of Chapter 50 of the Statutes of 2013.