House of Representatives

SB 1037

board of dental examiners; fees

Sponsors: Senators Gerard and Guenther,

Representative Binder

W/D	Committee on Health
X	Committee on Appropriations
	Caucus and COW
	Third Read	This bill as introduced contains a PROP 108 clause.
	As Passed the House

*REVISED*

SB 1037 increases various fees for dentists, dental hygienists and denturists through the Board of Dental Examiners.

A Strike-Everything amendment to SB 1037 will be offered in the Appropriations Committee to continue the Arizona Works pilot program for an additional year, make several changes to the program and privatize the JOBS program statewide.

History

The Arizona Works Pilot Program was created through Laws 1997, Ch. 300 and Laws 1998, Ch. 211 to determine the cost effectiveness of privatizing public assistance administration. The program privatizes Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) by operating intake, eligibility and employment training through a private contractor. The contractor and site for the pilot program were determined by the Arizona Agency Procurement Board (Board), which was statutorily charged with creating Arizona Works and continuing to oversee the pilot project. The Arizona Works pilot project was originally implemented on April 1, 1999 in Eastern Maricopa County, and the contractor chosen to administer the program was MAXIMUS, Inc.

At its inception, Arizona Works was intended to be a two-phase pilot, the first phase taking place in an urban area and the second in a rural area. Although the second phase was to be implemented by April 1, 2001, the Board made the final site decision in December 2001 and the second phase has yet to be implemented.

Arizona Works currently serves 13 percent of the households in Arizona that receive benefits under TANF and is scheduled to end on December 31, 2002.

Provisions

Arizona Works

· Eliminates the Board and allows the Department of Economic Security (DES) to take over its duties.

· Removes the duty of determining caseload eligibility from the contractor and returns the responsibility to DES. The private contractor will retain the responsibility for eligibility determinations in the TANF Related Child Care Program.

· Requires the contractor to employ caseload liaisons and support for DES.

· Extends the pilot project and the due date for the final performance review by one year.

· Changes the amount available for cash assistance from a flat monthly grant to the amount a participating family would normally receive through TANF.

· Removes the financial penalty assessed against an Arizona Works participant for missing scheduled employment. Currently a person placed in level three or level four of the program may have their grant reduced by $3.25 for each hour of work or employment preparation that the person misses without good cause.

· Stipulates that the private contractor and DES must renegotiate the contract within 90 days of any federal changes that impact the program.

· Adds a financial penalty for the private contractor for non-compliance with record-keeping requirements.

· Changes the start date for the fifth year of the program from January 1, 2002 to September 1, 2002

· Requires DES to take over all duties of the Board.

· Requires DES and the private contractor to negotiate and modify the contract to reflect the changes made by this bill.

· Provides an effective date of September 30, 2002.

· Repeals the Arizona Works program and all references to the program on December 31, 2003.

· Makes technical and conforming changes.

JOBS

· Requires DES to contract with providers to provide statewide privatization of the JOBS program.

- DES must begin to prepare a request for proposals (RFP) by October 1, 2002 and must issue the RFP by January 1, 2003.

· Requires providers to begin operating the program by July 1, 2003 and requires the program to be statewide by January 1, 2004.

· Allows providers to operate in more than one part of Arizona.

· Removes the requirement for DES to provide case management and employment services when no qualified providers have submitted proposals.

· Provides DES employees who are displaced by the privatization of JOBS with priority consideration for employment with private providers.

· Makes technical and conforming changes.

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45th Legislature

Second Regular Session 2 April 24, 2002

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