AB 2704 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Fee Schedule Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program.

Summary

Existing law establishes the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, administered by the California Health and Human Services Agency and its departments, as applicable. Under existing law, the purpose of the initiative is to transform the state's behavioral health system into an innovative ecosystem in which all children and youth 25 years of age and younger, regardless of payer, are screened, supported, and served for emerging and existing behavioral health needs. Existing law requires, as a part of the initiative, the State Department of Health Care Services to develop and maintain a school-linked statewide fee schedule for outpatient mental health or substance use disorder treatment provided to a student who is 25 years of age or younger at a schoolsite. Existing law requires providers of medically necessary schoolsite services to be reimbursed by health care service plans, insurers, and Medi-Cal managed care plans, at a minimum, at the fee schedule rate or rates, regardless of network provider status. This bill would establish the Fee Schedule Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program. The bill would require the State Department of Education, upon appropriation and subject to the terms of the appropriation, to select through a competitive process, and, no later than July 1 of the year after an appropriation is made to fund the program, allocate funding to, a local educational agency that will serve as the lead entity that will administer the program over a 3-year period, as provided. The bill would require the lead entity, in coordination with the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Care Services, to, no later than November 1 of the year after an appropriation is made to fund the program, select up to 25 entities to participate in the program and prioritize certain applicants, including, among others, applicants who will increase the number and amount of statewide fee schedule reimbursements. The bill would require that an entity meet specified criteria in order to be eligible to participate in the program, including, among other things, that the entity has past experience in serving children and youth that are of the age that the entity intends to serve. The bill would require a participating entity, as a condition of participation, to commit to increasing, among other things, the number of transition-age youth 16 to 25 years of age receiving behavioral health services. The bill would require the lead entity, starting on or before December 1 of the year after an appropriation is made to fund the program, and ending no earlier than 3 years after the program begins, to provide intensive technical assistance and support with regard to specified activities to the participating entities. The bill would require the lead entity to submit a progress report on or before September 1 of the year that is 3 years after an appropriation is made to fund the program, and submit a summative report by January 1 of the year that is 4 years after an appropriation is made to fund the program, regarding the program to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 20, 2026 Last action Aug 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

03/19/26 - Amended Assembly → 04/27/26 - Amended Assembly · 9 edits · Apr 27, 2026

MAJOR

AB 2704 was substantially restructured between these versions. The program was renamed to emphasize intensive technical support for onboarding, governance shifted from directly designating the Monterey County Office of Education as pilot lead to requiring the State Department of Education to competitively select a local educational agency as lead entity with specific experience requirements, all key deadlines were pushed back by approximately five months, and new eligibility criteria and participation conditions were added for participating entities.

SCOPE

Program renamed from 'Statewide Fee Schedule Pilot Program' to 'Statewide Fee Schedule Pilot Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program,' and a new section (49421.3) is now being added to the Education Code in addition to the existing Welfare and Institutions Code section.

The legislative intent section declaring the Legislature's intent to enact future legislation increasing access to behavioral health services for children and youth 25 and younger was removed.

REQUIREMENT

Governance changed from directly designating the Monterey County Office of Education as pilot lead to requiring the State Department of Education to select through a competitive process a local educational agency as lead entity, with minimum requirements including 10 years of Medi-Cal program administration experience, successful fee schedule claim submission for at least one year, and experience leading a fee schedule consortium.

New technical assistance requirement: the lead entity must offer participation in a multientity contract for electronic health records services that is centrally managed by the lead entity, in addition to the existing requirement to provide an EHR system at no charge.

TIMELINE

All major deadlines shifted later: entity selection from April 1, 2027 to September 1, 2027; program start from April 1, 2027 to on or before September 1, 2027; program end from July 1, 2030 to September 1, 2030; progress report from January 1, 2028 to on or before September 1, 2029; application publication from February 1, 2027 to on or before July 1, 2027.

ELIGIBILITY

New explicit eligibility criteria for participating entities: must be eligible to participate in the fee schedule, must have past experience serving children and youth of the age they intend to serve, and must require intensive technical assistance to operationalize the fee schedule.

Selection process restructured to distinguish between conditions of participation (committing to increase services for 0-5 year olds and transition-age youth) and prioritization criteria used to select among eligible applicants, rather than using all factors as selection priorities.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now requires fiscal committee review due to the new competitive funding allocation mechanism through the State Department of Education.

TECHNICAL

Small school district definition reference changed from Section 17078.35 to Section 17070.15 of the Education Code, and claims review language changed from 'review of all claims' to 'targeted review of claims prior to submission.'

04/27/26 - Amended Assembly → 06/25/26 - Amended Senate · 10 edits · Jun 25, 2026

MAJOR

The Senate amendment makes several major structural changes to AB 2704: it moves the bill from the Welfare and Institutions Code to the Education Code, removes the specific designation of Monterey County Office of Education as program lead in favor of a competitive selection process by the State Department of Education, shifts all fixed calendar deadlines to dates tied to legislative appropriation, and eliminates the state-mandated local program finding. These changes make the bill more flexible in timing and governance while reducing fiscal exposure to the state.

SCOPE

The bill was moved from adding Section 5961.41 to the Welfare and Institutions Code to adding Section 49421.3 to the Education Code, shifting the legal home of the program from behavioral health law to education law.

The program name changed from 'Statewide Fee Schedule Pilot Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program' to 'Fee Schedule Intensive Technical Support for Onboarding Program,' dropping both 'Pilot' and 'Statewide' from the title.

The program's stated purposes were consolidated from three to two. The separate purpose of increasing behavioral health services for specific age groups was removed as a standalone goal, though those groups remain referenced in participation conditions and reporting requirements.

REQUIREMENT

The Monterey County Office of Education is no longer named as the program lead. Instead, the State Department of Education must select a local educational agency through a competitive process to serve as the lead entity for a three-year period.

The technical assistance activity of submitting claims on behalf of participating entities and helping resolve claim denials was removed from the list of required services.

TIMELINE

All fixed calendar dates were replaced with dates tied to legislative appropriation. For example, participant selection moved from September 1, 2027 to November 1 of the year after an appropriation is made; program start moved from September 1, 2027 to December 1 of the year after appropriation; program end moved from September 1, 2030 to three years after the program begins; and reporting deadlines were similarly adjusted.

FISCAL

The state-mandated local program finding changed from 'yes' to 'no,' meaning the state is no longer required to reimburse local agencies for costs mandated by this bill. The separate state mandate reimbursement section (former Section 2) was also removed.

ELIGIBILITY

The lead entity requirement for consortium experience now specifies that at least one-third of the consortium members must be small school districts, a new threshold not present in the Assembly version.

The lead entity's required track record of successfully submitting and receiving payment for fee schedule claims was reduced from at least one year to six months, lowering the bar for who can serve as lead entity.

DEFINITION

The definition of small school districts changed from referencing Section 17078.35 of the Education Code to Section 17070.15, which may define the term differently.

02/20/26 - Introduced → 03/19/26 - Amended Assembly · 7 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2704 was transformed from a simple legislative intent statement into a comprehensive pilot program bill. The original version only expressed the Legislature's intent to enact future legislation increasing access to behavioral health services for children and youth 25 and younger. The amended version adds an entirely new Section 5961.41 to the Welfare and Institutions Code establishing the Statewide Fee Schedule Pilot Program, which directs the Monterey County Office of Education to select 25 entities and provide them intensive technical assistance to participate in the school-linked statewide fee schedule for behavioral health services.

Scope change

The bill expanded dramatically from a one-section legislative intent statement with no operational requirements to a multi-section bill creating an active pilot program with a designated lead agency, selection criteria, technical assistance obligations, reporting requirements, and funding mechanisms. It now imposes a state-mandated local program on the Monterey County Office of Education.

SCOPE

Establishes the Statewide Fee Schedule Pilot Program as a new Section 5961.41 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, expanding the bill from a symbolic intent statement to an operational program with specific duties, timelines, and reporting requirements.

REQUIREMENT

Requires the Monterey County Office of Education (as pilot lead) to select 25 participating entities by April 1, 2027, prioritizing applicants that will increase services for children ages 0-5, transition-age youth 16-25, students in small and rural school districts, community schools, and communities with higher proportions of unduplicated students.

Requires the pilot lead to provide intensive technical assistance from April 1, 2027 through at least July 1, 2030, including: obtaining NPI numbers and completing credentialing, providing a free electronic health records system, assisting with FERPA and HIPAA compliance (consent forms, privacy notices, data governance policies), training and coaching for providers on documentation and coding, insurance discovery, claims review before submission, and submitting claims on behalf of participating entities.

TIMELINE

Sets key deadlines: application published by February 1, 2027; entity selection by April 1, 2027; technical assistance period from April 1, 2027 to at least July 1, 2030; progress report to Legislature by January 1, 2028; summative report by January 1, 2031.

FISCAL

Requires the State Department of Education to allocate funds to the Monterey County Office of Education to administer the pilot program over a three-year period, upon appropriation by the Legislature and subject to the terms of that appropriation.

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' reflecting the new funding and mandate obligations created by the pilot program.

ENFORCEMENT

Adds a state mandate reimbursement provision (Section 2) requiring that if the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement shall be made pursuant to Part 7 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

Floor votes · Assembly May 27, 2026

How they voted

77–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 79

May 27, 2026

D Democratic59

57 Yea 2

96% Yea

R Republican20

20 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

In committee: Held under submission.

upper

Aug 3, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jul 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (July 1). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 25, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

upper

Jun 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 24). Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on ED. and HEALTH.

upper

May 27, 2026

Assembly · Passed

Assembly Vote: pass (77-0-2)

assembly

May 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0.)

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (May 14).

lower

May 13, 2026

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

May 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

lower

Apr 28, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 22).

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on ED. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 14). Re-referred to Com. on ED.

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and ED.

lower

Feb 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors