Budget committee recommends FY 2025–26 budget, approves spending adjustments for maternal behavioral health and several contracts

The Budget and Fiscal Advisory Committee voted to recommend that the full Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission adopt the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget and associated contracts as presented to the committee.

Chair Al Rowlett moved the recommendation and it was seconded; a roll call recorded votes in favor from Chair Al Rowlett, Vice Chair Chris Contreras, Commissioner Connevali, Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Wilkes. The motion passed.

The committee considered several specific adjustments and new authorizations that staff proposed to align ongoing work and finance approval for planned procurements. Norma Pate, deputy director of administrative services and performance management, summarized the proposed FY25–26 operating and local assistance totals presented to the committee: personnel costs estimated at about $8,500,000 (salary and wages $5,300,000; staff benefits $3,100,000); a projected operating budget of about $14,400,000 (administration, legislative affairs, research and legal); and a total commission budget of roughly $48,700,000 for 2025–26, which includes local assistance allocations.

Key procurement and budget authorizations discussed and reflected in the recommendation to the full commission included:

- Maternal behavioral health: Staff described an adjustment to funds previously set aside from the Mental Health Wellness Act for maternal behavioral health programs (initially approved by the commission in November 2024). The committee reviewed a staff request to allocate $399,000 for an interagency agreement with UCSF to support immediate evaluation work (baseline data collection and ongoing evaluation), and to allocate $1,600,000 toward a competitive procurement for technical assistance and a landscape analysis to support maternal and early-childhood behavioral health efforts. Pate said the total maternal allocation remains $20,000,000 and that this request repurposes previously approved funds to deliver evaluation and TA externally instead of using internal staff capacity.

- IT security: authorization of $110,711 for three years of IT security support with a vendor identified as GoSecure to strengthen endpoint protection and reduce cybersecurity risk.

- Procurement oversight: a proposed $150,000 amendment to a consulting contract with TimTote (contracting for procurement and review expertise) to support competition and legal defensibility of procurements.

- Support for local boards and commissions: staff described a transferred contract originally funded at $50,555 (a Department of Mental Health legacy contract) that the California Association of Local Behavioral Health Boards and Commissions requested be increased to cover additional training related to Proposition 1; staff described a requested increase of $46,445, bringing the proposed FY25–26 allocation for that item to roughly $97,000. Public comment in support of the additional funding was delivered by Teresa Comstock, executive director of the California Association of Local Behavioral Health Boards and Commissions, and by Stacy Hiramoto representing community advocacy groups.

Committee members discussed whether certain items required further vetting at the full commission; staff clarified that the maternal behavioral health TA was previously approved in concept and that the present action changes the method (from anticipated in-house support to an external procurement) but does not increase the total maternal allocation already reflected in the budget presented. Staff also noted that some figures had been included in the committee’s proposed budget but could be adjusted if the committee recommended a lower amount (for example, if the committee chose to sustain the legacy contract at its original level rather than the requested increase).

After public comment and additional clarification, the committee moved the budget recommendation. The roll call recorded affirmative votes from the five commissioners present and the motion passed.

The committee asked staff to return to the full commission with the proposed FY25–26 budget, the detailed expenditures shown to the committee and the procurement plans discussed; staff said additional procurements and budget items will be presented to the commission in coming months.