Assembly Member Chen's proposal to establish a state-funded grant program for clinical laboratory training programs responds to California's growing demand for laboratory professionals. The Department of Health Care Access and Information would administer grants to qualifying programs that train clinical laboratory scientists and medical laboratory technicians, provided they maintain approval from the State Department of Public Health or its recognized accrediting bodies.

The bill's findings point to a widening gap between the need for laboratory professionals and available training opportunities. Under the proposed framework, approved training programs could apply for grants to expand their capacity for training new clinical laboratory scientists and medical laboratory technicians. Recipients would need to utilize awarded funds within three years of receiving them.

This measure builds upon existing state oversight of clinical laboratory training, which requires the State Department of Public Health to approve and regulate programs teaching clinical laboratory techniques. The new grant program would operate alongside these established regulatory functions while introducing a funding mechanism to address capacity constraints in the training pipeline.