BILL NUMBER: AB 1118 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to add Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10700) to
Part 2 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to childhood poverty.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1118, as amended, Jones. Childhood poverty.
Existing law provides various programs to provide health, social,
and welfare income support services to
persons and children with limited incomes who meet specified
eligibility requirements.
This bill would declare that it is a goal of the Legislature to
reduce child poverty by 1/2 by January 1, 2017, and to eliminate it
entirely by January 1, 2027.
This bill would establish the California Child Poverty Council, an
advisory body that would be responsible for developing a
comprehensive plan to reduce child poverty in California by 50% by
January 1, 2017, and eliminate it by January 1, 2027. The bill would
provide for the composition of the council, including as chair, the
Secretary of California Health and Human Services. The bill would
require the council to monitor and report at least annually to the
Governor, the Legislature, and the public, the extent to which the
state is meeting the numerical targets for reducing child poverty.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) One in five California children lives in poverty, 7 percent
live in extreme poverty, with income below 50 percent of poverty
levels, and over 40 percent of children are considered low income,
with income levels below 200 percent of poverty.
(b) The economic security of families affects every aspect of
children's lives.
(c) Poverty and hunger put children at high risk for health,
developmental, and behavioral problems. The children at greatest risk
are those who experience poverty when they are young and who
experience persistent and deep poverty. Child poverty is also
associated with difficulties later in life such as dropping out of
school, poor adolescent and adult health, teenage pregnancy, and poor
employment outcomes.
(d) One in six poor children in the United States lives in
California compared to one in 10 two decades ago.
(e) Poverty is disproportionately concentrated in families that
are Latino, African-American, Native American, or Southeast Asian
.
(f) California alone has accounted for all the net national
increase of 800,000 in the number of children living in poverty since
the late 1970s.
(g) More than two in three poor children in California live in
working families with at least one employed parent.
(h) Parental education is a major factor in determining family
income.
(i) Hundreds of thousands of California's children are eligible
for state subsidized child care, but do not receive it because there
are not sufficient child care slots.
(j) Nearly 800,000 of California's children lack health insurance.
Fifty-five percent of those children are eligible for the Healthy
Families Program or Medi-Cal.
(k) Child support payments are a critical source of economic
stability for both moderate- and low-income families. California
collects less than one-half of the current child support due each
year for families in California, ranking the state 52 out of 54
states and territories.
() Increasingly, goals that include timelines and numerical
targets for reducing or eliminating child poverty are being used as a
first step in addressing poverty.
SEC. 2. The Legislature declares that it is the
goal of the Legislature to reduce child poverty by one-half by
January 1, 2017, and to eliminate it entirely by January 1, 2027.
SEC. 2. Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10700)
is added to Part 2 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code , to read:
CHAPTER 3. CHILD POVERTY
10700. The Legislature declares that it is the goal of the State
of California to reduce child poverty by 50 percent over the next 10
years and to entirely eliminate child poverty in California by
January 1, 2027. In order to achieve that goal, the Legislature
enacts this chapter.
10701. (a) The California Child Poverty Council is hereby
established.
(b) The council shall serve as an advisory body responsible for
developing a comprehensive plan to reduce child poverty in California
by 50 percent by January 1, 2017, and to eliminate it by January 1,
2027. The council shall monitor and report the extent to which the
state is meeting the numerical targets for reducing child poverty.
(c) The council shall issue advisory reports whenever it deems
appropriate, but no less frequently than annually, to the Governor,
the Legislature, and the public. An advisory report of the council
shall, at a minimum, include all of the following:
(1) An identification and analysis of the occurrence of child
poverty in the state.
(2) An analysis of the long-term effects of child poverty on
children, their families, and their communities.
(3) An inventory of statewide public programs that address child
poverty.
(4) The percentage of the target population served by those
programs and the current and previous fiscal year's state funding
levels, if any, for those programs.
(5) Programs or policies, or both, that would help reduce child
poverty.
(6) The coordination of available services for reducing child
poverty and improving outreach efforts to those youth and their
families.
11702. The council shall be comprised of the following members:
(a) The Secretary of California Health and Human Services, who
shall serve as the chair.
(b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, or his or her
designee.
(c) The Director of Social Services.
(d) The State Public Health Officer.
(e) Two Members of the Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly.
(f) Two Members of the Senate appointed by the President pro
Tempore of the Senate.
(g) Leaders and representatives of county agencies and
departments, child advocacy organizations, labor organizations,
recognized professional associations that represent children,
antipoverty organizations, women's organizations, and other groups
and stakeholders that provide benefits, services, and advocacy to
families and children who are living in poverty, as nominated by
representatives of these groups and as appointed by the chair.
10703. The council shall meet no less frequently than each
quarter of the state fiscal year and at the call of the chair at a
time and location convenient to the public as it may deem
appropriate. All meetings of the council shall be open to the public.
Members shall serve without compensation.
10704. The chair may appoint committees composed of council
members, experts in specialized fields, state and county agency
representatives, child advocacy organization representatives, and
other groups and program stakeholders to advise the council on any
function of the council and the programs and policies it develops.
The committees may assemble information and make recommendations to
the council, but shall not exercise any of the powers vested in the
council. The council may seek input from groups and individuals as it
deems appropriate. Members of these committees shall receive no
compensation from the state for their services.
10705. Consistent with state and federal law, the council shall
have access to aggregate data and information concerning either
children and poverty held by any state or local department or agency
that is subject to state and federal confidentiality laws and
regulations.