BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 959| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 959 Author: Jones (R) Amended: 8/31/11 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 7-0, 06/28/11 AYES: Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland, Wright, Yee SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 08/25/11 AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Runner, Steinberg ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 06/01/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : CalWORKs and CalFresh: reporting SOURCE : County of San Diego DIGEST : This bill provides a one-month extension to participants in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) and CalFresh programs for filing required reports in order to avoid re-application. This bill provides that its provisions will not be implemented until the Department of Social Services (DSS) obtains all necessary federal approvals. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/31/11 clarify what benefits may be received when reports are submitted late. CONTINUED AB 959 Page 2 ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Establishes that counties must provide cash assistance and other services to needy families CalWORKs using a combination of federal, state and county funds. CalWORKs uses federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families block grants for partial funding of the program. 2.Establishes that counties are responsible for distributing funds to needy families from federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called food stamps. California distributes SNAP funds through its CalFresh program. 3.Requires quarterly submission of eligibility information by participants in both programs. 4.Sanctions CalWORKs beneficiaries who do not submit their quarterly reports on time by dis-enrolling them from the program. To renew eligibility, current law requires recipients to re-apply for the program. This bill extends the amount of time provided to a recipient to submit his or her completed CalWORKs and CalFresh form by one month, providing that if a recipient submits a completed report form within the month following the discontinuance of benefits, the county shall restore benefits to the household without requiring a new application or interview, and shall prorate benefits from the date that the household provides the completed form. The provisions of this bill would be contingent upon obtaining all necessary federal approvals from the federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Absent such a waiver, reapplications to CalFresh and CalWORKs for late reporting would continue as under existing law. Providing an additional month to submit the form and alleviating the requirement to re-apply and interview will result in county administrative workload relief of an unknown but potentially significant amount. Information from San Diego County indicates approximately 90 re-applications per month (5 percent) are received within 30 days of discontinuance. Extrapolating the five percent statewide results in approximately 1,100 recipients CONTINUED AB 959 Page 3 statewide per month who file late reports within 30 days of discontinuance and who could potentially be impacted by the provisions of this bill. The administrative cost to restore benefits is unknown but would likely be significantly less than intake cost of $198 per case for CalWORKs and $51 per case for CalFresh ($274,000 per 1,100 cases). Implementation of the bill will be July 1, 2012. Background Under current law, CalWORKs and CalFresh recipients are required to report their income, address change, prospective income earnings, and other personal circumstances to their county in what is known as a quarterly report. These reports are provided to recipients by county workers at the end of the second month of the three-month reporting period. Reports are due back to the county by the 11th day of the third month of the reporting period. Recipients who do not have their forms turned in by the 11th day of the third month receives a notice from the county warning that benefits will be terminated at the end of the third month if the form is not received. Prior to terminating benefits, state law requires counties to attempt to contact recipients personally to remind them that the forms are due. When a completed form is turned in, the discontinuance notice is rescinded and benefits continue. If the form is not received by the last day of the third month, benefits are terminated. Recipients who wish to continue benefits are required to re-apply, a process which includes an in-person interview, fingerprinting, and submission of a new application. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal Impact (in thousands) CONTINUED AB 959 Page 4 Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund One-month reporting Unknown; potentially significant Fed/Gen/Loc extension administrative cost savings in the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually CalWORKs benefit One-time grant shift of up to $495 in the Fed/General impact initial year of implementation SUPPORT : (Verified 8/29/11) County of San Diego (source) California Association of Food Banks California Hunger Action Coalition California State Association of Counties County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors County Welfare Directors Association National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter Urban Counties Caucus Western Center on Law and Poverty ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : San Diego County, writes that processing a re-application can average three hours and take up to 45 days, including conducting an interview, fingerprinting the recipient and submitting paperwork. The county states that it averages 90 CalWORKs reapplications within each 30-day discontinuance period, or 1,080 re-applications annually. It projects this bill would save 270 hours of staff time per month, improve customer service and improve service to needy families. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 06/01/11 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, CONTINUED AB 959 Page 5 Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Garrick, Gorell, Jeffries, V. Manuel Pérez, Williams CTW:nl 9/1/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED