BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 959|
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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.
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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
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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)
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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,
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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
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