BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 959
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 959 (Jones)
As Amended August 30, 2011
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |75-0 |(June 1, 2011) |SENATE: |38-0 |(September 7, |
| | | | | |2011) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: HUM S.
SUMMARY : Improves the administration of a discontinuance notice
of benefits for recipients of the California Work Opportunity
and Responsibility to Kids program (CalWORKs). Specifically
this bill :
1)Extends, by a month, the time period for CalWORKs recipients
to submit a late report without having to reapply because
their services were discontinued.
2)Requires the Department of Social Services to obtain federal
approvals.
3)Makes these provisions operative on July 1, 2012.
The Senate amendments:
1)Make the bill operative on July 1, 2012.
2)Requires federal approvals before implementation due
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program rules.
3)Add a new code section to the Welfare and Institutions Code to
avoid a chaptering out conflict with another bill.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
AB 959
Page 2
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
theFed/General
impact initial year of implementation
COMMENTS : According to the sponsor of this bill, the County of
San Diego (County), "This proposal can significantly reduce the
number of applications processed: saving County staff workload
and allowing staff to spend more time on case maintenance and
other program issues." The author believes that this bill is
necessary because the current rules governing the administration
of a discontinuance notice of benefits negatively affects the
county's efficiency and ability to improve services for CalWORKs
families.
Existing law : A discontinuance notice is a form used by county
welfare departments to communicate with recipients that benefits
may be terminated for any number of reasons, including for
failure to submit a completed quarterly report, a household
composition change, and lack of verifications such as a pay
stub. This bill is specific to a discontinuance notice of
benefits for failure to submit a quarterly report.
CalWORKs recipients are required to report their income, address
change, and other personal circumstances to the county through
what is known as a quarterly report. The purpose of the report
is to ensure that the recipient is still meeting eligibility
guidelines to continue to receive assistance. Under existing
law, rules governing the timely submission of the report are
outlined in the following five steps:
1)Recipients should receive a quarterly report form from the
county at the end of the second month of the quarterly
reporting period.
2)Recipients must then return the completed quarterly report
form by the 11th day of the following or third month of the
quarterly reporting period.
3)If the form is not returned by the 11th day of the third
month, the recipient receives a notice from the county stating
AB 959
Page 3
that benefits will be terminated at the end of the third
month.
4)Statute also mentions that prior to terminating benefits, the
county must attempt contact again, this time to make personal
contact to remind the recipient that the report is due.
5)If a completed report is received then the discontinuance
notice is rescinded and benefits are not terminated.
This bill extends, by one month, the amount of time a recipient
has to correct any quarterly report problems. During this extra
month aid is terminated; however, once the needed corrections
are made to the report, aid may be restored without having to
reapply or to interview. This is important for two main
reasons: 1) the family does not have to go through the lengthy
and cumbersome process of re-application and interrupting their
workday to interview at the county welfare office; and, 2) the
county does not have to waste the time or expense of
re-processing the application, conducting an interview, and
fingerprinting the recipient all over again. In fact, the
County states that processing just a re-application can average
three hours and take up to 45 days.
The sponsor reports that the one month extension provided under
this bill is a grace period and benefits during this time are
not distributed. As soon as the recipient provides a completed
report, the benefits will resume and be prorated to that date.
Analysis Prepared by : Frances Chacon / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0002344