Amended in Senate September 3, 2013

Amended in Senate August 12, 2013

Amended in Assembly May 24, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 10, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 271

Introduced by Assembly Member Mitchell

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Blumenfield, Buchanan, begin insert Dickinson, end insert Garcia, Lowenthal, Pan, V. Manuel Pérez, begin delete and Skinner end delete begin insert Skinner, and Yamada end insert )

(Coauthors: Senators begin insert Beall, end insert Evans, Hancock, begin insert Hill, Leno, Liu, end insert and Yee)

February 7, 2013

An act to add Section 11270.5 to, and to repeal Section 11450.04 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to CalWORKs.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 271, as amended, Mitchell. CalWORKs: eligibility.

Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program for the allocation of federal funds received through the TANF program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Under existing law, for purposes of determining a family’s maximum aid payment under the CalWORKs program, the number of needy persons in the same family is not increased for any child born into a family that has received aid under the CalWORKs program continuously for the 10 months prior to the birth of the child, with specified exceptions.

This bill would repeal that exclusion for purposes of determining the family’s maximum aid payment and would expressly prohibit the denial of aid or denial of an increase in the maximum aid payment if a child on whose behalf aid, or an increase in aid, is being requested was born into an applicant’s or recipient’s family while the applicant’s or recipient’s family was receiving aid under the CalWORKs program. The bill would specify that an applicant or recipient is not entitled to an increased benefit payment for months prior to January 1, 2014, as a result of the repeal of that exclusion or the enactment of that express prohibition. The bill would also prohibit the department from conditioning an applicant or recipient’s eligibility for aid on the applicant or recipient’s disclosure of specified information regarding rape, incest, or contraception, as specified. begin insert The bill would make related findings and declarations. end insert

Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county aid grant costs under the CalWORKs program.

This bill would declare that no appropriation would be made for purposes of the bill.

To the extent that this bill affects eligibility under the CalWORKs program, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares that this act
is necessary to protect the reproductive and privacy rights of all
applicants for, and recipients of, aid under the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKs).

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert The Legislature finds and declares the following: end insert

begin insert

(a) Scientific research has demonstrated that young children
living in deep poverty experience lifelong cognitive impairments
limiting their ability to be prepared for, and succeed in, school.

end insert begin insert

(b) Academic research has documented an increase in missed
days of school and an increase in visits to hospital emergency
rooms by children who live in deep poverty.

end insert begin insert

(c) The Maximum Family Grant rule was adopted to limit the
length of time a family could receive basic needs assistance, and
to limit the amount of assistance a family could receive, through
the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program
before the implementation of welfare reform. At the time the rule
was adopted, there was no limit on the length of time a family
could receive aid, no work requirements, and the benefits provided
were approximately 80 percent of the federal poverty level.

end insert begin insert

(d) Since the implementation of the Maximum Family Grant
rule, AFDC has been replaced with the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKs), which
imposes lifetime limits on aid and requires adult CalWORKs
participants to meet work requirements in order to receive a
maximum benefit of approximately 40 percent of the federal poverty
level.

end insert begin insert

(e) The Maximum Family Grant rule makes poor children
poorer, reducing the income of families with infants to below 30
percent of the federal poverty level.

end insert begin insert

(f) This act is necessary to protect infants born to families
receiving CalWORKs from experiencing lifelong cognitive
impairments due to the toxic stress of deep poverty and to ready
those children for participation in California’s public school
system.

end insert begin insert

(g) This act is also necessary to protect the reproductive and
privacy rights of all applicants for, and recipients of, aid under
CalWORKs.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

Section 11270.5 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, following Section 11270, to read:

11270.5.  

(a) An applicant for or recipient of aid under this
chapter shall not be required as a condition of eligibility to do any
of the following:

(1) Divulge that any member of the assistance unit is a victim
of rape or incest.

(2) Share confidential medical records related to any member
of the assistance unit’s rape or incest.

(3) Use contraception, choose a particular method of
contraception, or divulge the method of contraception any member
of the assistance unit uses.

(b) An applicant for or recipient of aid under this chapter shall
not be denied aid, nor denied an increase in the maximum aid
payment, for a child born into the applicant’s or recipient’s family
during a period in which the applicant’s or recipient’s family was
receiving aid under this chapter.

(c) An applicant for or recipient of aid under this chapter shall
not be entitled to an increased benefit payment for any month prior
to January 1, 2014, as a result of the repeal of former Section
11450.04 (as added by Section 1 of Chapter 196 of the Statutes of
1994) or the enactment of this section.

SEC. 3.  

Section 11450.04 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is repealed.

SEC. 4.  

No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code shall be made for the purposes of
this act.

SEC. 5.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.