BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1094
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1094 (Brown)
As Amended May 24, 2013
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Stone, Maienschein, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Ammiano, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Ian Calderon, Garcia, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Grove, Hall | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Expands the definition of disability-based unearned
income under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility
to Kids (CalWORKs) program to include any veteran's disability
compensation.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes under federal law the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program to provide welfare-to-work
services to eligible families and, in California, provides
that TANF funds for welfare-to-work services are administered
through the CalWORKs program.
2)Establishes the maximum monthly amount of cash aid (maximum
aid payment) that can be provided to a family eligible for aid
under the CalWORKs program.
3)Exempts a CalWORKs recipient from meeting work participation
requirements if the recipient is disabled and the disability
is expected to last at least 30 days and significantly impairs
the recipient's ability to be regularly employed or
participate in welfare-to-work activities, as specified.
4)Establishes income, asset and real property limits used to
determine eligibility for the program, which include:
a) One residence that the family lives in;
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b) $2,000 in assets ($3,000 if the household includes a
family member over age 60);
c) One car with a value of $4,650 or less;
d) Net income below the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP), based on
family size and county of residence, which is currently no
higher than 40% of the Federal Poverty Level; and
e) Any savings and interest in restricted, federally
qualified accounts for the purpose of retirement, starting
a business, saving for college, purchasing a home, or
overcoming an episode of homelessness.
1)Defines disability-based unearned income, within the CalWORKs
program, as state disability insurance benefits, private
disability insurance benefits, temporary workers' compensation
benefits, and social security disability benefits.
2)Defines earned income as gross income received as wages,
salary, employer-provided sick leave benefits, commissions, or
profits from activities such as a business enterprise or
farming in which the recipient is engaged as a self-employed
individual or as an employee.
3)Exempts the following, until October 1, 2013, when calculating
a family's income for the purpose of determining CalWORKs
eligibility:
If the family's disability-based unearned income does not
exceed $225
a) All disability-based unearned income plus any amount
of not otherwise exempt earned income, not to exceed $112
or the amount of the difference between the amount of
disability-based unearned income and $225, whichever is
less.
b) Fifty percent of all not otherwise exempt earned
income in excess of the amount applied to meet the
differential in the unearned disability-based income
calculation.
If the family's disability-based unearned income exceeds
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$225
a) All of the first $225 in disability-based unearned
income.
b) Fifty percent of all earned income.
1)Exempts the following, beginning October 1, 2013, when
calculating a family's income for the purpose of determining
CalWORKs eligibility:
If the family's disability-based unearned income does not
exceed $225
a) All disability-based unearned income, plus any
amount of not otherwise exempt earned income equal to the
amount of the difference between the amount of
disability-based unearned income and $225.
b) Fifty percent of all not otherwise exempt earned
income in excess of the amount applied to the difference
between the amount of disability-based income and $225.
If the family's disability-based unearned income exceeds
$225
a) All of the first two $225 in disability-based
unearned income.
b) Fifty percent of all earned income.
1)Requires, under federal law, payment of disability
compensation to a veteran for a disability resulting from a
personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of
duty or for the aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered
or disease contracted in the line of duty, as specified,
during a period of war, provided that the disability is not
the result of a veteran's own willful misconduct or abuse of
alcohol or drugs. (38 United States Code (USC) Sections 1110
et seq.)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the Department of Social Services is unable to
determine how many cases would be affected by this change or the
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average increase in the CalWORKs grant. If, for example, 500
veterans and their families receive an increase in CalWORKs of
$100 per month due to this disregard, it would cost
approximately $600,000 per year (TANF/Maintenance of Effort
[MOE]).
COMMENTS : Because current statute does not include veteran's
disability compensation within the definition of
disability-based unearned income for purposes of calculating
income within the CalWORKs program, poor disabled veterans with
families are not able to maintain the same amount of monthly
income, before the monthly grant is calculated, as CalWORKs
recipients who receive disability benefits that are not related
to military service. The average disability compensation amount
for veterans is $947 per month ($11,365 annually). Because this
monthly amount exceeds the allowable disregard for
disability-based unearned benefits ($225), the amount that would
be counted toward the family's allowable income would be $722.
The maximum aid payment for a family of three in a high cost
county is $638, which increases to $762 for a family of four in
a high cost county. A family is not eligible for CalWORKs if
the family's income exceeds the maximum aid payment for their
family size after subtracting any disregarded amounts of earned
or unearned income. Therefore, with the change proposed in this
bill, in order for a parent who receives the average monthly
amount of disability-based veterans benefits ($947) to remain
eligible for CalWORKs, his or her assistance unit must include
at least four people.
Background : The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility
to Kids (CalWORKs) program provides monthly income assistance
and employment-related services aimed at moving children out of
poverty and helping families meet basic needs. Federal funding
for CalWORKs comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) block grant. The average monthly cash grant for
a family of three on CalWORKs is $464, which is $15.46 in cash
aid per household per day, making CalWORKs grants nearly the
same in actual dollars as they were in 1987. CalWORKs grants
are used to pay rent, buy clothing, pay utilities bills, and pay
for other basic needs to ensure children can be cared for at
home and remain safely with their families. According to
February 2013 data from the California Department of Social
Services, 562,570 families rely on CalWORKs, including over one
million children. Nearly half of the children on CalWORKs are
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under age six. Nineteen and half percent of CalWORKs families
include four or more aided family members.
Veterans in California : According to December 2012 estimates
from the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA),
California is home to nearly 2 million veterans; 8.3% of the
national veterans population , which is just over 22.3 million.
The Veterans Administration provides compensation to Veterans
who are at least 10% disabled because of injuries or diseases
that occurred or were aggravated during active military service.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs reports that as of the
end of 2010, 252,000 veterans were receiving monthly disability
compensation benefits in California. Additionally, CDVA data
shows that while the overall population of veterans in
California whose service ended during, or prior to, the Vietnam
era is estimated to continue to decline over time, tens of
thousands of veterans return to California from more recent wars
each year. The state's veteran population is comprised of 90%
men and 10% women.
Income disregard : The current income disregard allows families
receiving CalWORKs benefits to maintain some or all of their
disability payment, if they receive one, as well as a small
amount of their earned income, in addition to their CalWORKs
grant. Because most income offsets monthly grant amounts
(monthly grants shrink as earned income grows), allowing
families to keep a minimal amount that is not included in the
grant calculation encourages families to continue to work, seek
gainful employment, and increase their earned income. The
income disregard helps families achieve self-sufficiency and
leave aid sooner due to parents being able to support their
families, rather than providing a perverse incentive for
families to remain on aid by counting all earned income against
a family's grant. Provided that their disability income does
not make them ineligible, families with parents who are exempt
from work requirements due to a disability that won't allow them
to work can still benefit from the CalWORKs aid and services
needed to keep their children safe at home and keep the entire
family out of deep poverty.
Need for the bill : This measure adds veteran's disability
benefits to an existing list of disability benefits that do not
count against a person's income for purposes of CalWORKs
eligibility in an effort to help the families of California's
poor and disabled veterans, especially those returning from the
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recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, avoid deep poverty. With
so many veterans returning to California each year, many of whom
have service-related disabilities, their ability to provide for
their families and reintegrate into their communities should be
considered.
According to the Western Center on Law and Poverty (WCLP):
Nationally, 12.5% of veterans are disabled. Many
disabled veterans are homeless or live in poverty with
limited resources to access needed services?In the
coming year, tens of thousands of veterans of the wars
in Iraq an Afghanistan will return home to
California?Many of these young veterans will have full
or partial disabilities and some of those are parents
with children. Veteran benefits are usually enough to
lift a veteran and his or her family out of poverty,
but on rare occasions, [the benefits are
insufficient]. In these cases, veterans should have
the same right to access state and federal safety net
programs as non-veterans.
Disability Rights California (DRC) states:
The bill will help California's veterans with
disabilities, mostly veterans of the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars, get the assistance they need to care
for their families?AB 1094 is an important step
towards helping low-income, out-of-work California
veterans with disabilities get back to work and
prevents a deepening of asset poverty for families who
have fallen on hard times.
Analysis Prepared by : Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0001003