BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1579|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1579
Author: Stone (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 3-0, 6/10/14
AYES: Beall, DeSaulnier, Liu
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 59-15, 5/29/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : CalWORKs: pregnant women
SOURCE : Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center
Peace Over Violence
Shanti Project
Western Center on Law and Poverty
WOMAN, Inc.
DIGEST : This bill, beginning July 1, 2015, requires that a
pregnant woman who qualifies for the California Work Opportunity
and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) benefits, be eligible for
aid beginning for the month in which the birth is anticipated
and for the six-month period immediately prior to that.
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law:
1.Establishes in Federal law the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program to provide assistance to needy
families so that children may be cared for in their own homes
or in the homes of relatives, and to end the dependence on
government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and
marriage.
2.Establishes the CalWORKs Act, to provide cash benefits,
employment training and other supports to low-income families
through a combination of state and county funds and federal
funds through the TANF block grant.
3.Requires that CalWORKs benefits be paid to an eligible,
childless pregnant woman beginning in the month in which the
birth is anticipated and for the three-month period
immediately prior to the month in which the birth is
anticipated.
4.Requires verification of pregnancy as a condition of
eligibility.
This bill:
1.Entitles this act the Healthy Babies Act of 2014.
2.Declares legislative findings that:
A. Women who experience multiple stressful situations
during pregnancy, such as homelessness, hunger, violence,
and deep poverty, are more likely to have premature and low
birth weight babies, or to experience high rates of mother
and infant mortality. The cost of medical care for
pre-term births is much higher than for full-term births,
and the human costs of infant mortality are immeasurable.
B. Children whose birth mothers experience the harmful
stressor of deep poverty are more likely to suffer poor
health and less likely to succeed academically.
C. Domestic violence causes more health problems among
pregnant women than any other single cause. Without the
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support of the CalWORKs program, low-income pregnant women
have few alternatives and are more likely to endure abuse
that will cause long- and short-term harm to both
themselves and their unborn fetus.
1.Provides that CalWORKS aid shall be paid to a pregnant woman
for the month in which the birth is anticipated and for the
six-month period immediately prior to the month in which the
birth is anticipated, as specified in existing statute.
2.Specifies that these provisions may be implemented by means of
all-county letters until regulations are adopted.
Background
CalWORKs . The average monthly CalWORKs cash grant for a family
of three is $463, or $15.43 per day to meet basic needs such as
rent, clothing, utilities and other necessities. A family of
three receiving the average grant amount would have an annual
household income at $5,556 per year - about one quarter of the
Federal Poverty Guidelines level for the same size family of
$19,790.
Pregnant women . Pregnant women who do not have other children
in their household also may qualify for CalWORKs assistance once
they reach the third trimester of pregnancy and have provided
verification of pregnancy to the county welfare office. During
those three months, the pregnant woman is eligible for CalWORKs
aid for an assistance unit of one (for herself) plus a $47
benefit to meet special needs resulting from pregnancy.
Approximately 3,000 women in 2013 were qualified for the
pregnancy benefit from an overall caseload of more than 500,000
families.
Domestic violence . According to information from the University
of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, domestic
violence is more common than any other health problem among
women during pregnancy.
According to UCSF, in addition to physical and psychological
trauma that the mother may face, effects of domestic violence on
an unborn child have been linked to low birth weight, trouble
nursing or taking a bottle, sleeping problems, delayed walking
and speech and lasting emotional problems. All of these effects
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have been linked to other chronic health problems and to long
term health costs. According to the March of Dimes, nearly one
in six pregnant women has been abused by a partner. A World
Health Organization study, reported in Reproductive Health
Matters magazine in 2010, found that one-third of pregnant
domestic violence victims suffered blows to the abdomen.
Other states . California is one of 32 states that provide TANF
benefits to eligible pregnant women with no other aided
children, according to July 2011 data from the Urban Institute's
"Welfare Rules Databook." Among those states, 20 provided
benefits earlier than California's third trimester, or 7th
month, policy, including New York, Tennessee and Nevada.
Related Legislation
AB 1640 (Mitchell, Chapter 778, Statutes of 2012) required that
CalWORKs aid would be paid to a pregnant mother in the month in
which the birth is anticipated, and the three months immediately
prior to that month. The bill also required CalWORKs aid to be
paid to a pregnant mother who is 18 years of age or younger at
any time after verification of pregnancy, when the Cal-Learn
Program is operative, regardless of whether she is eligible for
the Cal-Learn Program.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Ongoing increased costs of $7.2 million (General Fund) to
provide CalWORKs benefits three months earlier than provided
for under existing law, assuming continuing operation of the
CalLearn Program. This estimate is based on 3,025 pregnant
women each year being impacted by the provisions of this bill.
Should the CalLearn Program be suspended in the future,
potential loss of savings in excess of $20 million (General
Fund) annually, as over 9,000 pregnant teens would have
otherwise been eligible for CalWORKs benefits only during
their third trimester under existing law upon suspension of
the CalLearn Program.
One-time potentially significant costs to the Department of
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Social Services for automation changes necessary due to
changing eligibility criteria for this program.
Unknown, potential future cost savings in health and other
governmental program services costs to the extent the
provision of assistance earlier during a woman's pregnancy
results in healthier children and better overall life outcomes
for these families.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/14)
Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center (co-source)
Peace Over Violence (co-source)
Shanti Project (co-source)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (co-source)
WOMAN, Inc. (co-source)
ACCESS Women's Health Justice
AFSCME
American Academy of Pediatrics - California
American Civil Liberties Union
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Women's Shelter
Building Future
California Catholic Conference
California Food Policy Advocates
California Nurses Association
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California Primary Care Association
California WIC Association
Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice
Coalition for Women and Children
Communications Workers of America, Local 9003
Equal Rights Advocates
Family Violence Law Center
Filipina Women's Network
March of Dimes - California Chapter
My Sister's House
National Association of Social Workers - California
Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Saint Anthony's Foundation
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
San Francisco District Attorney, George Gascon
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San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium
St. Vincent de Paul Society - The Riley Center
Women's Foundation of California
Work Life Law, UC Hastings College of Law
Worksafe
Y-Empowerment, Inc.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, AB 1579 helps
ensure that poor pregnant women are healthier and can prepare
for a new baby by allowing eligible pregnant women who do not
have any other children to access CalWORKs benefits beginning in
the second trimester of their pregnancy instead of waiting until
the third trimester. The author further states that the delayed
eligibility rule to receive CalWORKs cash aid is more than two
decades old and fails to take into account the many academic
studies showing that instability and stress felt by a pregnant
woman can have long-lasting impacts on the health of infants and
children.
The Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center, a co-sponsor, notes
that pregnant women with inadequate financial support are less
able to afford healthy diets, which prevents them from getting
the nutrients necessary for proper fetal development.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 59-15, 5/29/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,
Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth
Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Jones, Logue, Mansoor, Melendez,
Wagner, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hall, Harkey, Patterson, Quirk, Wilk, Vacancy
JL:e 8/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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