BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1584
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Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 1584
(Brown) - As Amended March 18, 2016
SUBJECT: Public social services: SSI/SSP
SUMMARY: Reinstates the cost-of-living adjustment for the State
Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled and
indexes the maximum Supplemental Security Income/State
Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) benefit to the federal poverty
level.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, as of January 1, 2017, annual cost-of-living
adjustments (COLAs), as measured by the California Necessities
Index (CNI), to be applied to SSI/SSP payment schedules.
2)Requires maximum SSI/SSP aid payments that fall below 96% of
the federal poverty level as of December 31, 2016, to be
increased to an amount equal to 96% of the federal poverty
level. Further requires, beginning January 1, 2018, maximum
aid payments that fall below 100% of the federal poverty level
as of December 31, 2017, to be increased to an amount equal
to 100% of the federal poverty level.
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3)States that the requirements to index the maximum aid payments
to the federal poverty level are not intended to reduce any
payments that already exceed 96% or 100% of the federal
poverty level, as applicable.
4)Requires payment increases resulting from indexing to the
federal poverty level to be in addition to required COLAs, as
specified.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the State Supplementary Program for Aged, Blind
and Disabled, which is intended to supplement SSI and provide
persons whose need results from age, blindness or disability
with assistance and services that help them meet basic needs
and maintain or increase independence. (WIC 12000 et seq.)
2)Provides that eligibility requirements for SSP match federal
SSI criteria, and requires a minimum level of SSP benefits to
be provided in order to maintain federal Medicaid funding, as
specified. (WIC 12000 et seq.)
3)Defines the CNI to be the weighted average of changes for
food, clothing, fuel, utilities, rent, and transportation for
low-income consumers, and specifies the methods with which the
computation of annual adjustments to the CNI shall be made.
(WIC 12201)
4)Requires annual adjustments, based on the CNI, to SSI/SSP
payment schedules to reflect increases or decreases in the
cost of living, as specified, but further stipulates that such
adjustments shall not be made, unless otherwise required by
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statute, for the 2011 calendar year and each calendar year
thereafter. (WIC 12201)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
SSI/SSP: The SSI/SSP program provides a monthly cash benefit to
needy aged, blind, and disabled individuals and couples to help
them pay for basic living expenses, such as food, clothing and
shelter. In order to be eligible for SSI/SSP, an individual
must be 65 years of age or older, blind, or have disabilities
(children who are blind or have disabilities can qualify), and
must meet certain federal income and resource requirements. The
SSI portion of the benefit is federally-funded and only provided
through an approved application to the Social Security
Administration (SSA), while the SSP portion is paid for with
General Fund dollars, and a qualified SSI recipient is
automatically qualified for SSP. The SSI portion of the grant
is meant to provide an income floor for qualifying low-income
individuals and couples.
SSI/SSP grants are adjusted based on whether a recipient is
aged, blind or disabled, the individual's or couple's living
arrangement, a recipient's marital status, and a recipient's
status as a minor. The current SSI/SSP maximum grant levels are
$889.40 per month for an individual ($156.40 SSP) and $1,496 per
month for couples ($396.20 SSP), which places individuals at 90%
of poverty and couples at 112% of poverty based on federal
guidelines. The estimated SSI/SSP caseload for 2016-17 is 1.31
million cases (including 1.51 million people), which is
comprised of 28% aged persons, 1% blind persons and 71% persons
with disabilities. Over 81% of SSI/SSP cases are individual
cases.
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The SSA applies an annual COLA to the SSI portion of the grant
pursuant to annual increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
This federal COLA is passed through to SSI/SSP recipients in
California, which allows SSI/SSP grants to remain at the minimum
level allowed under federal law for individuals and couples,
thereby allowing the state to maintain its federal Medicaid
funding. During the state's economic downturn, the SSI/SSP
program was one of many safety net programs negatively impacted.
The COLA California once applied to the SSP amount was made
inoperative as part of the 2009-10 Budget Act.
The Governor's 2016-17 Budget proposed in January includes a
cost-of-living increase to the SSP beginning January 1, 2017,
that is equal to the CNI, estimated to be 2.96%. This will have
the effect of increasing SSI/SSP monthly grant amounts by $17
for individuals and $31 for couples.
Need for this bill: In a March 2015 Joint Hearing of the
Assembly Committee on Aging and Long Term Care and the Assembly
Committee on Human Services titled Who Can Afford to Get Old?
Senior Poverty in the Golden State, numerous aged individuals
and individuals with disabilities provided public comment about
the financial hardship they and people they know were facing
due, in part, to the low SSI/SSP grant amount, which is the sole
source of income for many of them. In addition to pointing out
how the SSI/SSP grant amount has not kept up with inflation,
many members of the public spoke about how too many aged
individuals and individuals with disabilities had to make tough
decisions about which expenses they were going to be able to pay
each month, understanding that their SSI/SSP grant amounts
weren't high enough to meet even their most basic needs. More
specifically, a presentation prepared for the hearing by the
California Budget & Policy Center revealed that the current Fair
Market Rent for a studio apartment exceeds the maximum SSI/SSP
grant level for an individual in 15 counties, and exceeds 50% of
the maximum SSI/SSP grant for an individual in all 58 counties.
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The California Elder Economic Security Index (EESI) is a
county-specific measure of the minimum income necessary to cover
basic expenses for people age 65 years and older. Factoring in
housing, food, health care, and transportation costs, the EESI
illustrates the shortcomings of the current SSI/SSP grant amount
for seniors. According to the EESI, a single renter living
alone in a one-bedroom apartment in Kern County needs $1,565
per month to pay for basic expenses, which increases to $2,193
needed for a couple renting that same apartment. In San Diego
County, the amount needed is $2,031 for a single elderly renter
and $2,629 for a couple. The minimum income is even higher in
Alameda County at $2,170 for a single elderly renter and $2,888
for a couple. By reinstating the COLA in order to increase the
monthly SSI/SSP grant amount, the author of this bill seeks to
eventually better align the income of individuals who are unable
to work with the actual costs of their needs.
According to the author, "Aged, Blind and disabled Californians
need our help. Eye-watering recession-era cuts to the SSI/SSP
program plunged over 1 million Californians into poverty, and
their only way 'out' is through the actions of the Governor and
the Legislature. There is no 'Do-Over' for SSI/SSP recipients
whom due to age, blindness or disability are unable to enter the
work-force, or re-train to acquire new skills. They are at the
mercy of state policy. [This bill] advances a first-step toward
total restoration of recession era cuts. By increasing the
state portion of the SSI/SSP grant, California's eligible aged,
blind and disabled adults will have financial resources to
manage California's unusually high costs of living, while
stimulating needed economic activity in communities hit hardest
by the recession. The strategy embodied in [this bill] (as
amended) is two-fold: first: restore the
Cost-of-living-adjustment, or 'COLA,' a built-in 'inflator' to
compensate for ongoing cost of living increases that impact
everyone. Second: a two-year, initial restoration effort to
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assure that no recipient finds their income below the federal
poverty level (FPL) by extending incremental restoration during
a two-year period to first raise all grants to a minimum of 96%
of the FPL, then to 100% of the FPL."
Recommended amendments:
1)In order to make clear that the SSI/SSP payment schedules are
to first be adjusted per the CNI, and then the resulting
amounts indexed, as specified, to the federal poverty level,
committee staff recommends the following amendments to Section
12200.7 of the bill, starting on line 14 of page 2:
14
12200.7. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, Commencing January
1, 2017, a ny maximum aid
15
payment pursuant to section 12200 and adjusted pursuant to
section 12201 that falls below does not equal or exceed 96
percent of the 2016 federal poverty level based upon family size
as
16
of December 31, 2016 , shall be increased to an amount that
equals
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17
96 percent of the 2016 federal poverty level based upon
family size .
18
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, c C ommencing January 1,
19
2018, a ny maximum aid payment that falls below does not equal or
exceed 100 percent of the
20
2017 federal poverty level based on family size as of December
31, 2017 , shall be increased
21
to an amount that equals 100 percent of the 2017 federal
poverty level based on family size .
P3
1
(c)This section is not intended to result in the reduction of
any
2
payment that exceeds 96 percent of the 2016 federal poverty
level based on family size during calendar year 2017, on
3
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December 31, 2016, or that exceeds 100 percent of the 2017
federal poverty level line based on family size during calendar
year 2018. on
4
December 31, 2017.
5
(d)The increases required by this section shall be provided in
6
addition to the cost-of-living adjustments required by Section
7
12201.
2)Because the SSP COLA is reinstated by this bill, the reference
to the ongoing prohibition on the application of this COLA can
be deleted. Committee staff recommends the following
amendments:
On line 10 of page 3, strike "or (g)"; and
On page 5, strike lines 15 through 21.
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
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AB 474 (Brown), 2015, would have, beginning with the 2015-16
fiscal year, required the state maximum SSP grant to be annually
adjusted such that the maximum SSI/SSP combined payment would
have equaled 112% of the federal poverty level. It died in the
Assembly Budget Committee pursuant to Article IV, Sec. 10(c) of
the Constitution.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
2-1-1 Humboldt County
AARP
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Association of Regional Center Agencies (ARCA)
Beacon Presbyterian Fellowship
Berkeley Food Pantry
California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA)
California Association of Food Banks
California Catholic Conference
California Council of the Blind (CCB)
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California Immigrant Policy Center
California In-Home Supportive Services Consumers Alliance
California Long-Term Care Ombudsman Association (CLTCOA)
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, Inc.
Communities Actively Living Independent & Free
Community Food Bank
Community Resources for Independent Living
County of Alameda
County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA)
Disability Organizing Group For Initiating Total Equality
Disability Rights California
Educate. Advocate.
Feeding America San Diego
Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano Counties
Food for People, Inc.
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Jewish Labor Committee Western Region
Jewish Public Affairs Committee of CA (JPAC)
Justice in Aging
Los Robles Apartments Food Pantry
MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund)
Mercy Brown Bag Program
Mission for the Homeless
Napa Valley Food Bank
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National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
(NASW-CA)
Orange County Food Access
Orange County Food Bank
Personal Assistance Services Council
Personal Assistance Services Council of Los Angeles County
Project Angel Food
Redwood Empire Food Bank
Resources for Independent Living
San Francisco Food Security Task Force
San Francisco-Marin Food Bank
Senior & Disability Action
SF-Marin Food Bank
Silicon Valley Independent Living Center
Southern California Resources Services for Independent Living
St. Anthony Foundation
Time for Change Foundation
UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
Viola Blythe Center
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Myesha Jackson/Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. /
(916) 319-2089
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