BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1770
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Alejo |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------|
|Version: |May 31, 2016 |Hearing |June 28, 2016 |
| | |Date: | |
|----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------|
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant|Debra Cooper |
|: | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Food assistance program: eligibility
SUMMARY
This bill extends eligibility for nutrition assistance under the
California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to a noncitizen who is
lawfully present in the United States, provided he or she meets
all remaining eligibility requirements.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes in federal law the Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families (TANF) program and ties receipt of benefits
to work. It also reduced or eliminated federal eligibility
for legal immigrants during their first five years of U.S.
residence.(H.R. 32734)
2) Establishes under federal law the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) within the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to promote the general welfare and to
safeguard the health and wellbeing of the nation's
population by raising the levels of nutrition among
low-income households. (7 CFR 271.1)
3) Establishes, under federal law, income eligibility
standards for SNAP benefits, including income that is at or
below 130% of the federal poverty level and is determined
AB 1770 (Alejo) Page 2
of ?
to be a substantial limiting factor in permitting a
recipient to obtain a more nutritious diet, as specified.
(7 CFR 273.9)
4) Establishes in California statute the CalFresh program
to administer the provisions of federal SNAP benefits to
families and individuals meeting specified criteria. (WIC
18900 et seq.)
5) Authorizes the provision of aid to noncitizens who have
been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or are
otherwise permanently residing in the United States under
color of law, to the extent permitted by federal law. (WIC
11104)
6) Establishes the California Food Assistance Program
(CFAP) which provides state-funded nutrition assistance to
certain legal immigrants who meet all other CalFresh
benefit requirements, as specified. (WIC 18930 et seq.)
This bill:
1) Extends eligibility for the CFAP to include noncitizens
lawfully present in the United States.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
According to the author, under existing law, the CalFresh
program provides nutritional assistance to certain, but not all,
legally eligible California immigrants who are ineligible for
federal SNAP benefits. AB 1770 would expand CalFresh
eligibility to all California immigrants who are lawfully
present in the United States.
The author further states, California has the largest immigrant
population in the country with approximately 10.5 million
residents, which comprise 27 percent of the state's population.
Meanwhile, 1 in 4 children in California experience hunger and
AB 1770 (Alejo) Page 3
of ?
nearly five million Californians suffer from food insecurity,
per the author.
The author states that ending hunger among lawfully present
immigrants is not only a moral imperative; it would help
stimulate state and local economies. The author cites data that
indicates every $5 in financial assistance generates $9 in
economic activity. Additionally, the author reports that every
$1 billion in SNAP benefits allows approximately 14,000
Americans to keep their jobs, according to the Economic Research
Service.
CalFresh
California provides nutritional benefits to approximately 4.4
million people through the CalFresh program. CalFresh benefits
are funded entirely by the federal government through the USDA's
SNAP program, which provides food benefits to eligible
households nationwide. USDA sets specific eligibility
requirements for SNAP programs across the United States,
including gross- and net-income asset tests for most recipients,
work requirements and specific documentation requirements. The
maximum gross income allowed to be eligible is 130% of the
Federal Poverty Level. According to the USDA, the average
monthly benefit for a CalFresh recipient in 2014 was $141.99 per
month, or $4.73 per day.
CalFresh benefits are made available on a monthly basis through
a debit-like EBT card. CalFresh benefits can be used to purchase
food items for human consumption, as well as seeds and plants to
be grown at home and produce food. Currently, the federal
government does not permit the use of EBT cards to deliver
benefits to the population that would be made eligible for aid
by this bill.
California Food Assistance Program
Following the passing of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996, federal
eligibility for aid to immigrant populations entering the U.S.
was restricted. The following year, California established CFAP
to provide state-funded nutritional aid to legally present
immigrant populations who had lost SNAP benefits due to PRWORA.
Under CFAP, state dollars are used to provide aid to families
AB 1770 (Alejo) Page 4
of ?
not eligible for federal SNAP benefits solely due to residency
requirements. Income and other eligibility requirements for CFAP
are aligned with CalFresh requirements; similarly, benefit
amounts are aligned with CalFresh. According to CDSS, CFAP
provided food assistance to approximately 20,700 households in
Fiscal Year 2015-16, a 6.7 percent increase from the previous
year.
California law identifies specific categories of lawfully
present immigrants, such as Hattian or Cuban refugees, who are
eligible for CFAP benefits. However, because immigration
categories have expanded in recent years, certain immigrant
populations are ineligible CFAP benefits. This group includes
immigrants present under immigration categories that did not
exist in 1997, when the CFAP program was created. For example,
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary
Protected Status, Deferred Enforced Departure, and other
long-time residents who are in the process of adjusting to legal
permanent residency status are not eligible for state-funded
food assistance.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to an analysis by the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, General Fund costs are unknown, but likely in
the hundreds of thousands of dollars to CDSS for automation and
benefits. For example, if an additional 300 families became
eligible, each receiving $125 in benefits per month, the ongoing
annual cost for benefits from the General Fund would be
$450,000. Costs to CDSS to create a delivery system other than
EBT cards for the benefits are unknown but likely significant.
Related legislation:
AB 2345 (Gonzalez, 2014) would have expanded eligibility for aid
under the CalWORKs program to noncitizen individuals who were
lawfully present in the United States. It was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 35 (Hernández, Chapter 571, Statutes of 2013) among other
provisions, extended consumer protections for youth applying for
DACA status and codified the requirement that DACA-approved
AB 1770 (Alejo) Page 5
of ?
individuals be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
SB 1569 (Kuehl, Chapter 672, Statutes of 2006) extended
eligibility for certain public social services, including
CalWORKs and CFAP, to qualified noncitizen victims of
trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes.
COMMENTS
Qualified noncitizens, as defined by PRWORA, are able to receive
CFAP benefits delivered through the EBT system. However, the
population that this bill would affect is not covered under
PRWORA, and therefore may not be eligible to have benefits
delivered through the EBT system. If this population cannot be
served through the EBT system, CDSS would need to create a
delivery system separate from EBT to deliver benefits.
PRIOR VOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Assembly Floor: |53 - |
| |25 |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-----|
|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |14 - |
| |6 |
|-----------------------------------------------------------+-----|
|Assembly Human Services Committee: |5 - |
| |2 |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
POSITIONS
Support:
Western Center on Law and Poverty (Sponsor)
MALDEF
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
The California Immigrant Policy Center
The California Catholic Conference
Oppose:
AB 1770 (Alejo) Page 6
of ?
None.
-- END --