BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2062 (Lopez) - CalWORKs: income or household composition
reporting: benefit redetermination
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|Version: April 20, 2016 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Debra Cooper |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 2062 would prohibit the assessment of a California
Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs)
overpayment in the month immediately following a reported change
in income if the recipient has not been provided a 10-day notice
of the change in benefits prior to the beginning of that month.
Fiscal
Impact:
Ongoing costs, likely less than $100,000 each year, to absorb
any overpayments. (GF)
Unknown, but likely minor costs to DSS for automation changes.
(GF)
Background: The CalWORKS program provides monthly income assistance and
AB 2062 (Lopez) Page 1 of
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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 (one parent and two children) on CalWORKS is
$497 to meet basic needs such as rent, clothing, utility bills,
food, and other items. This grant amount puts the average annual
household income of a family on CalWORKS at $5,964 per year,
which is 30% of the federal poverty level (Federal Poverty
Guidelines for 2015 report that 100% of poverty for a family of
three is $20,090 per year). According to DSS, nearly 497,000
families will rely on CalWORKS in FY 2016-17, including over one
million children.
Typically, changes in a CalWORKs recipient's income are reported
during the semi-annual or annual report. As recipients move
through the CalWORKs program, they can experience changes in
income which surpass the established income threshold. If the
recipient's income surpasses the threshold, the recipient must
report the new income to the county within 10 days, which
triggers the county to either terminate or reduce benefits.
According to the author, in some cases (for instance, when the
threshold is exceeded toward the end of the month) recipients'
benefits are reduced or terminated without 10 days' notice from
the county, resulting in an overpayment of benefits. This bill
would state that a recipient shall not be charged an overpayment
or experience a reduction in benefits for the following month if
the county did not provide a 10 days' notice.
Proposed Law:
This bill would prohibit assessment of an overpayment for the
following month if a CalWORKs recipient has reported a change in
income and the county was unable to provide 10 days' notice of
the termination or reduction in benefits before the first of the
month following the month in which the change occurred. This
bill would also provide that no appropriation be made for
purposes of implementing this bill, as specified.
Staff
AB 2062 (Lopez) Page 2 of
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Comments: While exact data for the dollar adjustment or number
of cases that would be impacted is not available, DSS indicates
that the number of cases that result in overpayment is very low.
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