BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2151
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 2151
(Chu) - As Introduced February 17, 2016
SUBJECT: CalWORKs: special diet or food preparation needs
allowance
SUMMARY: Adopts a special diet or food preparation needs
allowance for California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids (CalWORKs) participants, and modifies the current CalWORKs
allowance for recurring special needs.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Removes, under the existing recurring special needs allowance,
the requirement that a physician recommend a recipient receive
a special diet allowance as a condition of receipt.
2)Includes food preparation needs in the definition of the
recurring special needs allowance.
3)Entitles CalWORKs participants to a special diet or food
preparation needs allowance of $20, or actual verified
expenses, provided need is verified, as specified, and
verification has been signed by a licensed physician, dentist,
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dietician, nutritionist, or other qualified health
practitioner.
4)Requires the special diet or food preparation allowance be
provided in the form of a supplemental food benefit.
5)Stipulates that no appropriation shall be made for purposes of
implementing these provisions, as specified.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes under federal law the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program to provide aid and
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. (42
U.S.C. 601 et seq., WIC 11200 et seq.)
2)Establishes income, asset and real property limits used to
determine eligibility for the program, including net income
below the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP), based on family size and
county of residence. (WIC 11250 et seq.)
3)Establishes that a needy family be entitled to receive an
allowance for recurring special needs not common to a majority
of recipients, as specified. (WIC 11450)
4)Requires that a physician recommend a special diet for
circumstances other than pregnancy. (WIC 11450)
5)States the special needs allowance for each family per month
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shall not exceed that amount from multiplying the sum of ten
dollars ($10) by the number of recipients in the family who
are eligible for assistance. (WIC 11450)
6)Establishes the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Act, and
defines the EBT system as the program designed to provide
benefits to those eligible to receive public assistance
benefits such as CalWORKs and CalFresh. (WIC 10065 et seq.)
7)Establishes under federal law the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of
1964 and establishes, in California statute, the CalFresh
program to administer the provision of federal SNAP benefits
to families and individuals meeting specified criteria, as
specified. (WIC 18900 et seq.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
CalWORKs: 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 2015-16 monthly cash
grant for a family of three on CalWORKs (one parent and two
children) is $506.55, and the maximum monthly grant amount for a
family of three, if the family has no other income and lives in
a high-cost county, is $704. According to recent data from the
California Department of Social Services, over 497,000 families
rely on CalWORKs, including over one million children. Nearly
60% of cases include children under 6 years old.
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Maximum grant amounts in high-cost counties of $704 per month
for a family of three with no other income means $23.46 per day,
per family, or $7.82 per family member, per day to meet basic
needs, including rent, clothing, utility bills, food, and
anything else a family needs to ensure children can be cared for
at home and safely remain with their families. This grant
amount puts the annual household income at $8,448 per year, or
42% of poverty. Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2016 show that
100% of poverty for a family of three is $20,160 per year.
Current law allows, for families demonstrating special needs not
common to a majority of CalWORKs recipients (such as unusual
costs of transportation or laundry), a monthly $10 allowance for
each member of the household who is eligible for assistance.
This allowance can also be granted for needs related to special
diets, for circumstances other than pregnancy, upon the
recommendation of a physician.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT): EBT is an electronic system
that automates the delivery, redemption, and reconciliation of
issued public assistance benefits such as CalWORKs. EBT is also
the method for distributing Cal Fresh benefits (formerly known
as Food Stamps and currently known federally as Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)). EBT is currently used in
all 50 states. In California, CalWORKs and CalFresh recipients
access their benefits via what has been named the Golden State
Advantage EBT card. Like a bank-issued automated teller machine
(ATM) card, the cardholder slides this card through a
point-of-sale (POS) device, or uses the card at an ATM.
Need for this bill: According to the author, "Individuals in
low-income households are often more likely to experience
chronic conditions such as diabetes, and face significant
challenges to balancing the cost of special nutrition needs. In
addition, many Medi-Cal beneficiaries struggle to gain access to
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their primary care physicians due to shortage of physicians and
lack of transportation. [This bill] will address this reality
by adopting a CalWORKs special foods allowance of $20 a month,
issuing the allowance as a food benefit rather than as cash, and
permitting verification for the allowance to be signed by
qualified health professionals in addition to a physician.
Doing so will improve the health of very poor children and
parents who face diet-related diseases, while also leveraging
downstream savings associated with reduced Medi-Cal expenses,
reduced school absences and improved likelihood of achieving
self-sufficiency, a core goal of the CalWORKs program."
Staff comments: The bill as currently written may cause some
confusion upon implementation, as both the current recurring
special needs allowance and the proposed special diet or food
preparation needs allowance include "special diets" as one
permitted use. However, these two allowances have differing
requirements and are offered in different forms (cash benefit
versus a food supplement). This confusion could be avoided by
removing reference to "special diets" in the existing recurring
special needs diet, and having a supplemental benefit for these
needs fall solely under the allowance proposed by this bill.
Additionally, the bill currently states that food preparation
needs shall be covered by the proposed special diet or foods
needs allowance; however, this allowance is a supplemental food
benefit, and not a cash benefit, and therefore can only be used
for the purchase of food. Making "food preparation needs" an
allowable use for the currently existing recurring special needs
and removing it from the proposed food supplement would fix this
issue.
Recommended amendments: In order to address the concerns
described above, committee staff recommends the following
amendments starting on line 34 of page 4 of the bill:
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30
(e)(1) In addition to the amounts payable under subdivision
31
(a) and Section 11453.1, a family shall be entitled to receive
an
32
allowance for recurring special needs not common to a majority
33
of recipients. These recurring special needs shall include, but
not
34
be limited to, special diets upon the recommendation of a
physician
35
for circumstances other than pregnancy, or food preparation
needs,
36
as described in paragraph (2), and unusual costs of
transportation,
37
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laundry, housekeeping services, telephone, and utilities. The
Except
38
as provided in paragraph (2) , the recurring special needs
allowance
39
for each family per month shall not exceed that amount resulting
Pg
5 1
from multiplying the sum of ten dollars ($10) by the number of
2
recipients in the family who are eligible for assistance.
3
(2)Each recipient is entitled to a special diet -related food
needs or food
4
preparation needs allowance of twenty dollars ($20) per month,
5
or actual verified expenses related to the special diet -related
food needs or food
6
preparation needs , whichever is greater. The allowance shall be
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7
provided in the form of a supplemental food benefit upon a
county's
8
receipt of verification that a recipient has a special dietary
need
9
caused by a permanent or temporary medical condition, other than
10
pregnancy. This verification shall be signed by a licensed
11
physician, dentist, dietician, nutritionist, or other qualified
health
12
practitioner.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
Alameda County Community Food Bank
CA4Health
California Alternative Payment Program Association (CAPPA)
California Association of Food Banks
California Catholic Conference
California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA)
California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)
California Partnership
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations (CCWRO)
Disability Rights Legal Center
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
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Hunger Action Los Angeles
Mandella Marketplace
National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter (NASW-CA)
National Associations of Social Workers, CA Chapter (NASW-CA)
Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles
Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County
St. Anthony Foundation
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Women's Foundation of California Policy Institute - sponsor
Opposition
None on file.
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Analysis Prepared by:Kelsy C. Castillo / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089