BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 297 (McGuire) - Public benefits:  eligibility determinations
          
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          |Version: March 26, 2015         |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 3 - 1     |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: Yes                    |
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          |Hearing Date: May 4, 2015       |Consultant: Jolie Onodera       |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. 

          

          Bill Summary:  SB 297 would do the following:
                 Require the Department of Social Services (DSS) to  
               enhance the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS)  
               through the development of an electronic verification  
               system for use in connection with the eligibility  
               determinations for means-tested public benefit programs, as  
               specified.
                 Require a county human services agency to conduct a  
               telephone interview at initial application and  
               recertification for CalFresh and facilitate submission of  
               required documents using electronic and telephone  
               technologies, as specified.
                 Expand the circumstances under which a face-to-face  
               interview to determine CalFresh eligibility is required.
                 Authorize counties to conduct an electronic interview in  
               place of a telephone or face-to-face interview, as  
               specified.
                 Require the DSS to issue guidance for recording and the  
               storing of electronic and telephonic signatures, and  
               coordinate with county human services agencies to make  







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               available a standard technological solution that has the  
               capacity to store telephonic and electronic signatures.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
            Electronic verification system  :  One-time major costs for  
            development of the electronic verification system, potentially  
            in the millions of dollars (General Fund). While the bill  
            mandates the system be completed by December 2018 to enable  
            potential federal support of 90 percent, it is unknown at this  
            time whether the necessary automation enhancements could  
            feasibly be completed within this timeframe or if expenditures  
            would be approved for federal funding.
            CalFresh face-to-face interviews  :  Potential increase in local  
            agency costs to conduct interviews for "a household with a  
            person who has a disability, is advanced in age, or is  
            homeless" in a mutually acceptable location. To the extent  
            local agency expenditures qualify as a reimbursable state  
            mandate, agencies could claim reimbursement of those costs  
            (General Fund).
            Telephonic/electronic signature storage  :  Unknown, potentially  
            significant one-time costs (General Fund) to enhance SAWS to  
            enable electronic signature storage statewide. Costs to local  
            agencies would be dependent on the information specified in  
            the guidance required to be issued by DSS. While the bill  
            provides that local agencies would not be required to utilize  
            the state's telephonic storage if complying with DSS guidance,  
            to the extent the guidance requires local agencies to incur  
            new costs or additional workload, these costs could qualify as  
            a reimbursable state mandate (General Fund). 


          Background:  Existing law provides for the CalFresh program which provides  
          for food assistance benefits to qualified individuals who meet  
          specified eligibility criteria. 
          Under existing law, a county welfare department is required, if  
          appropriate, to exempt a household from complying with  
          face-to-face interview requirements for purposes of determining  
          CalFresh eligibility at initial application and recertification,  
          however, a person eligible for an exemption may request a  
          face-to-face interview to establish initial eligibility or to  
          comply with recertification requirements. Under existing law, a  
          county may require an applicant or recipient to make a personal  








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          appearance at a county welfare office if the applicant or  
          recipient no longer qualifies for an exemption or for other good  
          cause. (Welfare and Institutions Code § 18901.10.)

          In 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)  
          authorized an enhancement to the federal Medicaid matching rate  
          for eligibility and enrollment systems modernization -  
          increasing the level of federal support from 50 percent to 90  
          percent for new systems builds and from 50 percent to 75 percent  
          for maintenance and operations. 

          The OMB also offered a waiver of OMB Circular A-87 cost  
          allocation rules to support the integration of eligibility  
          systems between health and human services programs, such as SNAP  
          and TANF. This waiver allowed States that wished to build  
          integrated systems to do so without having to allocate the costs  
          of developing shared eligibility services to human services  
          programs. Human services programs retained responsibility for  
          covering any costs particular to their program needs. 

          On October 28, 2014, CMS announced a three-year extension of the  
          A-87 waiver authority to enable states to complete their work on  
          eligibility and enrollment systems integration through December  
          2018. 


          Proposed Law:  
           This bill would require DSS to enhance the SAWS through the  
          development of an electronic verification system that would  
          allow county human services agency eligibility workers to access  
          data available electronically from public and private  
          agencies/programs for use in connection with the determination  
          of eligibility for means-tested public benefit programs, as  
          defined. In addition, this bill:
                 Requires DSS, in developing this electronic verification  
               process, to consult with county human services agencies,  
               eligibility workers, representatives of SAWS, and client  
               advocates. 


                 Includes codified Legislative intent language stating  
               that the electronic verification process be utilized to the  
               greatest extent possible prior to requesting verification  
               of data elements from an applicant or recipient.








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                 Requires the electronic verification process to be  
               completed no later than the expiration of the federal  
               waiver for OMB Circular A-87, which requires states to  
               evenly allocate the development costs for systems that are  
               federally funded and enables the state to apply for 90  
               percent federal funding for IT systems.


                 Revises language in existing statute regarding a  
               county's requirement to conduct a telephone interview for  
               an applicant or for recertification of CalFresh benefits  
               and requires that submission of required documents shall be  
               done using electronic and telephone technologies to the  
               greatest extent possible.


                 Requires a face-to-face interview be conducted if any of  
               the following occur: 
                  o         A face-to-face interview is requested by the  
                    applicant, recipient, or authorized representative.
                  o         On a case-by-case basis, a face-to-face  
                    interview is deemed necessary by the county to clarify  
                    a condition of eligibility.
                  o         A face-to-face interview is required in order  
                    to make timely and reasonable accommodations to serve  
                    a household with a person who has a disability, is  
                    advanced in age, or is homeless. For purposes of this  
                    subparagraph, the face-to-face interview shall be  
                    conducted in a mutually acceptable location.
                  o         An electronic interview may be conducted in  
                    place of a telephone or face-to-face interview if the  
                    county human services agency and the  
                    applicant/recipient both have the capacity to  
                    participate in an electronic interview.
                 Requires DSS to issue guidance for recording and the  
               storing of electronic and telephonic signatures in order to  
               facilitate submission of required information by applicants  
               and recipients.


                 Requires DSS to coordinate with county human services  
               agencies to make available a standard technological  








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               solution that has the capacity to store telephonic and  
               electronic signatures. 


                 Requires DSS, in identifying this solution, to work with  
               county human services agencies, client advocates, SAWS, and  
               the Office of Systems Integration to ensure maximum  
               compatibility with the SAWS and to provide that the  
               telephonic and electronic signatures will be stored within  
               the SAWS, as appropriate.


                 Clarifies that a county would not be required to use the  
               state's telephonic storage if the county is complying with  
               the state's guidance on recording and storing signatures. 


                 Includes codified Legislative intent language to ensure  
               that applicants and recipients in all counties have the  
               ability to utilize telephonic and electronic signatures.


                 Prohibits the state and counties from allowing an  
               eligibility interview to be conducted by anyone other than  
               a county human services agency eligibility worker.




          Related  
          Legislation:  SB 312 (Pan) 2015 would authorize a county welfare  
          department to conduct a required personal interview with an  
          applicant for CalWORKs benefits either telephonically or through  
          electronic means, as specified. This bill is pending hearing in  
          this Committee.
          Prior Legislation:  AB 1970 (Skinner) 2014 would have permitted  
          counties to use electronic methods of communication for the  
          application and recertification processes in CalWORKs and  
          CalFresh, and would have established alternatives to in-person  
          interviews for applications and redeterminations. This bill was  
          held on the Suspense File of this Committee.


          AB 6 (Fuentes) Chapter 501/2011 removed the fingerprinting  








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          requirement for the CalFresh program, modified reporting  
          requirements from quarterly to semi-annually, and required DSS  
          and CSD to design, implement and maintain a "Heat and Eat"  
          program.




          Staff  
          Comments:  This bill requires the DSS to develop an electronic  
          verification system compatible with SAWS that would allow county  
          eligibility workers to access data from various sources to use  
          in conjunction with the determination of eligibility for  
          means-tested pubic benefit programs under Division 9 of WIC,  
          which would encompass all public social services programs  
          including but not limited to CalWORKs, CalFresh, foster care,  
          child welfare services, SSI/SSP, IHSS, Medi-Cal, and the  
          county-administered and funded General Assistance (GA) program.  
          The development of such a system is likely to require a  
          significant investment of state funding, potentially in the  
          millions to tens of millions of dollars.
          This bill requires the DSS to complete the electronic  
          verification system no later than the "expiration of the federal  
          waiver for OMB Circular A-87," which would require the system to  
          be completed by December 2018. While the bill mandates the  
          system be completed by December 2018 to enable potential federal  
          support of 90 percent, it is unknown at this time whether the  
          necessary automation enhancements could feasibly be completed  
          within this timeframe or if expenditures would ultimately be  
          approved for federal funding.

          This bill changes the default method of conducting CalFresh  
          interviews from face-to-face to telephonic. Since 2009, counties  
          have had the option of waiving the face-to-face interview for  
          all non-assistance CalFresh applicants and recipients, as the  
          State has been operating under a federal waiver that permits  
          this practice. While mandating telephonic interviews may be  
          generally consistent with current practices, it would also  
          appear to remove the discretion of the county to offer the  
          option. While this provision creates a mandate on local  
          agencies, it is likely to result in operational cost savings.

          According to DSS regulations for CalFresh administration,"If  
          everyone in a CalFresh case is older than 60 years of age or is  








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          a person with a disability, then the county is required to waive  
          the face-to-face interview. The interview can be conducted by  
          phone or, in some cases, the county can do a home visit."  
          However, this bill appears to potentially be in conflict with  
          regulations by mandating a face-to-face interview in order to  
          make timely and reasonable accommodations for this population,  
          specifically, "a household with a person who has a disability,  
          is advanced in age, or is homeless. The face-to-face interview  
          shall be conducted in a mutually acceptable location." To the  
          extent increased local expenditures qualify as a reimbursable  
          state mandate, agencies could claim reimbursement of those costs  
          (General Fund). 

          This bill also mandates county human services agencies to  
          facilitate submission of required documents using electronic and  
          telephone technologies, as specified. To the extent local  
          agencies incur additional up-front and ongoing costs that exceed  
          the cost savings resulting from these efforts, costs could  
          potentially be reimbursable by the state. 
          
          It is estimated the DSS will incur one-time costs of an unknown,  
          but potentially significant amount to enhance SAWS to enable  
          electronic signature storage statewide. Costs would vary by  
          county and would be dependent on the additional needs by each  
          county to meet the minimum requirements provided in the DSS  
          guidance. While the bill provides that local agencies would not  
          be required to utilize the state's telephonic storage system if  
          complying with DSS guidance, to the extent the guidance requires  
          local agencies to incur new costs or additional workload, these  
          costs could potentially qualify as a reimbursable state mandate  
          (General Fund). 


          Recommended  
          Amendments:  This bill contains two codified statements of  
          Legislative intent language in two sections of the bill. Staff  
          recommends an amendment to replace with direct language or  
          remove entirely from the bill's provisions.


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