BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 306 (Hertzberg) - CalFresh: eligibility: work requirements
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|Version: April 30, 2015 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 306 would do the following:
Provide that a month in which the National Bureau of
Economic Research (NBER) declares the nation to be in an
economic recession/depression shall not be counted as a
month of receipt of aid under the CalWORKs program time
limit.
Require the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
annually seek a federal waiver of the three-month limit on
CalFresh benefits to able-bodied adults without dependents
(ABAWD).
Eliminates a county's option to decline participation in
an ABAWD waiver and instead binds all eligible counties and
subcounty areas to the waiver.
Require all counties ineligible for the federal waiver
to submit a CalFresh Employment and Training (E&T) program
plan, as specified, and screen all CalFresh work
registrants to determine whether they will participate in,
or be deferred from, the CalFresh E&T program.
Require counties to provide a CalFresh E&T placement for
an ABAWD subject to the three-month time limit if the ABAWD
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requests placement.
Fiscal
Impact:
CalWORKs program : Potential major future increase in CalWORKs
grants and services costs in the hundreds of millions of
dollars (General Fund) to the extent the NBER declares a
period of recession/depression. While the timing and duration
of future periods of economic recession/depression are
unknown, based on historical periods, assuming even a
six-month recessionary period could increase CalWORKs cash
assistance costs for the existing employment services caseload
of over 240,000 persons by over $550 million. This estimate
does not include the additional costs of providing employment
services for these cases.
DSS workload : Minor ongoing workload to request federal
waiver and issue annual guidance on federal exemptions and
ABAWD waivers. Potential moderate workload to review CalFresh
E&T applications for counties mandated to submit a plan.
County mandates : Potentially major state-reimbursable costs
in the tens of millions of dollars (General Fund/Federal Fund)
to counties and in excess of $100 million annually statewide
to require counties that are ineligible for a federal waiver
to provide a CalFresh E&T program and provide placement of
ABAWDS upon request. While the potential receipt of federal
grant funds would serve to reduce the fiscal impact to
counties, the level of funding is not estimated to cover all
costs, which could be substantial for services and
administration, including screening and reporting. For the 24
counties that currently elect to operate a CalFresh E&T
program, services costs are estimated at $106 million, $49
million of which is the county share.
CalFresh benefits/administration : Potentially significant
increase in CalFresh benefits and state-reimbursable
administration costs (Federal Fund/General Fund) to the extent
federal waivers are approved for qualifying areas and counties
no longer have the option to opt out. Increased
state-reimbursable administrative costs (General Fund) would
be offset to a degree by increases in sales tax revenue
(General Fund) to the extent families spend a significant
portion of their income on food, and increasing CalFresh
benefits would allow families to spend more income on taxable
items.
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Background: Existing law provides for the CalWORKs program, which provides
cash assistance and other social services to needy families
through the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) block grant. Existing law provides that a parent or
caretaker relative shall not be eligible for CalWORKs aid when
he or she has received aid for a cumulative total of 48 months.
Existing law further provides that any month in which specified
conditions exist shall not be counted toward that 48-month time
limit.
Existing law establishes within CalFresh the federal E&T program
to assist members of CalFresh households in gaining skills,
training, work, or experience that will increase their ability
to obtain regular employment. The CalFresh E&T program is a
federally subsidized, optional program administered by counties.
It is designed to help CalFresh participants gain skills,
training, work experience, and to find jobs. Federal law
provides for certain exemptions, but counties can additionally
determine exemptions to program requirements. CalFresh E&T
programs can include a variety of training and employment
activities, such as job search, general education development
attainment, high school equivalency, job skills training,
short-term vocational training, and supportive services. Each
county has discretion to determine the range of services, as
well as the rules governing mandatory and voluntary placements
and exemptions.
The Senate Committee on Human Services analysis of SB 521 (April
14, 2015) reported the following information related to the
CalFresh E&T program:
For Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2015, 24 of 58 counties in
California participated in the CalFresh E&T program, which
totaled nearly $106 million. One year earlier, there were 26
participating counties and $101 million in funding. Of the FFY
2015 dollars, 100 percent federally funded activities accounted
for $7 million and federally matched funds accounted for the
remainder. For FFY 2014, DSS reported more than 1.2 million work
registrants. Of this population, 77,427 individuals were
participating in at least one CalFresh E&T program component.
Proposed Law: This bill would do the following:
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Prohibits the ticking of a clock on a CalWORKs
recipient's lifetime eligibility clock of 48 months for any
month in which the NBER has declared the United States to
be in an economic recession or economic depression.
Adds to statutory language establishing the CalFresh
program, Legislative intent that the CalFresh program be
administered in a way that maximizes eligibility and
participation in the program, to the extent permitted by
federal law.
Modifies the requirement that DSS annually seek a
federal waiver of the SNAP three-month aid limitation for
ABAWDs not meeting work participation requirements to
instead require DSS to annually seek a waiver for all
qualifying areas of the state, to the extent permitted by
federal law.
Eliminates a county's option to decline participation in
an ABAWD waiver and instead binds all eligible counties and
subcounty areas to the waiver.
Requires that if a county is ineligible for a waiver,
the following occur:
o DSS shall issue annual guidance to the county
regarding the maximization of all federal exemptions
and waivers to the three-month time limit applied to
ABAWDs, as defined.
o The county shall submit a CalFresh E&T program
plan for state and federal approval, as defined, and
ensure a placement for all ABAWDs required to work and
unable to secure employment.
o Federal funds that are received to serve
through a CalFresh E&T, ABAWDs who are subject to the
time limit shall be used to support the cost to
counties of providing these services using a formula
established by the department in consultation with
county human services agencies and the Food and
Nutrition Service of the USDA.
Removes the ability of CDSS to notify counties of the
federal waiver via All County Letter.
Requires that a county issuing a notice of action to an
applicant or participant subject to the ABAWD time limit
shall include information to help the person, to the
maximum extent permitted by federal law, seek and receive
assistance in securing employment or in securing an
exemption to the time limit, including, but not limited to,
the name, address, telephone number, and Internet address
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of a local legal services office and a statewide welfare
rights organization.
Requires that if an ABAWD who is subject to the
three-month federal time limit requests placement in the
CalFresh E&T program, the county shall provide a placement
for the person.
For counties required to submit a CalFresh E&T program
plan, requires the county to screen CalFresh work
registrants to determine whether they will participate in,
or be deferred from, the CalFresh E&T program.
Requires counties participating in CalFresh E&T to
demonstrate in its plan how it is effectively using
CalFresh E&T funds for each of the components that the
county offers, as specified.
Authorizes DSS to implement this act by all-county
letters or similar instructions. Thereafter, requires DSS
to adopt regulations to implement this act by January 1,
2018.
Related
Legislation: SB 43 (Liu) Chapter 507/2011 permitted counties to
defer ABAWDs from required employment and training participation
in high unemployment areas, as specified.
SB 68 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 78/2005
added WIC § 18926, requiring the state to seek available
statewide ABAWD waivers.
Staff
Comments: By prohibiting for any month in which the NBER has declared the
U.S. to be in an economic recession or economic depression
against a CalWORKs recipient's lifetime eligibility clock of 48
months, the provisions of this bill could result in additional
months of CalWORKs cash assistance and employment services being
granted to specified persons. The NBER has declared five
recessionary periods since 1980. The duration of these five
periods ranged from eight to 18 months, with an average of 12.6
months. While the timing and duration of any future periods of
economic recession/depression are unknown, based on the duration
of historical periods, assuming even a six-month recessionary
period could increase CalWORKs cash assistance costs for the
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employment services caseload of over 240,000 persons by over
$550 million. This estimate does not include the additional
costs of providing employment services for these cases, which
would also be substantial.
As noted previously in the Senate Human Services Committee
analysis, the NBER's declaration of a recession historically has
lagged many months behind the period's onset, which subsequently
results in the declaration of the period's completion lagging
behind the actual end of the recessionary period. As a result,
it is unclear whether a CalWORKs client would be benefiting as
intended during the actual period within which assistance is
needed.
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