BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 312 (Pan) - Public assistance: personal interviews
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|Version: April 23, 2015 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 3 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 11, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 312 would provide that county human services
agencies are required to conduct the required personal interview
with an applicant for CalWORKs benefits either by telephone or
through electronic means. This bill would provide that a
face-to-face interview shall be conducted if requested by an
applicant or recipient.
Fiscal
Impact:
Interview via telephonic/electronic means : Potentially
significant future costs to county agencies to enable
interviews by telephone or through "electronic means". To the
extent county agencies incur up-front costs for equipment,
staffing, and/or training, these costs could potentially
qualify as a reimbursable state mandate (General Fund), as
county agencies are required to conduct interviews by one of
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these two methods. To the extent conducting interviews by
telephone or electronic means results in administrative
efficiencies, counties could realize significant future cost
savings.
CalWORKs benefits : Potential increases and decreases in
CalWORKs benefits (General Fund) to the extent conducting
interviews by telephone or electronic means results in a
greater or lesser number of applications for aid granted. To
the extent this bill removes barriers to applying for and
being granted assistance, CalWORKs program costs could
increase. However, as this bill only provides for a
face-to-face interview upon applicant request, to the extent a
county cannot verify or clarify a condition of eligibility
through a face-to-face interview (as allowable for CalFresh),
additional applications that otherwise may have been approved
could potentially be denied.
Background: Existing law provides that no applicant shall be granted
CalWORKs benefits until he or she is first personally
interviewed by the office of the county department or state
staff for patients in state hospitals. Under existing law, if an
applicant is incapable of acting in his or her own behalf, the
county department shall verify this fact by personal contact
with the applicant before aid is authorized. (Welfare and
Institutions Code (WIC) § 11052.5.)
Existing state regulations require a face-to-face interview with
the applicant prior to the granting of aid. (DSS Manual of
Policy and Procedures 40-131.11.)
Proposed Law:
This bill would require a county human services agency or
state staff for patients in state hospitals to conduct the
required personal interview with an applicant for CalWORKs
benefits either by telephone or through electronic means. This
bill would require a face-to-face interview if requested by an
applicant or recipient.
Related
Legislation: SB 297 (McGuire) 2015 would require DSS to
SB 312 (Pan) Page 2 of
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establish an electronic signature storage hub to enable counties
to record telephonic and electronic signatures during a CalFresh
interview. This bill would also require county eligibility
workers to conduct a CalFresh application interview by
telephone, and would allow the interview be
Prior Legislation: AB 1970 (Skinner) 2012 would have required
counties to use electronic methods of communication for the
application and recertification process in CalWORKs and CalFresh
upon applicant or recipient request, and would have established
alternatives to in-person interviews for applications and
redeterminations. This bill was held on the Suspense File of
this Committee.
Staff
Comments: This bill provides that the personal interview for a
CalWORKs applicant shall be conducted promptly following the
application for assistance and may be conducted by telephone or
electronic means. As drafted, the provisions of this measure
appear to restrict local agencies' ability to conduct
face-to-face interviews with CalWORKs applicants, with the
exception of upon applicant request. As a result, to the extent
county agencies incur up-front costs for equipment, staffing,
and/or training to implement the process of interviews via
telephone or electronic means, which is undefined, these costs
could potentially qualify as a reimbursable state mandate
(General Fund). Staff notes that to the extent conducting
interviews by telephone or electronic means results in
administrative efficiencies, counties could realize significant
future cost savings.
The provisions of this bill could result in potential increases
and decreases in CalWORKs benefits of an unknown, but
potentially significant amount. To the extent conducting
interviews by telephone or electronic means results in
applicants receiving benefits sooner than they otherwise would
have under existing law due to the removal of existing barriers
to application, CalWORKs program costs could increase. However,
to the extent the restriction on face-to-face interviews only
upon applicant prohibit a county from verifying or clarifying a
condition of eligibility through a face-to-face interview (as
allowable for CalFresh), additional applications that otherwise
may have been approved could potentially be denied.
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Recommended Amendments: This bill amends Article 2
("Applications") of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 9 of WIC. As
this Article is specific to applications, staff recommends an
amendment to delete the reference to CalWORKs recipients.
On page 3, in line 2, delete "or recipient".
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