BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 521 (Liu) - CalFresh employment and training program
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|Version: April 23, 2015 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 0 |
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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 521:
Requires counties to complete specified tasks prior to
assigning a CalFresh penalty on a CalWORKs recipient that
has been sanctioned due to non-compliance with his or her
welfare-to-work plan.
Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to seek
a federal waiver to allow county agencies to serve CalFresh
E&T program recipients for up to five months, as specified.
Requires the state to include the CalFresh E&T program
in the state's Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act
(WIOA) state plan, as specified.
Requires the DSS to issue guidance annually for county
human services agencies electing to partner with community
colleges in the administration of its CalFresh E&T program,
as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
County mandate : Significant ongoing county administrative
costs potentially in the millions of dollars (General Fund) to
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complete the specified tasks including instructing the
recipient how to comply with requirements, determining that
the individual does not qualify for an exemption and has not
registered for work, and notifying the recipient of
ineligibility for an exemption, prior to assigning a CalFresh
penalty. DSS data indicates an average of 27,812 cases in
non-compliance per month, and 60,269 cases sanctioned in 2014.
To the extent the increase in county agency workload qualifies
as a reimbursable state mandate, counties could submit claims
for reimbursement of those costs (General Fund).
CalFresh benefits/administration : Potentially significant
increase in CalFresh benefits and administrative costs
(Federal/State) to the extent the mandated county activities
and cancellation of penalties, as specified, result in fewer
cases being sanctioned under CalFresh.
CalFresh E&T services : Potentially significant increase in
services provided (Federal/State) through CalFresh E&T
programs to the extent the provisions of this measure enable
counties to provide services to additional recipients and/or
provide services for an extended period.
Economic benefit : Additional CalFresh administrative costs
would be offset in part by an increase 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.
WIOA state plan : Minor impact to Workforce Investment Board
to add CalFresh E&T program to the state plan.
Background: Existing law establishes a process for sanctioning adults in
the CalWORKs program who do not comply with their
welfare-to-work plan, as specified. Existing regulations require
that a CalFresh penalty be imposed when an individual is
sanctioned for failing to comply with CalWORKs welfare-to-work
program requirements, as well as other sanctions.
Existing law establishes within CalFresh the federal Employment
and Training (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,
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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 (April 14, 2015)
reported the following information related to the CalFresh E&T
program:
For Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2015, 24 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:
Requires counties to complete the following activities prior
to assigning a CalFresh penalty on a CalWORKs recipient that
has been sanctioned due to non-compliance with his or her
welfare-to-work plan:
o Determined that the individual does not qualify for an
exemption to the CalFresh work requirement and has not
registered for work, and the county has notified the
recipient that the recipient is not eligible for an
exemption.
o Instructed the recipient about how to comply with the
requirements or verify an exemption to the CalFresh work
requirements.
Provides that if the recipient complies with the requirements
during the notice of adverse action period and has registered
for work with the Employment Development Department, the
proposed penalty shall be canceled and shall not count as an
occurrence for the purposes of determining the length of
future CalFresh disqualification periods.
Provides that a CalFresh recipient also receiving CalWORKs
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cash aid or CalWORKs postemployment services is ineligible to
participate in the CalFresh E&T program, but the receipt of
CalWORKs cash aid by another person in the recipient's
household does not impact the eligibility of a CalFresh
recipient to participate in a CalFresh E&T program.
Provides that a student is eligible to be assigned to
participate in CalFresh E&T only as a volunteer, not as a
mandatory participant.
Requires the DSS to seek a federal waiver to allow county
agencies to serve CalFresh E&T program recipients for up to
five months, as specified.
Requires the state to include the CalFresh E&T program in the
state's Workforce WIOA state plan, as specified.
Requires the DSS to issue guidance annually for county human
services agencies electing to partner with community colleges
in the administration of its CalFresh E&T program, as
specified.
Related
Legislation: SB 306 (Hertzberg) 2015 would require all counties
to participate in the CalFresh E&T program, and would direct
each county to provide a placement in the program for every able
bodied adult with dependents that requests one. This bill is
pending hearing in this Committee.
Prior Legislation: AB 1930 (Skinner) Chapter 729/2014 exempts
students in community colleges from the student work requirement
under CalFresh if they participated in the EOPS program, as
specified. This bill also required the state to establish a
protocol to screen students
Staff
Comments: By requiring local agencies to complete additional
activities prior to assessing a CalFresh penalty, this bill
creates a state-mandated local program, the costs of which could
be subject to reimbursement by the State. In addition to any new
costs to counties that are not currently completing the
specified activities to assist recipients avoid a CalFresh
penalty, any costs incurred by counties currently assisting
clients to avoid penalties would also be potentially subject to
reimbursement by the State.
To the extent the additional county efforts to assist clients
prior to assigning a CalFresh penalty results in fewer CalFresh
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sanctions, the level of CalFresh benefits received by recipients
could significantly increase. The magnitude of the increase
would be dependent on the number of clients positively impacted,
which is unknown. Additional CalFresh administrative costs would
be offset in part by an increase in sales tax revenue 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.
To the extent the federal waiver is approved and/or the guidance
provided by DSS assists county human services agencies electing
to partner with community colleges in the administration of its
CalFresh E&T program, participation in CalFresh E&T programs
could significantly increase.
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