BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator Mike McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 904 Hearing Date:
March 29, 2016
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|Author: |Hertzberg |
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|Version: |January 21, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Taryn Smith |
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Subject: Public social services: CalFresh
SUMMARY
This bill would require all eligible counties to be included in
the annual federal waiver of the Able Bodied Adult Without
Dependents (ABAWD) time limitation and would delete the
authorization for the California Department of Social Services
(CDSS) to implement this provision by all-county letters or
similar instructions.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes under federal law the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) within the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to promote the general welfare and to
safeguard the health and wellbeing of the nation's
population by raising the levels of nutrition among
low-income households. It establishes SNAP eligibility
requirements, including income that is at or below 130
percent of the federal poverty level and is determined to
be a substantial limiting factor in permitting a recipient
to obtain a more nutritious diet (7 CFR 271.1; 7 CFR 273.9)
2) Establishes in California statute the CalFresh program
to administer the provisions of federal SNAP benefits to
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families and individuals meeting specified criteria. (WIC
18900 et seq.)
3) Requires CDSS annually, to the extent permitted by
federal law, to seek a federal SNAP waiver to the
three-month limit in a three-year period of CalFresh
benefits for an ABAWD, unless that participant has met the
work participation requirement. (WIC 18926)
This bill:
1) Establishes 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.
2) Eliminates the option for a county to decline
participation in an existing federal SNAP waiver that
waives the limit for an able-bodied adult without
dependents to three months of CalFresh benefits in a
three-year period, unless that participant has met the work
participation requirement.
3) Deletes the requirement for counties that decline the
waiver to submit documentation from the board of
supervisors of that county to that effect.
4) Removes the ability of CDSS to notify counties of the
federal waiver via all county letter.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, more than 80 percent of the able-bodied
adults without dependents subject to a federally mandated
three-month limit to CalFresh benefits live with incomes below
half of the poverty line. SB 904 would require California
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counties and regions to accept extended federal funds (beyond
the 3-month limit) for able bodied adults without dependents in
areas of declared job shortages. The author states that extended
assistance should not be refused when the health and economic
realities of CalFresh participants are desperate.
According to the author, considering the existing barriers in
participation, requiring all counties to accept ABAWD waivers
will easily remove a barrier in delivering food assistance to
eligible individuals. The author further states that ensuring
CalFresh reaches all eligible individuals is not only important
for the nutritional needs of families, but also for
strengthening economic activity. The author cites a USDA data
that indicates every dollar in SNAP expenditures generates $1.79
in economic activity, and will have an ongoing multiplier effect
on the economy.<1>
The author states there is little evidence that participating in
CalFresh discourages individuals from working when jobs are
available. Instead, participants face limited job prospects
since they are more likely to lack basic job skills like reading
and math. According to the author, this bill will help prevent
hunger and hardship among Californians when jobs are scarce.
Food Insecurity
Nationally, the USDA reported an estimated 14 percent of
American households were food insecure at least some time during
the year in 2014, meaning they lacked access to enough food for
an active, healthy life for all household members.
According to data from the California Health Interview Survey
(CHIS), at least 4 million low-income Californians struggled
with food insecurity during 2011-12. A research brief published
in 2012 by UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research and the
California Food Policy Advocates noted that in 2009, at the
height the Recession, more than four in 10 Californian adults,
roughly 3.8 million people, who were at or below 200 percent of
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<1>
http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/suppleme
ntal-nutrition-assistance-program-(snap)/economic-linkages.aspx
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the Federal Poverty Level suffered from food insecurity. Of
those, more than one third - 1.4 million people - reported very
low food security. This is defined as having to cut back on
food. Nationally, about 5.7 percent of Americans suffered from
very low food security.
CalFresh
CalFresh provides monthly benefits to assist low-income
households in purchasing food or food product intended for human
consumption. CalFresh benefits are 100% federally funded and
national eligibility standards and benefit levels are
established by the federal government. To participate in
CalFresh, households must meet certain income-eligibility
standards. The average monthly benefit for a CalFresh recipient
in federal fiscal year 2015 was $126.83 per month, or $4.23 per
day, according to the USDA. Households who receive or are
eligible to receive cash assistance under CalWORKs or General
Assistance/General Relief programs are categorically eligible
for CalFresh.
CalFresh currently serves approximately 4.4 million people,
according to USDA data. Nonetheless, California's participation
rate has been ranked last or near last in the country for years,
prompting concerns from the USDA, stories in the state's
newspapers and two Legislative hearings in 2014.
In 2013, the year for which the most recent data is available,
California's SNAP participation rate was 66 percent of eligible
individuals. That year, California and Nevada tied for
second-lowest participation rate in the country. Wyoming's
participation rates were the lowest at 57 percent. That rate
compares to a national average of 85 percent. Just 52 percent of
California's eligible working poor families received CalFresh
benefits, the worst rate in the country, compared to a national
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average of 74 percent.<2>
Work requirements
SNAP requires all recipients, unless exempted by law, to
register for work at the appropriate employment office;
participate in an employment and training program, if assigned
by a state or local administering agency; and accept an offer of
suitable employment. SNAP beneficiaries do not have to work or
participate in employment and training activities if they are
under age 16 or over age 59, are physically or mentally unfit
for employment, are caring for a child under the age of six (or
12, in some cases), already employed 30 hours a week, or,
subject to and complying with work requirements for other
programs, such as those required by CalWORKs, among other
exemptions.
Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs)
Federal law restricts the amount of time a childless,
able-bodied adult can receive SNAP benefits to three months
during any three-year time period unless they are working at
least 20 hours per week. It can be difficult to meet these work
requirements when jobs are scarce. To address job shortage
issues, the federal government offers waivers to eliminate time
limits in areas with high unemployment, known as Labor Surplus
Areas. Under a waiver, an ABAWD is still subject to the same
work requirements as other adults receiving food stamps, but
they are no longer cut off from food aid if they can't find a
job by the end of three months.
SB 68 (Senate Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 78, Statutes of
2005) made it mandatory, to the extent permitted by federal law,
for CDSS to seek a federal waiver of the three month limitation
on SNAP benefits for ABAWDs. SB 68 gave counties the option of
choosing not to accept the waiver, thereby refusing federal
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<2> USDA, "Reaching Those in Need: Estimates of State
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Rates in
2013," February 2016
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money for food assistance. In 2006, at least one county opted
out of the ABAWD waiver. After that, it appears no other county
has opted out of the waiver.
Declaration of Recession
A recession in the United States is officially declared by the
National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit,
nonpartisan research organization committed to undertaking and
disseminating unbiased economic research in a scientific manner,
and without policy recommendations, among public policymakers,
business professionals, and the academic community. The NBER was
founded in 1920, according to its website, and counts among its
researchers 24 Nobel Prize winners in Economics and thirteen
past chairs of the President's Council of Economic Advisers.
The National Bureau of Economic Research has declared five
recessions since 1980:<3>
-----------------------------------
| Dates | Duration |
|-----------------------+-----------|
|January 1980 - July |13 months |
|1980 | |
|-----------------------+-----------|
|July 1981 - November |16 months |
|1982 | |
|-----------------------+-----------|
|July 1990 - March 1991 |8 months |
|-----------------------+-----------|
|March 2001 - November |8 months |
|2001 | |
|-----------------------+-----------|
|December 2007 - July |18 months |
|2009 | |
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Source:
National Bureau of Economic Research
Related Legislation:
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<3> http://www.nber.org/cycles.html
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SB 306 (Hertzberg, 2015) included provisions of SB 904, but also
had two components that are not included in SB 904. Those
components were to: 1) prohibit any month during a
federal-declared recession from being counted toward the
CalWORKSs 48-month time limit, and 2) require all counties to
participate in the CalFresh Employment and Training program and
provide a placement in the program for every able bodied adults
without dependents that requests one. SB 306 was held in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 43 (Liu, Chapter 507, Statutes of 2011) permitted counties to
defer able-bodied working adults from required employment and
training participation in high unemployment areas, as specified.
SB 68 (Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 78, Statutes of 2005)
added WIC Section 18926, requiring the state to seek available
able bodied adults without dependents waivers.
POSITIONS
Support:
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
(Co-sponsor)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (Co-sponsor)
Alameda County Community Food Bank
California Association of Food Banks
California Catholic Conference, INC
California Food Policy Advocates
California Hunger Action Coalition
California Immigrant Policy Center
Courage Campaign
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
Hunger Action Los Angeles
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St. Anthony's Foundation
Oppose:
None received.
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