BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1232
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1232
(Leno) - As Amended June 30, 2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Human Services |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires counties that use information contained in
consumer credit reports to determine eligibility or benefit
amounts for CalWORKs or CalFresh to provide certain information
to applicants and recipients, as specified, and prohibits
SB 1232
Page 2
counties from requiring applicants or recipients to submit
hard-copy documentation that is duplicative of the information
verified using the credit report. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a county to do all of the following if that county's
human services agency uses information from consumer credit
reports to determine eligibility for, and benefit level of,
CalFresh or CalWORKs assistance:
a) Obtain written authorization from an applicant or
recipient before obtaining the credit report.
b) Provide a recipient, in writing and in accordance with
federal law, if the county determines that recipient is
ineligible or will have benefits or services reduced for
CalFresh or CalWORKs, with a federally required notice
indicating that verification or eligibility determination
was based in whole or in part upon the information
contained in the consumer credit report.
c) Make the information available to an applicant or
recipient who requests a copy of his or her case file, or
who appeals a negative action based in whole or in part on
information the county obtained from the consumer credit
report.
2)Specifies that the written authorization and notice required
by this bill may be provided through electronic means.
3)Prohibits a county, if its county human services agency elects
to use information contained in a consumer credit report for
the determination of benefit level, from requiring the
applicant or recipient to submit hard-copy documentation that
SB 1232
Page 3
is duplicative of the information verified using the credit
report.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible state fiscal impact. The Department of Social
Services recently issued an all-county letter specifying county
notification requirements relative to this issue.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "This bill will facilitate
eligibility and enrollment in the CalFresh and CalWORKs
Program for California's families by streamlining the
application process. According to the Public Policy Institute
of California, 78% of poor families in California are working
families. For these families, support programs like CalFresh
and CalWORKs can help prevent the indignity of hunger in
meeting basic needs. Low wage workers face significant
barriers to participation in the CalFresh Program. Few have
paid time off or reliable transportation to get to the county
welfare department for the application process. [This bill]
will prohibit county agencies that use electronic databases to
administer the CalFresh and CalWORKs programs from requiring
applicants to submit hard copy documentation that is
duplicative of information obtained from the database. It
also will require notice to recipients about their federal
right to receive free employment data reports and to correct
inaccurate information in employment and income verification
SB 1232
Page 4
databases. It also will empower low-income Californians to
correct errors in their consumer reports."
2)Background. County welfare departments must obtain certain
employment and income information from applicants for, and
recipients of, CalFresh and CalWORKs. In some cases,
government-administered databases and consumer reports can be
used in this process, while other situations can still warrant
the submission of hard-copy materials. In January of this
year, DSS entered into an agreement through September 2017
with Equifax/TALX Corporation to provide an online employment
and wage verification service called The Work Number (WN)
through the department at no cost to participating counties.
Counties can elect, but are not required, to participate.
DSS reports that 30 counties are currently using WN, and
another 9 are completing Memoranda of Understanding to
participate. Across the 30 counties currently participating,
in the month of May, over 23,000 verifications were ordered.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
SB 1232
Page 5