BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          Date of Hearing:  August 3, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          SB 1232  
          (Leno) - As Amended June 30, 2016


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          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  








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          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  








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            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  








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            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
















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