BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1914
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
AB 1914 (Davis) - As Amended: April 12, 2010
SUBJECT : Food Stamps: income reporting
SUMMARY : Clarifies existing law for persons that are applying
to the Food Stamp Program (FSP) and awaiting Unemployment
Insurance Benefits (UI benefits). Specifically, this bill :
1) States that UI benefits, for applicants applying to or
receiving benefits from the FSP, can only be counted as
income for purposes of FSP eligibility determination and
calculation of the benefit level only if the county welfare
department obtains a report from the Employment Development
Department (EDD) specifying a start date and amount of the
UI benefits; and further requires a copy of the report be
provided to the FSP applicant or recipient if the county
welfare department takes any action based on the report.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines new sources of "anticipated income" for purposes of
food stamp eligibility determination to mean that the
household must know the amount and start date of the income.
MPP 63-509.2(a)(2)(C)(3)(g)
2)Authorizes, under state law, DSS and county welfare
departments access to computer information maintained in the
files of EDD in order to determine if CalWORKs applicants or
recipients are eligible for UI benefits or disability
insurance benefits (SDI); and permits a county, if it thinks a
CalWORKS applicant or recipient is eligible, to require them
to first apply for UI benefits or SDI benefits. WIC 10606.1
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, reports from his
constituents indicate that county welfare departments are not
applying FSP program rules correctly resulting in a denial of
these benefits and hunger within these households. The author
states that these constituents applied for food stamps while
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waiting for UI benefits but were denied the food stamps because
county welfare departments incorrectly considered the
anticipated UI benefits income in the calculation of the
eligibility determination even though the applicant had not yet
received the income.
Background on income eligibility
For most households, California "prospectively budgets" food
stamps on a quarterly basis. This means that the county decides
whether a household is eligible and the amount of food stamps
based on the income the household "reasonably anticipates" it
will get in the upcoming quarter.
The county "budgets" (i.e., calculates) the food stamps
allotment for the next quarter, based on the income and
resources the family lists on an application or quarterly
report. The county uses the reported information to calculate
the food stamps budget for the upcoming quarter.
There are strict and specific standards for when income can be
"reasonably anticipated." Basically, the county can only count
income the household and county are almost certain the household
will receive. That is, the income must have been or will be
approved or authorized within the upcoming quarter; and the
household is otherwise reasonably certain that the income will
be received within the quarter; and the amount of the income is
known.
For new sources of income, such as UI benefits, this means that
the household must know the amount and start date of the income.
If the household is not sure when it will receive new income or
how much it will get, the food stamp office cannot count it.
For example, a family applies for UI benefits but has not
received a letter indicating when the benefits will start and
how much the benefit will be. Therefore, this scenario does not
meet the definition of anticipated income.
Clarifying existing law
California reportedly has one of the highest unemployment rates
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in the nation at 12.8 percent according to the EDD's Labor
Market Information Division. After the recession was officially
declared in December of 2007, frequent news reports of the EDD
phone centers being backlogged with the newly unemployed needing
to apply for unemployment insurance were televised. This
backlog indicated that Californians were out of work and
applying for UI benefits in large numbers.
On March 10, 2010, the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke,
said during congressional testimony that average unemployment
nationwide could rise?and stay there for a period of time.
Because unemployment remains high and is forecasted to stay
there indefinitely, it appears that this bill is clarifying an
important issue for families that are out of work and seeking to
feed their families. AB 1914 seeks to clarify a disconnect
between county welfare offices and current law about what is or
is not anticipated income for purposes of determining food stamp
eligibility. Practically speaking, this bill states that short
of a letter or other proof that a family's UI benefits have been
approved with a start date and dollar amount then t it cannot be
counted as anticipated income and therefore cannot be used to
calculate eligibility for food stamp benefits. The result of
this clarification is that otherwise eligible food stamp
applicants, who need food stamps in their time of need, will not
be turned away because of an inconsistent application of the
law.
Support
The Western Center on Law & Poverty, one of the sponsors of this
bill, states that current state food stamp regulation asserts
that a new source of income cannot be anticipated until there is
certainty about when it will begin and how much it will be. AB
1914 clarifies how this policy should be interpreted for the
purposes of anticipating UI benefits in the determination of
food stamp eligibility. Ensuring that applicants have secured
UI benefits prior to counting this income during food stamp
eligibility determination will prevent many newly unemployed
households from being further disadvantaged and from needlessly
experiencing hunger.
Related legislation
SB 520, Chapter 544 statutes of 1995 which provides that the
county welfare department shall obtain verification of receipt
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of UIB benefits directly from EDD.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, Inc.
(sponsor)
Western Center on Law & Poverty (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Frances Chacon / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089