BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1914
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1914 (Davis)
As Amended August 18, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |45-28|(May 6, 2010) |SENATE: |23-13|(August 23, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Clarifies existing regulations for persons that are
applying to the Food Stamp Program (FSP) and awaiting
Unemployment Insurance benefits (UI benefits). Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires a county welfare office to:
a) Check its Income Eligibility and Verification System
(IEVS) when considering an applicant or recipient's UI
benefits in its eligibility determination, and;
b) Provide a copy of the UI benefits report to that
applicant or recipient if the county takes any action based
on the information in the that report.
2)Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
"initially" implement the provisions of this bill by January
1, 2011 through All County Letters, and develop regulations
and set a public hearing by January 1, 2012.
The Senate amendments :
1)Delete the requirement for a county welfare office to obtain a
UI benefits report from the Employment Development Department
if they are to consider those benefits in the eligibility
calculation, and instead, use IEVS to determine whether or not
the applicant or recipient is receiving UI benefits.
2)Add implementation and the adoption of regulations deadlines.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
AB 1914
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, unknown potentially significant costs to county
welfare departments.
COMMENTS : According to the author, reports from his
constituents indicate that county welfare offices 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
waiting for UI benefits but were denied the food stamps because
county welfare offices 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.
There are strict and specific regulatory 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. This bill requires
county welfare offices to check IEVS for confirmation that the
applicant or recipient is indeed receiving UI Benefits. IEVS is
a system that can generate, among other information, income
records.
AB 1914
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Analysis Prepared by : Frances Chacon / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0006070