BILL NUMBER: AB 2018 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
An act relating to public social services.
An act to add Section 11053.2 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2018, as amended, Skinner. Food stamps: intercounty transfer
study. of benefits.
Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutritional
Assistance Program (SNAP) , formerly the Food Stamp
Program, under which food stamps are allocated to the state by the
federal government and are distributed to eligible households by each
county.
Existing law provides for the intercounty transfer (ICT) of
benefits for recipients of CalWORKs, In-Home Supportive Services
(IHSS), or Medi-Cal benefits that move from one county to another
within the state, as prescribed.
This bill would require the department, in consultation and
coordination with county welfare departments and consumer advocates,
to conduct a study to, among other things, explore the annual cost
savings that an ICT process for food stamp benefits that is
consistent with the ICT process for CalWORKs, IHSS, and Medi-Cal may
provide.
This bill would require the department to submit its findings to
the Legislature by April 1, 2011, and would require the department to
include recommended timelines, as specified.
This bill would require the State Department of Social Services
to establish a process of intercounty transfer of eligibility for
benefits under SNAP when a recipient permanently changes residence
from one county to another within the state. This bill would specify
that, commencing no later than July 1, 2011, for recipients of SNAP
benefits that are also recipients of CalWORKs benefits, the ICT
process utilized for CalWORKs shall be used. This bill would further
specify that, commencing no later than July 1, 2011, for recipients
of SNAP benefits that are also recipients of Medi-Cal benefits, but
not recipients of CalWORKs, the ICT process utilized for Medi-Cal
shall be used.
This bill would require that, commencing no later than January 1,
2012, for recipients of SNAP benefits that are neither recipients of
CalWORKs nor Medi-Cal benefits, an intercounty transfer process shall
be developed, as specified. This bill would specify that it is the
responsibility of the recipient changing residence from one county to
another within the state to notify the county currently paying food
stamp benefits of the move and to apply for redetermination of
eligibility within the new county of residence. This bill would
require the recipient's old county of residence to notify the new
county of residence of the recipient's move as soon as the recipient'
s location in the new county is known, and would require the new
county of residence to be responsible for determining the recipient's
continued eligibility for benefits under SNAP.
To the extent that this would increase the duties of county
officials that administer public aid programs, including the Medi-Cal
program, CalWORKs, and the federal SNAP program, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11053.2 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
11053.2. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall
establish a process of intercounty transfer of eligibility for food
stamp benefits provided under Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
18900) of Part 6 when a recipient permanently changes residence from
one county to another within the state. The intercounty transfer
process shall facilitate a recipient's move from one county to
another without a break in benefits and without requiring a new
application to be submitted to the new county of residence.
(b) For recipients who are receiving CalWORKs benefits pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 11250) of Chapter 10 of Part 6,
the intercounty transfer process utilized for CalWORKs shall be used.
This subdivision shall be implemented no later than July 1, 2011.
(c) For recipients who are receiving Medi-Cal benefits pursuant to
Article 1 (commencing with Section 14000) of Chapter 7, but are not
receiving CalWORKs benefits pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with
Section 11250) of Chapter 10 of Part 6, the intercounty transfer
process utilized for the Medi-Cal program shall be used. This
subdivision shall be implemented no later than July 1, 2011.
(d) For recipients who are not receiving CalWORKs or Medi-Cal
benefits as described in subdivisions (b) or (c), an intercounty
transfer process shall be developed, in consultation with
representatives of county human services departments and advocates
for recipients. To the greatest extent possible, the process shall be
simple, client friendly, ensure the client does not need to provide
copies of documents that were previously provided to the old county
of residence, build on existing processes for the programs described
in subdivisions (b) and (c), and minimize workload for county
eligibility operations. The process developed pursuant to this
subdivision shall be implemented no later than January 1, 2012.
(e) Upon the implementation of the intercounty transfer procedures
set forth in this section, it shall be the responsibility of a
recipient changing residence from one county to another within the
state to notify the county currently paying food stamp benefits of
the move and to apply for a redetermination of eligibility within the
new county of residence. The old county of residence shall notify
the new county of the recipient's move as soon as the recipient's
location in the new county is known. The new county of residence
shall be responsible for determining the recipient's continued
eligibility for payment of food stamp benefits.
(f) The department shall implement this section by an all-county
letters or similar instructions from the director and shall adopt
regulations as otherwise necessary to implement this section no later
than January 1, 2012.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. (a) The department, in consultation
and coordination with county welfare departments and consumer
advocates, shall conduct a study to explore all of the following:
(1) The annual cost savings that an intercounty transfer (ICT)
process for food stamp benefits that is consistent with the ICT
process for CalWORKs, the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program,
and Medi-Cal may provide.
(2) Any barriers that recipients of food stamp benefits experience
that nonfood-stamp recipients of aid do not experience when their
benefits are transferred using the ICT process.
(3) Any impact that an ICT process for food stamp benefits would
have on low-income recipients or prospective recipients of food stamp
benefits.
(b) The department shall submit its findings to the Legislature by
April 1, 2011, and shall include recommended timelines for gradual
electronic intercounty transfer of food stamp benefits both with and
without the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) consortia for
food stamp cases in California.