BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2018
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2018 (Skinner) - As Amended: May 5, 2010
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:4 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill allows a food stamp recipient to move from one county
to another without having to file a new application for food
stamps. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires county welfare departments to transfer benefits for
food stamp participants when they move from one county to
another without the participant having to file a new
application.
2)Requires the transfer occur in a manner that provides
uninterrupted continued benefits to the participant.
FISCAL EFFECT
One-time training costs of approximately $140,000 ($53,200 GF)
to train eligibility workers in the new inter-county transfer
process.
COMMENTS
Purpose . This bill requires county welfare offices to conduct an
inter-county-transfer (ICT) of a recipient's food stamp benefits
when the recipient moves from one county to another making the
current reapplication process unnecessary.
According to the author, when recipients move to a new county
they are required to reapply, which can be a burden because it
creates hurdles for families in need of uninterrupted benefits.
Also, it is a costly and time-consuming process for counties to
re-process the application. The author notes that other
AB 2018
Page 2
county-administered programs such as CalWORKs and MediCal allow
ICTs. In the CalWORKs program, an ICT places the responsibility
of eligibility and cash aid authorization on the two counties
involved in the transfer. The recipient's responsibility is to
notify the county in which they currently reside of their
intended move and file a form and any other related changes that
may affect the ICT. It is not known how many recipients this
bill would assist in transferring food stamp benefits.
Related Legislation . In 2009, AB 643 (Skinner), a substantially
similar bill that allowed a food stamp recipient to move from
one county to another without having to file a new application
for food stamps was held under submission on the Senate
Appropriation's Committee Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081