BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1322|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1322
Author: Liu (D)
Amended: 8/16/10
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 3-1, 4/13/10
AYES: Liu, Romero, Yee
NOES: Runner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 5/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price,
Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE FLOOR : 36-0, 6/2/10
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Calderon, Cedillo,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod,
Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Runner, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Wiggins, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR 58-16, 8/23/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Food Stamp Employment and Training program
SOURCE : Western Center on Law and Poverty
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DIGEST : This bill allows participants in the Food Stamp
Employment and Training program to fulfill their work
requirement through a public service placement in a public
or private nonprofit agency.
Assembly Amendments require counties that elect to
participate in the Food Stamp Employment and Training
program (FSET) program to demonstrate effectiveness based
on specified criteria requires counties that participate to
allow work registrants to meet requirements by October 1,
2011, and provides that counties are not required to
provide for workers' compensation coverage in certain
situations.
ANALYSIS :
Existing federal law:
1. Establishes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), formerly the food stamp program,
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), which imposes specified rules on specified
program participants and limits benefits based on those
rules. Generally, one group of participants,
able-bodied adults (age 18 to 49) without dependents,
known as ABAWDs, are limited to three months of food
stamp benefits within a 36-month period unless they
comply with work requirements.
2. Establishes the Food Stamp Employment and Training
(FSET) program, administered by the USDA, which requires
state agencies to implement an employment and training
program to assist food stamp recipients who are
able-bodied to gain skills, training, work or experience
to help them obtain employment.
Existing state law:
1. Establishes a statewide program, administered by state
and local agencies, that enables recipients of aid and
other low-income households to receive federal food
assistance benefits.
2. Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS), to the
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extent permitted by federal law, to annually seek a
federal waiver of the existing food stamp program
limitation that stipulates that an ABAWD participant is
limited to three months of food stamps in a three-year
period unless that participant has met the work
participation requirement.
3. Requires all eligible counties to be included in and
bound by this waiver unless a county declines to
participate in the waiver request, as specified.
This bill:
1. Requires a county that operates an FSET program to
screen food stamp work registrants to determine if they
are mandated to work or be deferred due to an existing
exemption.
2. Allows deferred work registrants to participate in the
self-initiated workfare option as a voluntary
participant.
3. Allows, starting on October 1, 2011, work registrants
who are mandatorily placed in the FSET program to meet
their work requirements through self-initiated workfare.
4. Defines self-initiated workfare, as specified.
5. Requires a county that participates in the FSET program
to demonstrate it is effectively using FSET funds, as
specified.
6.Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to adopt
implementing regulations by October 1, 2012.
Background
In California, more than three million people receive
federal food assistance benefits. According to the USDA,
in 2009, California received $4.3 billion in federal food
assistance benefits; yet, only about half of eligible
persons actually receive food stamps. Some advocates argue
that the state could be receiving billions more in food
assistance benefits and the state should take actions to
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improve food stamp participation for the benefit of
low-income individuals and the state's economy.
To qualify for SNAP benefits, households must meet certain
income tests, and some households must meet certain
resource tests and work requirements. SNAP requires all
recipients, unless exempted by law, to register for work at
the appropriate employment office, participate in an
employment and training program if assigned by a state or
local administering agency, and accept an offer of suitable
employment. Food stamp recipients are exempted from
registering for work and engaging in employment and
training activities if they are under age 16 or over age
59; physically or mentally unfit for employment; caring for
a child under the age of 6 (or 12, in some cases); employed
30 hours a week; or subject to and complying with work
requirements for other programs, such as those required by
CalWORKs. Additionally, others are exempted because they
are receiving unemployment insurance compensation,
participating in a drug and alcohol treatment and
rehabilitation program, or are students enrolled at least
half time (these students must meet other work
participation requirements).
As noted above, families receiving CalWORKS must comply
with CalWORKs work requirements in order to be exempt from
meeting the food stamp work requirements. Non-CalWORKs
families (known as non-assistance food stamps population)
must register for work, unless exempt, and participate in
FSET program activities, if they are assigned to the
program. Federal law also requires that ABAWDs are
generally limited to three months of food assistance
benefits in a 36-month period unless they fulfill federal
work requirements or receive an exemption. The American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 eliminated this time
limit restriction until September 30, 2010.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
unknown, but potentially significant state mandate costs
associated with requiring FSET counties to offer
self-initiated workfare to their participants if the
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Commission on State Mandates determines this constitutes a
reimbursable mandate. Currently, activities offered in a
county FSET program are largely contingent upon the
county's FSET budget (federal/county funds). However, this
bill would require FSET counties to offer self-initiated
workfare for their FSET participants.
Although FSET counties could choose to no longer offer
other activities they were previously offering to
accommodate self-initiated workfare, it is likely that
counties would instead add self-initiated workfare to their
list of activities since this would be a state mandate, and
they would be able to ask for state reimbursement. These
reimbursement costs would include costs for case
management, transportation, and ancillary.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/10)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (source)
Alameda County Community Food Bank
California Association of Food Banks
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Food Policy Advocates
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Single Stop USA
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Western Center on Law and Poverty,
the sponsor of this bill writes this bill will address
longstanding barriers to participation in the food stamp
program and encourage vocational education within the FSET
program. The sponsor states that, in 2009, even though the
federal government waived work rules in the food stamp
program throughout the country due to high unemployment,
California continued to require work registrants to
participate in job search and other work programs in order
to continue receiving food stamps. The sponsor believes
that these policies contribute to an average of
15,000-20,000 work registrants losing their food stamp
benefits each month, and notes that, for every $1.00 that a
low-income Californian loses in federal food stamps, the
state loses $1.73 in economic activity.
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The California Association of Food Banks writes that the
bill will help food banks by reducing barriers to food
stamps, thus reducing dependence on food banks, and by
encouraging people to meet their food stamp work
requirements by volunteering at nonprofit organizations,
like food banks, which have been seeing declining pools of
volunteers over the past decade. As an example, the group
notes that the Alameda County Community Food Bank has
benefited from volunteers from Alameda County's workfare
program.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, Gatto, Gilmore, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Skinner, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Conway, DeVore,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Hagman, Harkey, Knight, Miller,
Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Furutani, Jeffries, Norby, Vacancy,
Vacancy
CTW:do 8/24/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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