BILL NUMBER: AB 808	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 11, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 30, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Skinner

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to amend Section 18901.6 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 808, as amended, Skinner. CalFresh: transitional benefits and
recertification.
   Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and
other social services to needy families through the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using
federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant
program, state, and county funds.
   Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh,
formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which food stamps allocated
to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible
individuals by each county. Existing law requires county welfare
departments to provide transitional CalFresh benefits to households
terminating their participation in the CalWORKs program, to the
maximum extent allowable by federal law.
   This bill would require the county welfare department to provide
each household receiving transitional CalFresh benefits with a notice
for recertification to continue to receive regular CalFresh
benefits, which would include an appointment date and time, as
specified. By imposing additional duties on counties administering
CalFresh, 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: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 18901.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   18901.6.  (a) To the maximum extent allowable by federal law, each
county welfare department shall provide transitional CalFresh
benefits to households terminating their participation in the
CalWORKs program.
   (b) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that 40 percent of
CalWORKs recipients who receive transitional CalFresh benefits under
subdivision (a) reapply to receive regular CalFresh benefits.
   (2) The county welfare department shall provide each household
receiving transitional CalFresh benefits under subdivision (a) with a
notice for recertification to continue to receive regular CalFresh
benefits  ,   within the first 5 business days of the
last month of eligibility for transitional CalFresh benefits  .
The recertification notice shall specify an appointment date and
time, which shall be scheduled to occur during the last month of
receipt of transitional benefits. To the extent permitted by federal
law, the recertification process designed pursuant to this paragraph
shall be designed so as not to require recipients of transitional
CalWORKs benefits to take time off from work or travel to the county
welfare office, in order to maximize participation of eligible
households.
  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.