BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1182
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1182 (Roger Hernández) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:4 - 2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill exempts motor vehicles from the assets that must be
considered by county welfare departments when they are
determining a family's eligibility for CalWORKs.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)On-going savings in the CalWORKs program of $4 million
(TANF/MOE) per year.
a) Grant cost of $800,000 (TANF/MOE) for 2011-2012,
increasing to $5.7 million (TANF/MOE) in 2012-13 onward due
to an increased CalWORKs caseload.
b) Savings of $5 million (TANF/MOE) in 2011-2012, growing
to $9.7 million (TANF/MOE) in 2012-2013 and beyond due to
reduced administrative workload.
2)Actual administrative savings would likely be less as the
CalWORKs program has not received funding increases to keep
pace with actual operations costs since 2001. In addition,
county welfare departments have sustained hundreds of millions
of dollars of cuts over the last several years, including a
cut of $425 million to CalWORKs administration and services
for the coming year alone. However, reducing the workload
associated with CalWORKs eligibility could help relieve the
funding pressures faced by county welfare departments.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The primary goal of the CalWORKs program is to move
AB 1182
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families out of poverty toward self-sufficiency. One of the
key components of the program is requiring that adult
participants either work or receive some type of training that
will help them get a job. The author and sponsors, the New
America Foundation, argue that limiting the family to an
automobile with a value of less than $4,650 is contrary to
that goal. Without reliable transportation parents are often
unable to get to work or job training and therefore are unable
to work their way out of poverty and off of the welfare rolls.
By eliminating the vehicle from consideration for
eligibility, parents will not be forced to choose between
reliable transportation and receiving much needed financial
assistance for their families.
2)California Asset Rules . CalWORKs asset rules were enacted in
1997 when the state implemented the 1996 federal welfare
reform act. Families are limited in the value of assets or
resources they may own. The program incorporates federal food
stamp rules, which limits resources to $2,000 per household,
or $3,000 if a family has a member who is aged or disabled.
Some assets, such as the family's home and $4,650 in value of
a motor vehicle, are excluded from consideration in the
determination of a family's resources. Also excluded are
assets that are not available to a household, such as the cash
value of life insurance policies and pension funds.
3)Related Legislation . AB 1058 (Beall), 2009-10 would have
deleted the requirement that county welfare departments assess
the value of a vehicle when determining a CalWORKs'
application or recertification. That bill was held on the
Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file.
In 2008, AB 2368 (Fuentes) would have exempted motor vehicles
from assets that must be considered by county welfare
departments when they are determining a family's eligibility
for CalWORKs. That bill was held on the Senate Appropriations
Committee suspense file.
In 2008, AB 2480 (S. Runner) would have amended the CalWORKs
eligibility vehicle asset limit by adding leased vehicles to
the list of countable resources. That bill failed passage in
the Assembly Human Services Committee.
In 2007, AB 167 (Bass) would have eliminated the CalWORKs
asset test entirely. That bill was held on the Senate
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Appropriations Committee suspense file.
AB 2466 (Daucher; Chapter 781, Statutes of 2006) excluded
funds in specified retirement and educational accounts
authorized under federal law from being considered as income
or resources for purposes of CalWORKs benefits for current
recipients, not for new applicants. In addition, it added
financial management education as an allowable welfare-to-work
activity for adults receiving CalWORKs benefits.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081