BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1640
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1640 (Mitchell)
As Amended May 25, 2012
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-0
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|Ayes:|Beall, Ammiano, Hall, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Portantino | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Ammiano, Hill, |
| | | |Lara, Mitchell, Solorio |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Jones, Grove | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires payment of California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKs) aid and CalFresh benefits
to otherwise eligible pregnant mothers who are 18 years of age
or younger at any time after verification of pregnancy.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires payment of CalWORKs aid to a pregnant mother who is
18 years of age or younger in a family without a needy child
qualified for aid upon verification of pregnancy and without
regard to her eligibility for the Cal-Learn Program.
2)Prohibits, to the extent permitted by federal law, a pregnant
mother who is 18 years of age or younger from being denied or
made ineligible for CalFresh benefits, or from being required
to participate in the CalFresh Employment and Training (E&T)
program, at any time after verification of pregnancy.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires payment of CalWORKs aid to a pregnant mother in a
family without a needy child qualified for aid for the month
in which the birth is anticipated and for the three-month
period immediately prior to the month in which the birth is
anticipated.
2)Requires payment of CalWORKs aid to a pregnant mother in a
family without a needy child qualified for aid upon
AB 1640
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verification of pregnancy if the pregnant woman is also
eligible for the Cal-Learn Program (providing intensive case
management and other services to teenagers under age 19
without a high school diploma or equivalent, who are pregnant
or parenting).
3)Establishes the CalFresh E&T program, under which counties
that choose to participate may require nonexempt CalFresh
recipients who do not receive cash grants under the CalWORKs
program to participate in work activities to remain eligible
for CalFresh benefits.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Annual CalWORKs grant and administrative costs of
approximately $500,000 (Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families/General Fund (TANF/GF)) to the extent that 500 young
women under the age of 18 receive an additional three months
of CalWORKs benefits under this bill.
2)To the extent eligible pregnant women early in their pregnancy
receive three months of CalFresh benefits that they had not
otherwise applied for, this bill could bring in an additional
$220,000 in federal food and nutrition benefits. The
administrative costs for those cases would be approximately
$120,000 ($60,000 GF).
COMMENTS : Under current law, a pregnant woman with no other
eligible children in the household is not eligible for basic
needs cash assistance through CalWORKs until the third
trimester. Established in 1993 (SB 35 (Budget Committee),
Chapter 69, Statutes of 1993, and SB 1078 (Watson), Chapter
1252, Statutes of 1993), the Cal-Learn Program addresses,
through CalWORKs, the unique educational, vocational, training,
health, and other social service needs of pregnant teens and
teenage parents to help them achieve self-sufficiency.
Low-income, pregnant women are also eligible to receive
pregnancy Medi-Cal, which is a fee-for-service health benefit
that covers pregnancy related healthcare. Once a woman becomes
eligible for CalWORKs or Cal-Learn, she receives 1931(b)-linked
Managed Care Medi-Cal. As the author points out, under current
law, women who become eligible for CalWORKs in their third
trimester must switch healthcare programs and often their
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provider.
Need for this bill : According to the author, the
delayed-eligibility rule to receive CalWORKs cash aid "is over
two decades old and pre-dates many recent academic studies
showing that instability and stress felt by a pregnant woman can
have long-lasting impacts on the health and wellbeing of infants
and children." The author further says that:
By not ensuring uninterrupted supportive services to
the women who are experiencing multiple stressful
situations during their pregnancies, very poor women
are more likely to experience premature and
low-birth-rate babies and children are more likely to
experience health and behavioral challenges which may
have lifelong impacts on the children's development.
These challenges may also interfere with the parent's
ability to achieve self-sufficiency.
According to the Urban Institute, California is in the minority
of states that require women to wait until the third trimester
to be eligible for grants through TANF, the federal program that
funds the state's CalWORKs program. This policy, the author
notes, not only impacts eligibility for basic cash assistance
for very low-income pregnant women, it also means they lack
continuity in their healthcare services.
In California, all low-income pregnant women with income below
200% of poverty are eligible for Medi-Cal. However, the type of
health care coverage a woman receives when she is pregnant
depends on whether or not she is participating in the CalWORKs
program. As a result, the author says, "these mostly first-time
mothers with incomes below poverty are asked to transfer their
healthcare coverage at the third trimester, when they become
eligible for CalWORKs and Medi-Cal Managed Care at the time when
pregnant women are just settling into the routine of regular
bi-monthly or weekly visits to their doctor."
The Western Center on Law & Poverty (WCLP), this bill's sponsor,
notes that "though women in their first and second trimesters of
pregnancy may be eligible for county benefits provided under
Welfare & Institutions Code Section 17000 cash aid, many
counties limit this assistance to 3 months for people who are
employable and there is no statewide standard of employability
AB 1640
Page 4
for these programs." According to WCLP, "it is the experience
of many applicants that these programs will not enroll a
pregnant woman until they verify that she is not in her third
trimester, and therefore eligible for CalWORKs." Therefore,
women with very little resources and no or little income may go
without any cash assistance. WCLP also notes the complicated
patchwork of state and federal policy with respect to work
requirements for pregnant women. This bill, at least for
pregnant mothers who are 18 years of age and younger, "makes it
clear," as WCLP says, "that California elects to protect the
CalFresh benefits for pregnant women to the maximum amount
allowed under federal law."
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0003938