BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1691
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   March 28, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

           AB 1691 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Introduced:  February 15, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Human 
          ServicesVote:4 - 1 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill allows English as a second language (ESL) education as 
          a core welfare to work activity in the CalWORKs program. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)There are no significant costs associated with this 
            legislation.

          2)To the extent ESL education allows CalWORKs participants to 
            more easily obtain employment while in CalWORKs, this 
            legislation would result in long-term CalWORKs grant savings. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . A significant portion of the CalWORKs population 
            lists a language other than English as their primary language. 
            In many cases, non-English speaking CalWORKs parents have 
            difficulty finding employment.  The author notes that this 
            bill allows CalWORKs recipients to pursue ESL classes as a 
            core activity, remaining in CalWORKs while developing language 
            skills that will enable them to participate in other core 
            activities, as well as improve their chances of finding 
            permanent employment and leave the CalWORKs system.  

            The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) 
            (the bill's sponsor) argue that this bill "would lead to 
            greater workforce participation by our refugee and legal 
            immigrant parents, and give them a better chance of finding 
            employment that allows them to leave CalWORKs altogether."  









                                                                  AB 1691
                                                                  Page  2

           2)CalWORKs Welfare to Work Requirements  . Federal law generally 
            requires states to ensure that at least 50% of able-bodied 
            Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients 
            participate in designated categories of work activities for a 
            specified number of hours.  Both federal and state law 
            distinguishes between "core" and "noncore" activities. The 
            California work requirement for a single parent is 32 hours, 
            of which 20 must be core hours.  For a two-parent family the 
            requirement is 35 hours, 20 of which must be core hours. 

            Core activities under both federal and state law include: 
            Subsidized and unsubsidized employment, work experience, 
            community service, vocational education (up to 12 months), 
            on-the-job training, job search and job readiness training, 
            and providing child care to a community service program.  

            Federal and state noncore activities are generally the same, 
            although some state noncore activities are less restrictive 
            than the federally allowable activities.  Federal noncore 
            activities include:  job skills training directly related to 
            employment, education directly related to employment, and 
            satisfactory attendance at a secondary school or course 
            leading to a certificate or general equivalence degree (GED).  
            State noncore activities also include mental health, substance 
            abuse, and domestic abuse services beyond six weeks, any 
            higher education (typically up to 24 months), and other 
            activities necessary to assist in obtaining employment.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081