BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 43|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 43
Author: Liu (D)
Amended: 4/25/11
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/12/11
AYES: Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland,
Wright, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-0, 5/26/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price,
Runner, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
SUBJECT : CalFresh Employment and Training program
SOURCE : Western Center on Law and Poverty
DIGEST : This bill requires those counties that elect to
provide a CalFresh Employment and Training (CalFresh E&T)
program to screen work registrants and defer (exempt) an
individual from mandatory placement if he or she meets
federal deferral criteria or resides in a federally
determined work surplus area. This bill would also require
those counties that elect to participate in the CalFresh
E&T program, beginning October 1, 2012, to offer
self-initiated workfare to registrants who are mandatorily
placed in the program.
ANALYSIS :
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Existing federal law:
1. Establishes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), formerly the food stamp program,
administered by the United States 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 CalFresh E&T 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, CalFresh, 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
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 counties to screen work registrants to
determine whether they will participate in, or be
deferred from, the CalFresh E&T program. Requires an
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individual to be deferred from mandatory placement in
the CalFresh E&T program if he/she satisfies any of the
federally mandated criteria, or if he/she resides in a
federally determined work surplus area. Allows a work
registrant, who is deferred, to request to enroll in the
CalFresh E&T program as a voluntary participant.
2. Requires a county that participates in the CalFresh E&T
program to demonstrate how it is effectively using
CalFresh E&T program funds for each component that the
county offers, including, but not limited to,
self-initiated workfare, work experience or training,
education, job search, and the support services or
client reimbursements needed to participate in these
components, as allowed by federal law and guidance.
Clarifies that a county is not required to offer any
particular component.
3. Requires a county that elects to participate in the
CalFresh E&T program, beginning October 1, 2012, to
allow work registrants who are mandatorily placed in the
CalFresh E&T program to meet work requirements of that
CalFresh E&T placement through self-initiated workfare
and requires the county to notify the work registrant of
the option.
4. Provides that a county has no duty to provide for
workers' compensation coverage for a CalFresh E&T
participant who elects to participate in self-initiated
workfare, and that nothing in this measure shall limit a
county's ability to condition nonmedical benefits under
Section 17000.
5. Defines "self-initiated workfare" as a public service
placement in a public or private nonprofit agency that
is initiated by the CalFresh recipient, for which the
recipient is responsible for documentation of hours.
Requires self-initiate workfare to be verified in the
same manner as other work activity verification, and
must meet other federal requirements.
6. Expresses the intent of the Legislature to increase
meaningful opportunities for employment and training in
the CalFresh E&T program and to assist CalFresh
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recipients in meeting the work requirements under the
CalFresh program.
Prior Legislation
SB 1322 (Liu), 2009-10 Session, in its final version, was
nearly identical to SB 43. In his veto message, Governor
Schwarzenegger stated: "While I support the state's Food
Stamp Employment and Training program and the economic
benefits that federal food stamps bring to California, I am
troubled that this bill reduces county flexibility and
instead requires that they offer self-initiated workfare.
Self-initiated workfare weakens the 'work-first' message of
the program by allowing recipients to self-direct their own
volunteer work. While I wholeheartedly support volunteer
work in local
communities, it does not build the skills and work
experience that is the primary objective of this particular
program. For these reasons, I cannot support this
measure."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Additional CalFresh $10,700 annually for every
25% of Federal
benefits E&T participants discontinued due
to work requirements
Additional CalFresh $1,100 annually ($385 GF)
for every Federal/
admin 25% of E&T participants
discontinuedGeneral/
due to work requirements Local
CalFresh E&T regulation cost pressure on county E&T
grants Federal
changes
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SUPPORT : (Verified 5/26/11)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (source)
AARP
Alameda County Community Food Bank
California Association of Food Banks
California Food Policy Advocates
California Grocers Association
California Hunger Action Coalition
California Retailers Association
Catholic Charities of California United
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
County Welfare Directions Association
Hunger Action Los Angeles
JERICHO
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Regional Foodbank
Sacramento Hunger Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Western Center on Law and Poverty
(WCLP), the bill's sponsor, writes that participation in
CalFresh has almost doubled since the recession began; yet
California has the worst food stamp participation rates
according to the USDA. WCLP believes that one of the most
efficient and humane ways to address under-participation in
the program is to ensure that people who are eligible and
currently receiving CalFresh benefits can easily retain
them when they are eligible under federal law. WCLP notes
that aligning federal and local work rules associated with
the CalFresh Program and offering new ways for people to
meet these work rules will help achieve that.
WCLP points out that, during times of high unemployment,
the federal government relaxes the mandatory work rules by
allowing states to waive work requirements and time limits
for ABAWDs, because it is unfair to keep food assistance
from people who cannot meet work rules when unemployment is
high, and because communities depend on federal funds to
continue to infuse their local economies when they are
struggling through bad economic times. WCLP notes that,
over the past several years, all counties have chosen to
'opt in' to the federal ABAWD waiver, relieving its food
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stamp participants of this work rule; yet 20 counties
imposed harsher sanctions on the same population of
unemployed Californians who are required to participate in
their CalFresh E&T Programs. WCLP believes that, because
work rules and accompanying sanctions are applied
disproportionately across the state, unemployed
Californians are losing federal food benefits and going
hungry.
CTW:mw 5/26/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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