BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2115
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2115 (Bradford)
As Amended May 8, 2014
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Stone, Maienschein, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, Allen, |
| |Ammiano, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Ian Calderon, Garcia, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Grove, Hall | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Linder, Pan, |
| | | |Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, |
| | | |Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Adds specific information about school-based nutrition
programs and other programs intended to serve children to the
information counties are required to provide to households
applying for CalFresh benefits. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a county human services agency to compile a list of
emergency food providers, including local child feeding and
summer feeding programs, and requires that list to be updated
with information from food providers, cities and school
districts.
2)Requires the list of emergency food providers to be made
available to households applying for CalFresh and deletes the
requirement for households to receive the information upon
request.
3)Requires the county human services agency to provide an
applicant household with children information about how to
enroll them in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast
Programs while the household's CalFresh application is
pending, and requires the county human services agency to
inform the household that all children in the household are
directly certified for the National School Lunch and School
Breakfast Programs without additional application requirements
if the household is certified for CalFresh.
EXISTING LAW :
AB 2115
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1)Establishes, under federal law, the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of
1964 and subsequent revisions, and establishes, in California
law, the CalFresh Program to administer the provision of
federal SNAP benefits to low-income families and individuals
meeting specified criteria. (Welfare and Institutions Code
(WIC) Section 18900 et seq.)
2)Establishes, under federal law, eligibility requirements for
receipt of SNAP benefits, including income that is at or below
130% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and is determined to
be a substantial limiting factor in permitting a recipient to
obtain a more nutritious diet, as specified. (7 Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 273.9)
3)Provides that any child who is eligible for federal SNAP
benefits is automatically certified to receive free school
meals without an additional application. (7 United States
Code (U.S.C.) Section 2020(u)(2)(A)).
4)Requires a CalFresh application to be processed within 30 days
from the date of application, and requires county welfare
departments to make information related to expedited CalFresh
benefits, as specified, available to each applicant upon his
or her initial application for CalFresh. (WIC Section 18911)
5)Requires each county welfare department to compile a list of
emergency food providers in the area served by the CalFresh
office, which shall be made available upon request and may be
used to refer individuals to emergency food assistance sites.
(WIC Section 18911)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will have minor CalFresh state/county
administrative costs for counties to update their emergency food
provider lists and provide information to applicant families
with children.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to ensure individuals do not go
hungry while their CalFresh applications are pending. While
current law requires each county to compile a list of local food
providers (e.g., food pantries, soup kitchens) for CalFresh
applicants, there is no requirement for the list to include
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child nutrition programs. This bill requires counties to
provide applicant households with updated information about
local emergency and school-based food programs, and ensures
households with children are aware of the children's ability to
receive food at school through the national school meals
programs. While this bill does not increase eligibility for
statewide or national nutrition programs, it seeks to make
existing nutrition programs more accessible to hungry families
by guaranteeing they receive information about existing
programs, as well as application and eligibility requirements,
upon seeking benefits at the county office.
Background: CalFresh benefits are funded entirely by the
federal government through SNAP, and the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets specific eligibility
requirements for SNAP programs across the United States,
including a gross and net income test, work requirements, and
other documentation requirements. The maximum allowable gross
income is 130% of the FPL. Households with elderly or disabled
members are not subject to gross income criteria but must have a
net monthly income at or below 100% of the FPL. Other
households must meet both gross and net monthly income tests.
CalFresh is administered locally by county human services
agencies, and the federal, state, and county governments share
in the cost of administration of the program.
Benefits are made available on a monthly basis for food purchase
through an ATM-like electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card.
However, unlike other types of benefits that may be accessed
through an EBT card, CalFresh benefits cannot be withdrawn in
cash at point-of-sale terminals or at ATM machines. CalFresh
benefits can only be used to purchase food items to be prepared
and consumed at home, as well as seeds and plants that can be
grown at home and produce food. The average monthly CalFresh
benefit for a CalFresh recipient is $153.13 per month, or $5.10
per person per day, whereas the maximum monthly CalFresh benefit
for a household of four is $632, or $5.27 per person per day.
CalFresh recipients are required to regularly provide personal
information to the county office, including a home address, bank
account, phone number, and employer information. This reporting
requirement allows county offices to routinely check a
recipient's household composition and financial information to
verify validity and continued CalFresh eligibility. While most
safety net programs rely on related family composition in order
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to determine eligibility for benefits, a CalFresh household is
defined as a group of people who meet the financial eligibility
criteria and live together, buy food, and prepare meals
together. Fifty-eight percent of CalFresh recipients are
children and one quarter of adults receiving CalFresh live in
households with children.
National School Breakfast and School Lunch Programs: Public and
non-profit private schools can choose to participate in the
National School Breakfast and School Lunch Programs. Both
programs provide schools with cash subsidies from the USDA for
each meal served, provided the meals meet specified federal
nutritional guidelines and are offered for free or at a reduced
price to eligible children. According to the USDA, in Fiscal
Year 2012, 12.9 million children participated in the National
School Breakfast Program every day. Of those children, over
10.1 million received their meals free or at a reduced price.
During that same period, more than 31.6 million children got
their lunch each day through the National School Lunch Program.
Children from families who meet federal SNAP guidelines (their
household incomes are at or below 130% of the FPL) are eligible
for free meals through the national school meals programs. If
their household incomes are between 130% and 185% of the poverty
level, they are eligible for reducedprice meals, for which
students can be charged no more than $0.40.
Food hardship: Despite efforts to increase access to CalFresh
nutrition assistance by reaching out to households that are
eligible but not currently participating in the program, a
number of California's families still experience food
insecurity, meaning they are unable to afford balanced meals and
often cut the size of their meals or go hungry. Households
experiencing food insecurity don't have consistent access to
enough food for healthy living due to a lack of money and other
resources. Some families that constantly battle with food
insecurity go without food for entire days, and parents in
food-insecure households often report going without food
themselves while ensuring their children have something to eat,
though it may be very little. A national food security survey
conducted in 2012 by the USDA Economic Research Service revealed
that 14.5% of households were food-insecure at least some time
during the year, including 5.7% with very low food security.
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Numerous studies have documented the link between healthy eating
and health. Adults who go hungry have been shown to have higher
rates of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart
conditions, as well as depression and other mental illness.
Children who suffer from extreme poverty and hunger are found to
fall behind in developmental milestones, experience worse health
outcomes and increased hospitalizations, and have poorer
economic outcomes as adults.
Need for this bill: According to the author, one in five
children in the US live in a home that cannot afford enough food
to get through the month without experiencing hunger, which is
more than in any other state. The author also notes that the
experience of hunger is isolating and emotionally difficult for
children, often resulting in poor health and education outcomes.
Ultimately, hunger impedes progress in our schools and
eventually limits the ability for California's economy to
succeed.
According to statewide CalFresh data from the Department of
Social Services, 97.5% of applications were processed within the
required 30-day timeframe in the fourth quarter of 2012. While
this means most applications were processed in a timely manner,
this could still allow for up to a 30-day period during which a
family that has reached out to the county for help does not have
money to buy food. Additionally, this average is built on data
from some counties meeting the 30-day requirement 100% of the
time while other counties are not, without any indication as to
the length of processing time for the additional applications
that were not processed within the required timeframe.
Analysis Prepared by : Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0003336